Artist Profiles
Myles Barabas
Myles is a great all rounder in the studio
with a great can-do attitude. Myles is a
very good mosaic artist taking after his mum
who has a mosaic business teaching
and selling mosaic tiles.
Not only does Myles mosaic and grout
all the garden sculptures he also glazes
all the sculptural wok.
Myles is also great with all the equipment
Myles is also great with all the equipment
in the studio, anything that needs to be
put together or cleaned out Myles is the person to do this job. Myles is truly a natural at anything he puts is hands to.
Ester Jong
Ester is a very enthusiastic artist who
has a great attention to the smallest things
in the studio. Ester currently helps to pour
and cut all the tiles in the studio and
occasionally paints the base colours on
some of the tiles.
Ester is always keen to offer studio tours to anyone that visits the studio.
Dylan Gorry
Dylan is employed as a Ceramics Assistant
in the Monte Lupo studio.
Dylan been a keen artist taking after
his mum and
grandmother who are also creative. Dylan
works 3 days a week pouring, cutting and
sponging tiles. He is also learning how to
load the tiles into the kilns. Dylan is also
leaning how to make all the heads for our
sculptures that we make and also for the
students in the workshops.
Michael Rubio
Born in Australia to El Salvadorian parents,
Michael is proud of his heritage. The Monte Lupo artist’s background inspires his signature artistic style of bright colours and delicate details.
‘Sometimes I get inspiration from El Salvador, also from my Dad. He really likes art.’
Michael is a familiar face in the Monte Lupo studio. He first entered the world of Monte Lupo after graduating from high school, and he hasn’t looked back since. When asked about his favourite pieces to work on, Michael has many.
‘My favourite is decorating pots or screen-printing tea towels or bags… My favourite designs are the Cactus print and the Galah print, which is in store.’
Looking to the future, Michael looks forward to continuing his work in the studio.
‘I enjoy working with art, and I think I always will.’
Paul Yik
Paul has been working at Monte Lupo
for over 23 years, Paul loves work and works
5 days a week. He is one of the main
decorators painting all the colour ready to be
finished off by the head decorator.
Paul knows where everything belongs in the studio and will let you know if something is not right. Paul also loves music and knows every artist names and song titles.
Matthew Henry
Matthew joined Monte Lupo at the start of 2015 and is eager to pursue a career in creative design.
Working within the Monte Lupo team to transform colourless clay into something impressive has proved the perfect job for this talented artist. Matthew is currently busy preparing a wild new range for Monte Lupo, bringing elephants and other African creatures into the spotlight.
Drawing has always been one of Matthew’s passions, with his favourite subject being African wildlife.
“I want to keep doing great work for the shop and painting different things.”
Sean Davenport
An art career for Sean has been achieved the same way in which he has overcome every obstacle – with hard work and determination. A severe case of autism inhibits Sean from learning new things easily but he’s never let this hold him back. Thanks to an open door at Monte Lupo Arts, the opportunities to learn and grow keep coming.
From an early age, learning the written language was incredibly challenging for Sean. He was enrolled at Logan City School and quickly grew frustrated over being unable to read. Sean’s father watched him struggle and was inspired to find a solution. Handy with computers, he developed a unique program based on phonics and a behaviour method of teaching communication. Through characteristic determination, Sean did not give up until he understood how words came together. An ability to read and write has made all the difference. Sean now uses a mobile phone to text his family and even attained a driver’s license. After a work shift he enjoys driving around, looking at suburbs and is particularly fascinated by ‘no through’ roads. The rest of his free time is taken up by creating bush walking tracks around his family’s property, jumping on a trampoline, attending music concerts or practicing woodwork.
At school, Sean developed a passion for drawing, a skill that his parents enthusiastically encouraged. His grandmother once held a post at the Arts Council and so a job offer from Monte Lupo Arts was the perfect post-school opportunity. Sean tackles every design brief with the determination to succeed and has led to some distinctive works being sold through the Museum of Queensland and many more being scooped up by buyers in the Monte Lupo gallery cafes. Thanks to a supportive network of art mentors and plenty of hard work, Sean has found his way to a promising career.
Jai Phillips
Jai is an artist and when not at work
he is an author, writing and illustrating
his own book. Jai love being an artist
and is very keen to pursue his personal
art practice. Jai also love to spend time
with his family and friends but when he
needs some quiet time he is happy to be on his computer or Ipad.
Nathan Peters
Minimal fine motor skills has not stopped Nathan from flourishing at Monte Lupo as a ceramics assistant. Twelve years on and he is a promising new talent in the area of ceramic design.
Soon after Nathan was born, it became apparent he was not developing as he should. He remembers struggling to tie his shoelaces or do up his buttons and found it frustrating to see his brothers and sisters speed ahead of him.
Enrolled in Beenleigh Special School, Nathan successfully learnt to read and write well and displayed a real flair for Mathematics. As a teenager, he dreamt of becoming a famous cricket player like Michael Hussey.
Nathan enrolled in TAFE after school and learnt all sorts of skills including landscaping, cementing and art. The opportunity to work at Monte Lupo Arts arose during this time and Nathan applied for the job. His application was successful and since then he has never looked back. He says ‘I really like the people here and I have made plenty of friends, including meeting new people through the shop.’
Nathan describes his disability as frustrating but also gains a great deal of satisfaction out of the art he helps to produce – particularly when he gets the chance to exhibit his work. When he first began work at Monte Lupo, Nathan produced a series of glazed birds which were snapped up by shoppers. The thrill of this achievement is still inspiring him every day.
Peter Hughes
Peter’s incredible designs have been picked up by art galleries around the world, thanks to an agreement between Monte Lupo and Access Arts.
As a self-taught artist, Peter’s pottery and canvas creations represent his own personal style and build on his passion for hand drawn caricatures with life-like colours. People with autism can be withdrawn by nature. Peter on the other hand, reveals his friendly and outgoing nature to all through his art. People feature prominently in his designs which often highlights current events or Christian icons. Peter often includes neatly written words and phrases in his pieces – a unique ability discovered during his early childhood. Whilst speaking can be a challenge, Peter enjoys talking through art and enjoys the social opportunities that his occupation creates.
His confidence continues to grow, with 13 paintings sold to the London Museum in 2011 as part of an exhibition for self-taught artists. In fact, paintings by Peter Hughes have graced galleries in New York, Washington DC, the JFK Centre for Arts and Europe.