About Page
Maxine Gadd has been obsessed with art since she was old enough to hold a crayon. When, as a toddler, her mother tried to show her how to draw, Maxine didn’t want any guidance. She knew how to hold the crayon and how to use it and began to make drawings of recognisable figures — on everything and anything. Maxine added her flourish to walls, books and magazines. The world was not to be passively observed by a canvas to add to. All her dolls had makeovers and intricate designs were carved into her dismayed mother’s expensive oak furniture. Maxine's natural instinct for artistic expression became her passion, hobby, career, and therapy.
Maxine excelled in her creative studies and won the John Lunghi prize for best artwork from a graduate graphic design student. She began her career as an artist selling her fairy art as prints, cards, bookmarks and posters to retail outlets. Many of them were best sellers and so popular that she was soon exporting her works around the world.
With the expansion of the internet, Maxine’s work attracted international recognition and her cottage industry expanded internationally. She soon had contracts that saw her artworks featured in books, magazines and games, on t-shirts, textiles, jigsaw puzzles, and more.
A book of Maxine’s work was published in the UK and the US. Fairies and other Fantastical Folk had several print runs and sold over 40,000 copies worldwide. In 2008, Maxine was a featured artist at Faerieworlds in Portland Oregon, and later at Fae Magazines’ Fairies and Enchantment in Glastonbury.
Maxine’s husband introduced her to his long-time friends, David Helfgott (the pianist protégé and subject of the movie Shine) and his wife Gillian. Maxine was honoured to have them sit for separate portraits. The portrait of Gillian was a finalist in the Black Swan Prize for Portraiture in 2014. After the exhibition, the portrait was sent to the Helfgott’s beautiful property in Bellingen where it hung proudly in Gillian’s office until her sad passing.
Today, Maxine gifts audiences access to her startling portfolio through cross-stitch patterns, diamond painting charts and art prints. In alignment with her spiritual philosophies, her artworks are featured in oracle decks with writers such as Lucy Cavendish and Alana Fairchild. Maxine authored and illustrated Precious Gems Oracle which was recognised by COVR Visionary Award 2022 (Bronze). Maxine was especially honoured when New York-based company Pat McGrath Labs approached her for permission to use her art on some of their packaging.
As always, Maxine has many, many projects in the pipeline and is excited for the future.
IN THE MEDIA
Faerieworlds in Veneta, Oregon - World-Class Entertainment and Fun!
FAE issue 13 Winter 2010
Black Swan Prize for Portraiture
https://au.news.yahoo.com/black-swan-prize-for-portraiture-24602684.html
Click Images to enlarge
