Artist profile: Meg Mader

“I take my art seriously, but I don’t like to do serious art. There’s enough serious stuff in the world.”

That’s the outlook of Clare Valley artist Meg Mader, who has been working with the equally playful Dan Withey as the recent recipient of Country Arts SA and Guildhouse’s Catapult mentorship.

Dan has mentored Meg to refine her storytelling through pattern, and to expand into printmaking.

Meg’s vibrant works often feature whimsical illustrations of animals, still life and popular culture mashups – with imagination, humour and wordplay key to her creative voice.

Her entrance into the art world was thanks to her father, but Meg also uses her practice to honour her mother, including through one of her favourite pieces The Heart.

“We didn’t play sport, we did art with Dad instead,” she said.

“My dad, as the artist, wasn’t bringing in much money, so my mum had to look after all of us money-wise.

“Which was, in the 70s, not a common thing.

“So she’s always been quite a strong woman in my eyes and I’ve always wanted to be like her.”

Meg has since passed the creativity bug onto the next generation of her family – and she’s become a key art identity in her region.

“When my eldest was about four, she was really into art … she sort of inspired me to get back into it,” she said.

“She was costing me so much in art supplies that I decided to make it a bit of a business to source out supplies for people in the country, because back then we didn’t have much.”

Meg’s gone on become a member of the local arts committee, volunteers her skills in schools, and has been running a weekly art group for over 10 years.

She said her love of connecting with likeminded creatives was further intensified when she participated in Country Arts’ Nebula program in 2023.

“I’m still in contact with all the people from my round, and we have Instagram group where we ask questions, or we just want to celebrate something, and we have a monthly catch-up as well,” Meg said.

“Nebula helped all of us to look at the next step for our own practices, and I think every single person in our group has done so much more and grown in their practice since then.”

Looking forward herself, Meg is hoping to put together a post-Catapult exhibition with Dan Withey who she said is “just like painting with a friend”.

And her four-year old turned teenager, Willow, is continuing to follow in Meg’s footsteps as an artist.

“I helped her run her first workshop recently and she also did an artist residency locally,” Meg said.

“I have been quite honest with her and said you’re never going to become rich being an artist, but it is very satisfying and it’s definitely where she wants to be.”