Libby Derham

Libby Derham's artistic practice is deeply rooted in her appreciation for the natural world and its transformative effect on mental health. Her work aims to express her sensory experiences and the immersive nature of plein air painting. By transcribing birdsong into lines, she captures serene yet vibrant interactions with nature, creating loose and expressive contemporary landscape and floral artworks using watercolour and ink.

As an award-winning artist and a fourth-generation watercolourist, Libby is dedicated to evolving the medium within contemporary art. She won the Annie Tan Memorial Watercolour Award - Queensland Regional Art Awards (2021) and has been a finalist in multiple local and international awards including Fabriano In Acquarello, Italy and USA (2024), Splash: McClelland Contemporary Watercolour Award (2021), QRAA (2020), Local Artist Local Content (2022/2021/2020) and Du Rietz Art Awards (2021/2020). Further career highlights have included being recipient of Sunshine Coast Arts Foundation 'Gifted Program' and involvement in Sunshine Coast Council’s project ‘The Keeper’. She completed art training at Surrey Institute of Art and Design in the UK (1996-1998), before migrating to Australia in 2000 where she studied Teaching and Visual Art at Monash University (2000-2004). Libby has been a full-time artist since 2021.