Lifestyle & Entertainment
15 September, 2026
From tentative sketches to gallery walls
KELLIE Russell still seems a little surprised that people want to hang her drawings on gallery walls. The Stawell artist’s wildlife works are currently filling the Overland Room at Stawell Railway Station Gallery for her exhibition The Call of The Wild, bringing together pastel drawings of birds and animals, from black cockatoos to some particularly expressive emus.
But Kellie’s journey to having her own exhibition began much more simply – with a set of pencils she was almost too nervous to use.
“I loved drawing when I was in high school,” she said.
“I had some pencils sitting there for ages, but I was too scared to pick them up.
“I thought I’d try and draw a picture of my grandson, and I sat it there and sat it there.”
Eventually, after a stressful day at work, Kellie picked them up.
She found a picture of some birds online and started drawing, largely as a way of switching off.
“It wasn’t very good,” she said.
“But my daughter encouraged me and went, ‘Wow, that’s really good’.”
Her daughter then found a challenge online suggesting she draw something every day for 12 months and see how much she improved.
The daily challenge eventually fell by the wayside, but Kellie kept drawing.
Birds and animals increasingly became her favourite subjects, and over time those tentative early efforts developed into the detailed pastel works now finding an audience locally.
While Kellie has also drawn family members and completed a memorial portrait from a photograph for someone who had lost a loved one, she keeps coming back to wildlife.
“I just like doing animals,” she said.
“I think it’s because you get the eyes in and it sort of comes to life.
“I try to see the life in the animals, and the personality.”
Emus are particular favourites, although Kellie’s reason for enjoying them might not be one commonly found in an artist’s statement.
“I love drawing emus just because they’re very judgmental,” she laughed.
“The pictures I see, they’re very intense.”
That ability to find personality in her subjects is also what has caught the eye of others.
Stawell Railway Station Gallery volunteer Pauline Shirrefs described Kellie’s work as “quite delightful” ahead of the exhibition, with an emu portrait used to promote the show on Facebook attracting plenty of attention.
Pauline was also taken by Kellie’s drawing of a black cockatoo on the ground, saying she had perfectly captured the way the birds “march” and “strut”.
The exhibition itself came about after Kellie was approached and asked if she would be interested in showing her work.
Her response was characteristically modest.
“I’m like, ‘Are you sure you really want them?’” she said.
The invitation followed plenty of encouragement after Kellie first began tentatively sharing her drawings on Facebook.
Kellie still looks to other wildlife artists for inspiration, particularly online, where she enjoys seeing the different techniques they use.
But part of the appeal is that no two artists will produce quite the same thing.
“I can see another artist and I’ll be inspired by it, whether it be the picture, but the way I do it will be completely different,” she said.
As her audience grows, Kellie is beginning to take the next few small steps with her art.
Her originals and prints can also be found at Rich Market, while she plans to attend the Halls Gap Primary School market on September 27.
She has also started talking to someone about developing her own website.
For the moment, though, the drawings are still being created in a home studio Kellie happily describes as a mixture of “dust” and “chaos”, usually with the dog at her feet.
It is a long way from being too scared to pick up those pencils.
And while Kellie might still be a little hesitant to say it herself, plenty of other people are starting to recognise the talent that emerged when she finally did.
The Call of The Wild continues at Stawell Railway Station Gallery until September 27. The gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4pm, with visits at other times available by appointment.
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