Undergrowth

Georgie Stokol and Holly Would (pictured) at the opening of Undergrowth at TBH Studio, July 2026.

Undergrowth marked a year of firsts.

A year earlier, after avoiding painting for some time, I finally gave in to a persistent urge to try oil. My first attempt was awful. I hated the consistency of the paint so much - I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted. But I was determined to follow the strange pull towards the medium and the feeling that I could make magic out of it, so I contacted my favourite local oil painter, Holly Would, and asked for help.

She was right: once I got a taste of how to use oil, I never looked back.

Since then, I have spent one day a week painting at TBH Studio, developing my practice surrounded by generosity, friendship and creative encouragement. Undergrowth grew out of that year. It brought together my first body of oil paintings with my first welded sculptures and experiments in illumination and traditional neon.

Combining vivid paintings with neon and sculptures of metal and leather, Undergrowth embraced exploration and curiosity rather than polished finality. The exhibition unfolded as a physical timeline of eighteen months of experimentation, moving from earlier acrylic works into studies, sculptural experiments, oil painting and illumination.

The exhibition was also supported by the Ballarat Arts Foundation and the Haymes Foundation Award, which helped me establish a welding studio and develop my sculptural practice. Feedback from the Ballarat Arts Foundation panel also led me towards traditional neon and glassblowing, opening another amazing path that I am continuing to explore.

Curated by Toni Louise and presented at TBH Studio, Undergrowth became a celebration of a formative year: new materials, new skills, first sculptures, first oil paintings, a growing fascination with light, and a lot of joy.