ABOUT
An Adelaide Hills childhood sparked Quentin's interest in the outdoors. At the University of Adelaide he became an active climber and bushwalker and, eventually, an arts graduate. Extended travels within Australia - plus stints in the Himalaya and the USA - encouraged him along the writing path. Through the 1990s book projects saw a focus on the stone country of Kimberley, Kakadu and the Arnhemland. More recently he's roved widely for feature stories in outback Queensland and South Australia. All the while, Australia's islands have remained an enduring fascination and subject.
Among many jobs Quentin has worked as an outdoor guide, journalist and marketing manager with Paddy Pallin. The latter role was during a seven year stretch in Sydney, living on Dangar Island in the Hawkesbury River. Returning to Adelaide with his young family he moved to the hills, back where it all began.Then, 14 years ago, he and his wife Dale took the plunge to live on Kangaroo Island: "When you boil it down most of what I do is about wonder, the up-front marvels of nature doing its thing. And there's no better place to court nature than KI."
PHOTOGRAPHY
Since moving to Kangaroo Island in 2009 Quentin has been increasingly involved with photography as a response to his spectacular surroundings near Cape Willoughby. He combines writing projects with an energetic photographic art practice centered on his home patch of Kangaroo Island: "Living day to day in such a visual environment opens up a knowledge of place. You get to dig deeper and find unusual sites in shifting light and big weather. Plus there's often another level of detail in the natural textures of stones, dunes and old trees. I love latching onto the worn 'otherness' of these things - a time-honoured beauty that's abstract and unnerving too."
AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2010
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2011 | Mike Hobbs Memorial Prize
Kangaroo Island Art Feast 2011 |'As You Like It' & 'Captured Through the Lens
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2012 | First Prize - Photography & Prints
SALA Festival 2012 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island Coast & Seagrass Meadows, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Art Feast 2012 | Forest to Sea | Hanson Bay Sanctuary
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2013 | First Prize - Photography & Prints
SALA Festival 2013 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island Rosenbergs Goanna, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Art Feast 2013 | On the Edge, Pelican Lagoon
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2014 | Second Prize - Photography & Prints
SALA Festival 2014 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island wetlands and waterways, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2015 | First Prize - Photography - Mike Hobbs Award
SALA Festival 2015 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island Fungi, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Art Feast 2015 | Kangaroo Island Photography Competition| First Prize
Kangaroo Island Art Feast 2015 | Kangaroo Island Photography Competition| People’s Choice Prize
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2016 | First Prize - Photography & Prints
SALA Festival 2016 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island Grass Tree & Carpenter Bee, National Wine Centre
Isle of Light, Chancery Lane Gallery, Fringe Festival Exhibition 2017
Island to Inland: Contemporary Art from Kangaroo Island, Country Arts SA/Flinders City Gallery, SALA 2017 (Touring SA)
SALA Festival 2017 How Do We Love Thee? Kangaroo Island Inter-tidal Zone, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2018 | First Prize - Photography
SALA Festival 2018 How Do We Love Thee? Let us count the ways… KI Cliff Tops & Coastal Dunes, National Wine Centre
SALA Festival 2019 Kangaroo Island Sanctity and Protection, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2021 | Second Prize Current Works 2D
SALA Festival 2022 Kangaroo Island - To Distant Shores, National Wine Centre
Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition 2023 | Second Prize - Photography