Collection: Corrie VanR

From a young age, Corrie has always been artistic, with a deep love for painting and creating. In her early twenties, she pursued a career as a florist, channelling her creativity through floral design. As her career and travels took focus, painting was set aside for several decades. Thirteen years ago, she moved to Toowoomba while pregnant with her first daughter, turning her attention to family, work, and building a floral business. When her career later shifted direction and she sold the business, Corrie realised she was missing her creative outlet—and began to paint again.

It took time for her to find her rhythm and discover how best to express what was happening internally. She explored various styles, subjects, and mediums, and continues to experiment every day.

Corrie doesn’t consider herself an artist in the traditional sense. She believes artists can paint anything, whereas her own work is guided by feeling—she paints what she has experienced and perceived, whether through the figures she creates or the way she interprets landscapes.

A lifelong admirer of nature, Corrie embraces its organic beauty and imperfection, a philosophy that also shaped her floristry style. Her abstract landscapes reflect this same appreciation for natural form and flow—without rules, guided instead by instinct and the inherent stories found in the natural world.

At the heart of her practice is a desire to connect. Corrie believes that when someone resonates with her art, it becomes a shared affirmation: “I have felt that way too—you are not alone.” Her figurative works are deeply personal, drawn from lived experience and emotion, and creating them has become an important part of her own healing process. When others connect with these pieces, she feels strengthened by that shared understanding.

Through her art, Corrie allows herself to experience, acknowledge, and move through what she is feeling. She believes that being present for one’s struggles—rather than avoiding them—can be profoundly healing. In this way, her work is both personal and universal: while she heals herself, she hopes to help others do the same. At the same time, she strives to create uplifting, beautiful pieces that not only enhance a space but also remind their owners of their own strength each time they look at them.