Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep 86 Elizabeth Barnett

Elizabeth Barnett is a painter and printmaker who also utilises textiles and pottery. Her still life and interior paintings have become instantly recognisable — plant-filled nooks, stacked books, jugs and vases, all rendered in a distinct palette that reflects the season.

She has a deep reverence for the everyday. From her early training in the rigorous world of printmaking to lush, translucent paintings on stretched linen, and eventually to thickly layered oil works in her bushland studio.

She is also an incredible community builder, having co-founded Melbourne's iconic Schoolhouse Studios, a massive, not-for-profit creative hub.

Today, working from her home studio in the Macedon Ranges, Elizabeth continues to celebrate the gentle, wondrous beauty of daily life while acting as a passionate advocate for female representation in the arts.

“Her subjects do not sit flat upon the canvas, but instead reach up from it, enlivened by the wild and natural world. This liveliness belies the ‘stillness’ of still life painting and along with Barnett’s painterly gestures of shadow, line and colour creates a visual dynamism reaches beyond tradition.”

To have a listen to our conversation, head to the link in my bio or search Australian Women Artists wherever you find your podcasts.

Elizabeth is represented by Flinders Lane Gallery in Melbourne.

Images supplied by artists

1. EB

2. Nocturne Arrangement 2026 oil on linen 215 x 153

3. Floribunda and Gwen 2026 oil on linen 81 x 91

4. Nocturne 2024 oil on linen 153 x 122

5 & 6 installation shots