“My work begins with looking. I am drawn to things that catch me unexpectedly—a particular colour, a shift of light, an unusual shape or the pattern of a shadow.
My starting points come from the world around me—landscape, interiors, objects and everyday arrangements—but I am not interested in simply describing what I see. I use observation as a starting point and then allow the painting to move away from it. Colour changes, shapes are exaggerated or simplified, areas are covered and rediscovered, and new relationships begin to appear.
I rarely know exactly where a painting is going when I start. I work intuitively, responding to what is happening on the surface and trying not to resolve things too quickly. I like the point at which a painting sits somewhere between the observed and the invented—when its origins may still be sensed, but the painting is no longer tied to a particular subject or place.
For me, painting is as much about discovery as observation. I begin with something that has caught my eye and then follow the painting to see where it takes me.”
-Trudie
Trudie Rockoff is an Australian artist based on the Central Coast of New South Wales, where she works full-time from her studio.
Rockoff studied visual art at Elizabeth TAFE before completing an Advanced Diploma of Art at the North Adelaide School of Art in 1993. After exhibiting in South Australia during the 1990s, she has returned to a sustained studio and exhibiting practice.
Her recent work moves between observation and abstraction, drawing particularly from landscape while increasingly exploring colour, shape, spatial relationships and the physical process of painting. She works across oil, acrylic and mixed media, allowing the initial subject to shift and evolve as the painting develops.
Her work has been included in exhibitions at Ewart Gallery, Weswal Gallery and Gosford Regional Gallery, and she was a finalist in the Ewart Art Prize in 2023 and 2026. Her continuing professional development has included workshops with Idris Murphy, Tim Allen, Judith White, Anthony Cahill, Gria Shead, Maryanne Wick, Michael Herron and Fran O’Neill.
CV
EDUCATION
1991–1993 Advanced Diploma of Art, North Adelaide School of Art, South Australia
1987 Certificate of Visual Art, Elizabeth TAFE, South Australia
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS & AWARDS
2026 Ewart Art Prize — Finalist, Ewart Gallery, NSW
Everything the Land Remembered — Weswal Gallery, NSW
Landscape@Goonoo Goonoo — Ewart Gallery, NSW
2025 Landscape@Bundanon — Ewart Gallery, NSW
2024 Artsphere — Ewart Gallery, NSW
2023 Ewart Art Prize — Finalist, Ewart Gallery, NSW
Artsphere — Ewart Gallery, NSW
2022 July Grads — Ellis Gallery, Avoca Beach, NSW
2021 20x20 Show — Gosford Community Regional Gallery, NSW
2020 The Year’s End — Gosford Community Regional Gallery, NSW
1995 New Dawn — Victor Harbour Hall, South Australia
1994 Why Do You Ask Me Foolish and Terrible Things? — NASA Gallery, South Australia
1993 New Allegiance — Marion Chambers Gallery, South Australia
1992 Restless Company — Carclew Gallery, South Australia
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2015–2026 Selected workshops and professional development with Idris Murphy, Tim Allen, Judith White, Anthony Cahill, Gria Shead, Maryanne Wick, Michael Herron and Fran O’Neill.