The Southern Highlands Arts Trail is a celebration of creativity, offering visitors the chance to step inside the studios of artists across the region. Among the must-visit destinations in 2025 is Chris Dixon at the Minimbah Studio, a Bundanoon-based space where abstract and still life paintings come alive with colour, texture and emotion. This year, Chris will be sharing the studio with artist Nerida Little, whose practice under Alegria Creations brings natural fibres into conversation with Chris’s paintings.
Chris’s painting practice – shaped by decades of experience, deep mentorship and a renewed commitment to the expressive power of art – is not to be missed. Shown alongside Nerida Little’s work, the studio becomes a dialogue of texture and form.
The Story Behind Chris Dixon Minimbah Studio
The name Minimbah means “teaching place.” While it isn’t a formal classroom, Chris has always seen the studio as a space of learning – whether working alone, exploring new directions in her art, or sharing the space with fellow makers. For visitors to the Arts Trail, the Minimbah Studio offers not only finished artworks but also an insight into the ongoing process of discovery and experimentation.
Chris’s paintings, whether abstract or still life, are explorations of colour, surface and mood. Layers of paint build histories into the canvas, while moments of spontaneity – the happy accidents of pigment settling or flowing – give the works a vitality that feels both playful and contemplative.
A Practice Rooted in Mentorship and Return
Chris’s artistic journey has been shaped by over two decades of training alongside her mentor and friend, the late Ken Raffe. Working closely with him for 26 years, she immersed herself in the discipline of drawing and painting, honing her ability to respond intuitively to line, colour and form. That long apprenticeship instilled both discipline and freedom – the ability to structure composition while embracing the expressive potential of paint.
After a break from making art, Chris has returned to her practice with fresh curiosity. The past year has been particularly productive, marked by a shift towards abstraction and a more tactile engagement with surface. This return has been less about recreating the past and more about rediscovering the joy of painting as a space for emotion, memory and experimentation.
Abstracts and Still Lifes at Chris Dixon Minimbah Studio
Visitors to Chris Dixon Minimbah Studio during the Arts Trail will encounter a body of work that moves between abstraction and still life.
Chris’s abstract paintings are layered, spontaneous and often playful. They reward close looking, as textures and subtle shifts in colour emerge over time. These works embrace unpredictability, allowing pigment to interact in ways that surprise even the artist herself.
Her still lifes, in contrast, hold a sense of calm. Rooted in observation yet softened by memory, they offer viewers a quiet pause – moments of reflection captured in shape and tone. Together, the two modes balance dynamism with stillness, echoing the rhythms of life itself.
Travel and Transformation
Chris’s practice has been deeply influenced by her travels, particularly a transformative journey to Upper Mustang in Nepal. The landscapes and experiences of that trip continue to resonate in her work, infusing her paintings with a sense of place that is at once personal and universal.
The interplay between external landscapes and internal emotion is a recurring theme in her art. Memory becomes colour, sensation becomes texture and the act of painting becomes a way of translating lived experience into visual form.
More Than Paintings: Jewellery with a Story
Alongside her canvases, Chris also presents a unique collection of jewellery made from decades of collected beads. These small ethnographic treasures – gathered over years of travel – are transformed into wearable art. Each piece carries with it a sense of history and storytelling, connecting personal journeys with broader cultural narratives.
For visitors, these pieces offer another dimension of Chris’s creative practice, bridging the gap between fine art and everyday adornment.
Sharing the Studio: Chris Dixon and Nerida Little
This year, Chris will also feature the work of artist Nerida Little, who creates fibre works under the name Alegria Creations. Her basketry-based practice is rooted in the meditative rhythm of weaving and the organic textures of natural materials.
By working with grasses, bark, vines and other foraged fibres, Nerida’s art honours cultural memory while engaging with contemporary ecological awareness. Each vessel or form is slow, intentional and deeply connected to place.
Though their mediums differ, the pairing of Chris and Nerida creates a rich dialogue: paint meets fibre, colour meets texture, abstraction meets organic form. Visitors to Minimbah Studio will experience not just two individual practices but also the ways in which contrasting materials can speak to one another.
What Visitors Can Expect
Minimbah Studio, located at 32 Church Street, Bundanoon, offers a welcoming atmosphere where art, conversation and curiosity thrive. During the Arts Trail, visitors can expect abstract and still life paintings by Chris Dixon – rich in layers and texture – alongside jewellery crafted from decades of collected beads, transforming travel treasures into wearable art. Guest artist Nerida Little contributes fibre works that explore weaving traditions and ecological awareness, all within a studio space that reflects learning, experimentation and collaboration.
Above all, Minimbah Studio invites slow engagement. These works are not about instant impressions but about the rewards of pausing, looking closely and allowing colour, texture and form to reveal their depth over time.
The Southern Highlands Arts Trail 2025 will be held across the first two weekends in November, the 1st & 2nd and 8th & 9th from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM daily. Studios and creative spaces throughout the region will be open, offering visitors the chance to connect with local artists, discover unique works and enjoy the vibrant creative spirit of the Southern Highlands. Download your map here today!
