Brett ‘Mon’ Garling  F.A.I.H.A  Dip. Ed.

Born with a fascination for anatomy, Brett gained the nickname of ‘Monster’, at age five, from his early collecting of bones and animal specimens. ‘Monster’ was quickly shortened to ‘Mon’ and the name stuck. Brett is widely known as ‘Mon’ to friends and collectors alike.

‘Mon’ was born in Pambula, 1970, and spent his childhood in rural towns such as Lightning Ridge, Narrabri and Dubbo where his love of the bush and its characters were nurtured. These themes now play a dominant role in his work.

Completely self-taught, ‘Mon’ takes great pride in the fact that the influences of the modern art world have not clouded nor plagued his development .Instead he used the greats such as Streeton, Roberts and Hoff as role models.

Fascinated also by the technical aspects of casting in bronze has led him to establish his own foundry where his works are cast. “Mon’ is now widely regarded as a expert in the field of sculpture and casting and is sought after as a speaker on the subject.

He was awarded a Fellowship in September, 2006, by the Australian Institute of History and Arts in recognition of his many years of contribution to the field of Traditional sculpture, thus joining other prominent Australians entitled to place the letters F.A.I.H.A. after their names.

A multi-award winning artist, ‘Mon’ has works in private and corporate collections world wide, including The Rural Press, Carlton and United, Dubbo City Council, Wellington Council, Boeing Australia, Comedian John Cleese, HRH Prince Edward, Outback Writers Ass, the Sykes Collection and Parramatta Stadium, just to name a few. His most recent commission being a life size bronze sculpture of rugby league great, Ray Price, for Parramatta Stadium in Sydney. Later this year he is commissioned to sculpt a life size horse and rider, a tribute to the Man From Snowy River, for Corryong and a life size bronze of Australian cricket great, Glenn McGrath, for Narromine.

In 2004, ‘Mon’ opened his own Gallery where a permanent collection of his sculptures and paintings are exhibited in conjunction with his foundry and sculpture gardens.

He has had over forty group and solo exhibitions and is a exhibiting member of the Sculptors Society. He has recently been included in the book, Top Ten Australian Artists(2005).

In 2007/08,’Mon’ was a finalist in the prestigious Country Energy Landscape Painting Award and took first place in the highly contested Central Coast Arts Festival and the Lexus Mortimore Prize for sculpture.

He is also a regular contributor to Artist Palette magazine, writing articles on drawing, painting and sculpture technique.