Artist Spotlight: Gemma Louise Pap

Growing up in a home where creativity covered the walls – literally - Gemma Louise Pap was immersed in art from the beginning. Her mother, a commercial artist, filled their house with framed works and even painted murals on the children’s bedroom walls. By her teenage years, Gemma was creating her own, including a vast lunar landscape filled with dragons.

Gemma Louise Pap - Blue Sea

Art was always a passion, but as a young adult she didn’t see it as a realistic career. She studied chemistry, physics, and mechanical maths on one side, and art and textiles on the other. Her art teacher urged her to pursue art, but at the time opportunities seemed limited. It wasn’t until Gemma moved to Australia nearly two decades ago that things shifted. One afternoon, while painting on her boat, her husband encouraged her to start selling her work. She took five canvases to the Airlie Beach markets, laid them out on a blue tarp under a tree, and sold two pieces along with landing a commission for five tropical flower paintings. That moment marked the beginning of her art career in Australia, which has since grown into a thriving business with her work reaching collectors and customers around the world.

A Bright and Memorable Style

Gemma’s work is best described as bright, vibrant, and memorable. She paints with the goal of capturing the beauty of the natural world and the unique wildlife of Australia. Everyday experiences fuel her inspiration - a brilliant sunset, reflections on calm water, or a road trip through North Queensland. After spotting cassowaries in the wild for the first time, she immediately envisioned three new paintings.

Her process is playful and experimental. She often begins with “background days,” covering twenty canvases with bold abstract pours of flow acrylics. Once dry, she studies the patterns to see what might emerge. Sometimes she paints the subject in reverse, filling animals with negative space so the background becomes their markings. A “mistake” that once left a canvas too dark in the middle eventually became the perfect echidna piece, now one of her best sellers. As her mother always reminded her, there are no accidents in art.

Gemma Louise Pap - Emu

While Gemma began as an oil painter, today she combines flow acrylics for backgrounds with oil for the detailed wildlife and floral work. She loves the unpredictability of the acrylic pours - each one unique and impossible to replicate exactly. Resin has also become part of her practice, teaching her the patience she admits doesn’t always come naturally when her mind is racing ahead to the next idea.

A Turning Point

For years Gemma balanced art with a career in management. The pivotal moment came in June 2024, when she made the leap to become a full-time artist. A retail space on Daydream Island, opening in May 2024, gave her the stability markets alone couldn’t provide. It also gave her the chance to expand her range of products, from prints and cards to cushions, mugs, and other gifts - all made in Australia, with many produced in her own Whitsundays workshop.

Inspiration and Motivation

Wildlife is now at the heart of her work. Rather than focusing on the familiar kangaroos and koalas, she celebrates Australia’s lesser-known species like numbats, platypuses, and even the rare hand fish. Her playful, colourful style resonates with both Australians and international visitors, particularly when transformed into merchandise that allows anyone to take home a piece of art.

Gemma Louise Pap - Skyline

Her motivation is simple: to share art with as many people as possible. Not everyone can invest in an original painting, so Gemma creates products that bring art into everyday life - from fridge magnets to homewares. She also donates her work to local charities and hopes to expand her reach by partnering with wildlife sanctuaries around Australia, using her art to raise awareness and funds.

Community and Exhibitions

Gemma has exhibited widely in both the UK and Australia, but she is especially proud of her recent involvement in the Whitsundays community. Joining CCW, she has contributed to events such as Reef Festival, Race Week, and the Wallaby Festival. A particularly meaningful moment came when she was asked to design a gift set for new Australian citizens in the Whitsundays - a turtle painting reproduced as a card and coaster set. Having become a citizen herself in 2016, she found it rewarding to know each new citizen would take home a little piece of her art.

Looking Ahead

Gemma’s plans are as bold as her canvases. She is working on new outlets across Australia, supporting the CCW gallery project in Proserpine, and even considering an African-inspired series featuring giraffes and rhinos. A new studio is also on the horizon, designed to serve as both a creative space and a gallery. Beyond her own work, she hopes to help other artists learn how to turn their art into merchandise.

Advice for Aspiring Artists

Gemma’s message to emerging artists is encouraging:

Keep going, keep experimenting, and don’t be afraid to try new things.

I wish I had been brave enough to start sooner,

but every step of my journey has shaped the artist I am today.

Artist Spotlight: Gemma Louise Pap

 www.gems-artistic-creations.com