The Blackmore & Best Gallery is one of Shelly Bay’s more modern buildings, having been built in the mid-1980s as an officers’ mess hall. Now an art studio and gallery combined, the large, open-plan waterfront space features west-facing windows that beckon in the sun and the sound of the sea.

 

It’s a place of reflection and an art collector’s delight, with its white walls showcasing Jane Blackmore’s canvas oil paintings of emotive landscapes, vibrant florals, and colourful abstracts. Blackmore, who co-owns the gallery with fellow artist Juliet Best, has been a practising artist for 20 years, selling her work in person, online, and via exhibitions nationwide. Eight years after first propping up her easel in the bay, she says she still gets excited when she wakes up to a gallery day. “Shelly Bay really gets into your soul.”