Exhibitions

“Common Ground”

By Louise Donovan

Following on from “Here and There”, Louise Donovan’s new exhibition “Common Ground” presents a rich cross-section of everyday moments as she moves between Melbourne, Creswick and Alice Springs. Working in her unmistakable style, Donovan captures fleeting impressions—quickly sketched onto paper or etched directly into copper plates. Docks and Port Phillip Bay sit alongside intimate interiors, architectural forms, backyard views, and her much-loved, unmistakable trees. 

Louise Donovan began her printmaking studies at Box Hill TAFE before majoring in Printmaking at the Victorian College of the Arts. While exploring a wide range of printmaking techniques, she soon found her primary voice in drypoint on copper—a focus that continues to underpin her practice today. Her works are characterised by their immediacy and quiet observation, translating everyday environments into intimate, considered images. 

Donovan has worked extensively at the Australian Print Workshop, where she was awarded the APW Collie Trust Award in 2003 and an APW Fellowship in 2022. Her work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, and she continues to exhibit widely through specialist galleries and printmaking networks, maintaining a strong presence within Australia’s contemporary print community. 

Since 2013 she has exhibited regularly with Tacit Galleries, and they recently invited her to join their stable of artists. Their catalogue for the exhibition Stories II in 2021 said this of her work:

'Louise Donovan captures an immediacy of place and time in her work, a personal moment created through her mark-making with line. Donovan looks to the structures around her - manmade or natural - and reflects on her encounters. The cathedral façade, a ship's hull, the looming dominance of a tree-like its’ spatial position, temporality is an intrinsic property of her subject.'
Tacit Galleries
2021

What is Drypoint? 

Drypoint is an intaglio printmaking technique celebrated for its immediacy and distinctive, velvety lines. Unlike traditional etching, which uses acid, drypoint is created by scratching directly onto a plate with a sharp needle. Louise painstakingly works this way, drawing each line by hand to form a delicate burr that holds ink and produces rich, textured marks. Safe, simple, and direct, it’s a highly accessible method that captures the artist’s hand with striking intimacy.

This exhibition is on until Sunday 10 May 2026
Open Wednesday – Sunday 4PM until 10PM.
Framed works for sale, prices as listed.

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Inside, 2023
Louise Donovan

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Docklands, 2023
Louise Donovan

Flinders Street, 2023
Louise Donovan