Naomi’s business card for her Touchwood Studio reads ‘Graphic Artist, Illustrator, Printmaker’. All of which is correct, but aside from being an amazing artist, Naomi was so much more than that.

For us at the Lazy Lizard Gallery, she was a valued member for well over 10 years, a beloved friend to us all, someone with a quirky, fun sense of humour (as readers of The Triangle you are all familiar with her great cartoons), an organiser, a teacher, a confidant, and oh my, how we all miss her.

In conjunction with her beautiful family, we wanted to put together this Retrospective exhibition to give a history and context of her incredible artistic world. She was a supreme master of her craft, but so humble with it. She was never without a pencil and sketchbook (or lino and tools) and would use every opportunity to sketch, even when on the phone!

We have some of her sketchbooks on display to give a real insight into her final products – her watercolour paintings and prints. There are a few of her outstanding original watercolours to see, as well as prints from her linocuts, drypoint etchings and woodcuts.

To quote Naomi, ‘most of my creative life has been spent illustrating children’s reading books for the educational market, which has been a lot fun, and has helped me develop good drawing skills’. We have a selection of these books to view.

Naomi also said, ‘I love a child’s world of make-believe and imagination, and despite advancing years, maturity and a serious attitude to life in general seems to have eluded me, so I find I still enjoy seeking out and sketching the local gnomes and other faerie folk around this area’. Naomi’s book, A Field Guide to Cobargo Gnomes and Other Local Wee Critters, illustrates her comment perfectly. This book is on sale throughout the Retrospective.

Naomi’s connection to Indigenous populations and Country comes through in so many of her paintings and etchings, and her wooden triptych in our Backroom exhibition space draws so many comments of admiration about that connection.

We would love you to join us and Naomi’s family for the opening of the exhibition on Saturday 5 July at 10 am. The kettle will be boiling, and we will have lots of yummy goodies to go with your cuppa. There is so much to see and marvel at.

The Lazy Lizard Gallery Side Room Exhibition
July 2025. Tuesday to Friday 10 am to 3 pm
Saturday 9 am to 1 pm until the end of July.
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Shirleyanne Myers

Captions: (top) Banksia, linocut, Naomi Lewis; (centre) Self-Portrait, Naomi Lewis; (bottom) Possum, linocut, Naomi Lewis.