SALA Festival is the perfect time to discover the talented artists right under our noses, get to know them and collect some incredible original work.
We caught up with Charlotte Tatton (pictured top right) and Romany Mollison (top, left), two local artists whose work is being highlighted during the Festival through SALA’s partnership with Jarvis Skoda and Visualcom. Read on to learn about their work and keep an eye out for their art on the SALA Art Cars as they zip around SA during SALA Festival (1-31 August).
Charlotte Tatton
Charlotte, could you tell us a bit about yourself and your art practice?
I am an emerging artist based in Adelaide, South Australia. Working primarily in oil paint, my practice explores themes of domesticity, pattern, and abstraction through depictions of 20th-century interiors and textiles. Drawing inspiration from the overlooked and ordinary, I aim to elevate everyday objects, rendering them with a sense of rhythm and intimacy.
My process often begins with collage, constructing dynamic compositions that play with spatiality and movement. These studies then become bold, colour-driven paintings. I’ve recently reintroduced observational drawing into my practice to deepen my engagement with the physical world and ground my abstract sensibilities in lived experience.
Since completing a Bachelor of Visual Art at Adelaide Central School of Art in 2021, I’ve exhibited in group shows across Adelaide, including at FELTspace and Floating Goose, and held a solo exhibition at Gallery M. To further my practice, I completed a Drawing Marathon at the New York Studio School in 2024, an international residency at Aviário Studio in Portugal, and a screen-printing workshop in the UK supported by a Carclew Fellowship. Over the past eight months, a Guildhouse Catapult mentorship with Fran O’Neill has deepened my attention to colour, light, and materiality.
How do you stay motivated and inspired as an artist?
I stay motivated by always looking at other art -visiting galleries, studying national collections, and collecting artist books. Taking short courses and workshops also keeps me learning and pushes my practice forward. I find a lot of inspiration in fabric itself and love hunting for unique vintage pieces with unusual patterns and colour palettes.
How did you discover your style and when did you know you were an artist?
I really started developing my style during my final year at art school, but it’s still evolving. My inspiration and subject matter have remained consistent, but now I’m always asking how I can speak more to colour or experiment with the properties of paint. After graduating, I committed fully to my practice, which has allowed me to travel, take part in residencies overseas, and work with mentors. I’m not sure when you know you’re an artist- maybe it’s just the act of continuing to make the work!
How is your work featured in SALA this year and have you been involved in the festival in past years?
This year, my work is featured on the SALA Art Cars- moving exhibitions on the road through the Jarvis Skoda Art Car program. I’ve been part of SALA for the last few years, mainly through group exhibitions, and I love being part of a festival that celebrates so many South Australian artists.
Artist website | @charlottetatton | Charlotte Tatton in SALA Festival | Charlotte Tatton on Shop SALA
Romany Mollison
Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your art practice?
Coming from a background as a professional graphic designer, I have spent the last 15 years refining my craft as a self-taught landscape painter working in oils to capture moments of stillness in rural landscapes. I am captivated by the emotive qualities of changing light, shifting seasons, and the movement of weather patterns and mist. I want to elicit a sense of quiet, restorative calm for the viewer. My work ranges in size from intimate paintings on vintage timber to large-scale, immersive paintings.
A few years ago now, our small family of three relocated from interstate to the beautiful Adelaide Hills to restore an old stone cottage on an apple orchard. Through this experience I completely fell in love with the landscape here – the rolling hills and paddocks, the orchards, vineyards and stunning foggy mornings.
My passion for photography plays an important part in my practice. I spend many hours capturing the rural scenes near our home and the unique places we encounter on our many interstate road trips in search of that magic image that really inspires me.
I have held solo exhibitions in South Australia, Victoria and NSW. My work has been shortlisted for a number of art prizes, including the Northern Beaches Art Prize (2017), Adelaide Hills
Landscape Art Prize (2019, 2021), the Glover Prize (2022, 2023, 2024) for which I received a Highly Commended Award in 2023, and the Muswellbrook Prize (2025).
How do you stay motivated and inspired as an artist?
I am very fortunate to have no problems with motivation, I can’t wait to get into the studio each morning to start work. The landscape outside my door inspires me and there will never be enough hours in my life to capture in paint all the beautiful scenes I have photographed over the years!
How did you discover your style and when did you know you were an artist?
Since a young age I have always loved drawing, but only discovered the joy of painting later in life. I think the love of creating never really leaves you, it shows up in your life in different ways and at different times depending on life circumstances. The move to SA was pivotal for me personally but also for my art practice, as I was truly immersed in my subject. This inspiring landscape provides me with endless inspiration.
How is your work featured in SALA this year and have you been involved in the festival in past years?
2023 was a fun year for my first SALA involvement – a group show at Art Images Gallery in Norwood alongside my fellow ‘Friday Fridas’, a small collection of South Australian professional women artists and friends. This year I am returning to Art Images Gallery with four oil paintings on linen in a group show titled ‘In the Garden’.
Artist Website | @romanymollisonart | Romany Mollison in SALA Festival
