Reader of the month Robyne Matthews

Robyne’s wonderful Eye of Horus design for the Daughters of the Wind promotion and quote for Winds of Time.

I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by enormously talented people and Robyne Matthews is up there in the top ten. She always gives liberally of her time, expertise and generous encouragement. I trust you will enjoy Robyne’s talents …

Tell us 5 Random Things about you the person.

1. I have had a lifelong career in Photo Restoration and Retouching, Graphic Design and illustration.

2. Being a self-employed freelance artist stood me in great stead as a single mother. I was able to cover our basic needs while having the time to meet the particular needs of my two children.

3. While I am outgoing and enjoy social events with good friends. I also enjoy spending time with my family and my darling granddaughter. Quiet times and doing something creative is also a passion.

4. I have always loved learning something new. These days I am in the process of building on my Diploma in Multimedia by learning XML, so I can create Ebooks; not simply text based, but image rich layouts with special text effects and interactivity.

5. I’m still learning and growing!

 Robyne adores camels – one of her lovely cross hatch drawings.

Favourite Authors –
I loved stories of adventure and mystery. Among my favourite reading during my school years were the “Famous Five” series by Enid Blyton. During my mid to late teens I enjoyed John O’Grady’s books, especially “They’re a Weird Mob” The other two books I digested during these years were “Now You’ll Think I’m Awful” by Sue Rhodes and “The Female Eunuch” by Germaine Greer… as one did during that era! My eyes were well and truly open after those two!
As I matured I really enjoyed books such as “The Honey Badger” By Robert Ruark, “Jessica” by Bryce Courtney and “1421” by Gavin Menzies. These were scattered amongst the many self-improvement books I have enjoyed over the past 25 years and my regular Bible study and associated research.
In 2009 I met Carmel Rowley, when I was asked to prepare artwork for the cover of her second book in the ‘Daughters of the Wind’ series. Since then I have not only enjoyed preparing covers and book layouts for three of Carmel’s books, but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading them all. Carmel is a great story teller, her plot draws you in and her characters come alive. Reacting to the suspense Carmel weaves into the narrative, you find yourself no longer looking in, but part of the scene.
Where to connect online
Facebook – Coming soon
Website – www.9livesstudio.com.au

 Book Cover artwork by Robyne

Is there something you would like to share with us about YOUR WORK/ART and the things you enjoy?

As a young person I wanted to be an artist, but being a bit undisciplined in my youth, and later not having the time as a parent, I have never spent the time I would have enjoyed in artistic pursuits. However, I am at least grateful that I flushed out a career using my creative abilities.
I left school when I was too young, but I was determined to be creative. I would sneak days away from my job as a “counter assistant” at the local “Woolworths” general store, to chase after every ‘interesting’ job I could find in the Sydney newspapers. I eventually answered an ad seeking ‘a junior to train as an Airbrush Artist… I had no idea what an Airbrush was, but it contained the magic word ‘artist’ which was all that interested me.
I went on to do my apprenticeship with Empire Art Company in Edgecliff, N.S.W. working on photographs. It included airbrush artwork on reproduced photographs to improve, restore and/or colour the copied enlargements. They really were ugly old things, so I avoided telling anyone what I did. I eventually left their employ and went on to work in the printing industry for a while and later worked in private photographic studios doing airbrush colouring and some photo restorations.

Danika and Yatimah cover design and artwork for back cover. Front cover artwork Willa Frayser.

When I married I decided to set up my own studio at home as a freelance photo restorer and colourist. I then decided to offer a full photo restoration service, so taught myself darkroom techniques, seeking aid and advice of experts at photographic suppliers in Brisbane to set it all up. At last I felt I had sufficient control over the quality of my output, and by doing so, went on to provide for myself and two children working from home in this manner for many years.
Being a bit of a perfectionist, I continually sought improved materials and techniques over the years so I could offer the best possible quality product from my studio, whether it was an archival quality photo reproduction, a stand out business logo, an expressive poster layout or a striking book cover.

The digital age dawned for me in the early 90s and I was fascinated, so I took on various training courses to build my knowledge and understanding because I could see the potential in this new mechanism. I was often frustrated, as a young person, that I was unable to keep up with, or reproduce what I could perceive in my mind’s eye; I always desired a ‘magic wand’ with which I could have the speed and control I felt I needed… the age of computers has become my ‘magic wand’.