Irena Sibley (16 June 1943 – 29 March 2009), born Irena Justina Pauliukonis, was an Australian artist, writer, illustrator of children's books, and art teacher.

Personal life

Her mother Anele and father Zenonas Pauliukonis fled communist-occupied

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

in 1946 when Irena was a baby. The Pauliukonis family immigrated to Australia via refugee camps in

Freiburg, Germany Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, where her brother Vidas was born, and

Naples, Italy Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The family arrived in

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

on 31 December 1949 and settled in Bathurst, before establishing their family home in

Cabramatta Cabramatta ('Cabra') is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Cabramatta is located south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. Cabramatta ...

in Sydney's western suburbs. Irena Pauliukonis married artist Andrew Sibley in 1967 and had two sons, Benedict and Jonathan. The Sibley family lived in Albert Park, where she was involved in the Save Albert Park protest movement against the

Australian Grand Prix The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...

in the 1990s. The Sibley family established a property and artists' studio in

Flowerdale, Victoria Flowerdale is a town in Victoria, Australia. It is in the Shire of Murrindindi local government area, from the state capital, Melbourne and in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, in the upper catchment of the Goulburn River system. At th ...

in the 1970s and 1980s, with spectacular terraced gardens which have been featured in ''House & Garden'' magazine. The property was successfully defended by the family from the Black Saturday (2009) bushfires, with only minor damage sustained, due largely to a sprinkler system and the strategic planting of fire retardant vegetation.

Career

Irena Sibley graduated in Fine Arts in 1964 from the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...

in Sydney. In 1967, she established the art department at Burke Hall (a preparatory junior school of

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. Th ...

) in Melbourne, and taught there on and off for 13 years. She was an art teacher at

Firbank Girls' Grammar School , motto_translation = She conquers who conquers herself , city = Brighton , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3186 , country = Australia , coordinates = ...

from 1982 to 2007. Her first book, ''Rainbow'', was published in 1980, as both a children's book and hand-made Artist's Book, and her children's books have included the best-selling ''The Bilbies' First Easter'', ''When the Sun Took the Colours Away'' (1991), and ''Zara's Zoo'', (2001). Sibley's art works are held in the collections of the

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

and the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

, as well as many private collections. Sibley has published over a dozen children's books, six handmade limited-edition books, and many bookplates for private collectors. Her artwork employs a range of techniques, including hand-coloured

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of woodcut in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief surface. A design is cut into the linoleum s ...

scratchboard Scratchboard (North America and Australia) or scraperboard (Great Britain), is a form of direct engraving where the artist scratches off dark ink to reveal a white or colored layer beneath. Scratchboard refers to both a fine-art medium, and ...

, and, later in her career,

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...

ing. Stylistically, her work can reflect Eastern European printmaking traditions, as well as contemporary representations of Australia's natural environment.

Easter Bilby Works

Irena Sibley was a passionate environmentalist, with a love for Australia's native

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

. This love is reflected in many of her works, particularly ''An Alphabet of Australian Wildflowers'' (1988) and her Easter Bilby series. Irena Sibley believed that

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

s pose a serious threat to Australia's natural environment (''see

Environmental issues in Australia Environmental issue in Australia describes a number of environmental issues which affect the environment of Australia. There are a range of such issues, some of the relating to conservation in Australia while others, for example the deteriora ...

'') and supported moves to replace the

Easter Bunny The Easter Bunny (also called the Easter Rabbit or Easter Hare) is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter, depicted as a rabbit—sometimes dressed with clothes—bringing Easter eggs. Originating among German Lutherans, the "Easter Hare" orig ...

with the "Easter Bilby" in Australian Easter celebrations. Sibley produced three Easter Bilby books between 1994 and 2000, the best-selling '' The Bilbies' First Easter'' (1994), ''The Bilby and the Bunyip'' (1998) and ''Grandma Bilby Mr Budge and the Easter Tree'' (2000).

List of works

Written and illustrated children's books

* ''Rainbow'', Gryphon Books 1980 * ''The Other Tansy'', Sugar and Snails 1985 * ''William the Wizard Who Wasn’t'', Five Mile Press 1986 * ''When Herb’s Mess Grew'', Reed Heinemann 1990 * ''When the Sun Took the Colours Away'', Heinemann 1992 * ''The Bilbies First Easter'', Silver Gum Press 1994 * ''The Bird Woman'', Silver Gum Press 1995 * ''The Bilby and the Bunyip'', Lothian 1998 * ''Grandma Bilby Mr Budge and the Easter Tree'', Lothian 2000 * ''Zara’s Zoo'', an Abcedaria, Lothian 2001 * ''Greta the Garbo'' Lothian 2002

Illustrated children's books

* ''The Trouble with Peggety'' (author: Mary Small), Roo books 1984 * ''The Last Voyage of the Araminta'' (author Lynne Duncan), Sensicorn Books, 1985 * ''The Lady Down the Road'' (author Jill Morris), Silver Gum Press 1994 * ''The Wish Flower'' (author: Jen McVeity), Heinemann 1996 * ''In Big Trouble'' (author: Dianne Bates), Zipper books 1996

Handmade limited-edition books

* ''Rainbow'', 1980 * ''William the Wizard Who Wasn’t'' (three variations), 1985, 1986 * ''The Calming of Harry'', 1987 * ''An Alphabet of Australian Wildflowers'', 1988 * ''When Herb’s Mess Grew'', 1989 * ''When the Sun Took the Colours Away'', 1991

Other works

* ''Self Portrait of the Artist's Wife'', Lytlewode Press 2007 * ''Ode to Living Things'' (author: Lynne Strahan Duncan) 2009

Collections and awards

Irena Sibley's limited-edition books and original artworks are held in many private collections in Australia, Europe, Japan, and the U.S., and in public collections including: *

Firbank Girls' Grammar School , motto_translation = She conquers who conquers herself , city = Brighton , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3186 , country = Australia , coordinates = ...

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

(Mitchell Wing) *

In 2008, Sibley claimed the Keith Wingrove Award, a national accolade that recognises excellence in book plate art and design. Sibley received the book plate award for her work for artist

Charles Blackman Charles Raymond Blackman (12 August 1928 – 20 August 2018) was an Australian painter, noted for the ''Schoolgirl, Avonsleigh'' and ''Alice in Wonderland'' series of the 1950s. He was a member of the Antipodeans, a group of Melbourne painter ...

.Article on Keith Wingrove Award

Image gallery

References

* Sibley, Irena. ''Self-portrait of the artist's wife''. Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England: The Lytlewode Press, 2007. Australian distributor The Fine Art Circle, P. O. Box 7, Central Park, Victoria 3145. * Review of Self Portrait of The Artist's Wife: http://www.emsah.uq.edu.au/awsr/new_site/awbr_archive/145/Fox.html * Interview Willi Carney 15 May 1992: http://www.australian-art-gallery.com/cgi-bin/v_artist.pl?aid=386 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sibley, Irena Australian children's writers Writers from Melbourne 1944 births 2009 deaths Australian women children's writers 20th-century Australian women artists Australian women illustrators Artists from Victoria (Australia) Lithuanian emigrants to Australia National Art School alumni