$2,200
Red Earth
The molten heart of the outback — crimson, ochre and gold burning through a near-black canvas.
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Spirit of Essence
Naomi Simson + Lara Scolari · Australian Soul | Contemporary Art
Artist in Residence
Naomi Simson OAM · Sat 21 + Sun 22 November · 11am–2pm
Drop in any time across the weekend to meet Naomi, see the work up close, and hear the stories behind each piece. No appointment needed, just come and say hello.
Sneak peek
What these pieces could look like on your wall.
Spirit of Essence
What You’ll See
$5,500
Kimberley I
The view from above the rugged land — amber, rust and gold pooling like sunlit floodplains and gorges.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Kimberley II
The same country from the air months later, in a gentler mood of rose, sage and soft ochre.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Mueller
Camping high on the Mueller Plateau: vast, rugged layers of weathered rock under an expansive Kimberley sky.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Carr Boyd
Rugged red earth, ancient rock and soft, luminous light. The raw, timeless beauty of the Kimberley.
Enquire about this piece →$14,500
Springs
After the wet, the springs fill: warm sandstone, emerald palms and crystal-clear water under dappled light.
Enquire about this piece →$2,200
Wunnamurra Gorge
Ochre, rust and deep green, where ancient rock faces catch the light and water winds through the gorge.
Enquire about this piece →$8,800
Endless Desert
A celebration of this vast, dusty island continent. Layer upon layer of red-brown country, painted over many weeks.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Gibb River Road I
Pulling into camp at dusk on the unmade Gibb River Road, as the dust turns the sky to colour. First in a series of four.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Gibb River Road II
Another dusk on the road, with dust and light lifting into the sky. Metallics make it shift as you move. Second of four.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Gibb River Road III
The end of a long day’s drive, the dust settling and the sky lit up in colour and light. Third of four.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Gibb River Road IV
The last golden moment before dark, when the dust and the sky become one. The final piece in the series.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Night Earth I
After dark, the red earth gives back the day’s heat, glowing by firelight with spinifex at the edge of the light.
Enquire about this piece →$1,800
Night Earth II
The fire burns low, your eyes adjust, and the grasses flicker gold and silver in the stillness of an outback night.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Pentecost
The Pentecost River’s flurry of wind, air, light and colour: the energy you feel moving through the landscape.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Windjana Gorge
Windjana Gorge from above, early in the day, showing the rich textures and thousands of colours of the Kimberley.
Enquire about this piece →$5,500
Ord After the Wet
A bird’s-eye view of the plateau beside the Ord River, in layers of ochre, green and gold.
Enquire about this piece →$9,900
Manning – Burnt
Late afternoon light on burnt bush near Manning: warm pinks, ochres and charred trunks, and the renewal that follows fire.
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Dry Lightning, Purnululu
A single strike on the ridge, and fire racing up the rock face before the thunder rolls through the Bungle Bungles.
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Beyond the Banks
An eagle’s-eye view of the wet season, when rivers stop respecting their banks and blue, green and lavender spill across the floodplain.
Enquire about this piece →Collectible original artworks
Studio Studies
Small original works on cotton paper, canvas and coloured paper, exploring the colour, texture and light of the Kimberley that runs through my larger paintings. Each is a unique, signed original, framed by Corban & Blair.
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Studio Study I (Kimberley)
Copper, rust and burnt orange, scattered with metallic gold, flecks of copper leaf and small bursts of bright green. It’s the red earth up close, the way the ground glitters when the late sun catches it.
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Studio Study II (Kimberley)
Red country laid out wide, dabbed with gold, lime green and dark scrub. A pale band of marks runs low across the page like a dry creek bed catching the light.
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Studio Study III (Kimberley)
A rose-pink sky over a scalloped ridge of orange and gold, falling into deep rust. Gold and green trails curl down through it, with copper leaf flashing like light on rock.
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Studio Study IV (Kimberley)
Upright strokes of charcoal, grey and white rise through rust and gold, like a stand of scrub against the red earth. Olive green and flecks of copper leaf catch the warm light breaking through the middle.
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Ember Ground
A warm gold glow burns at the heart of rust, crimson and dusky rose. Fine strokes of charcoal and white rise through it like grasses caught in firelight, the red earth holding its heat.
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Copper Country
From above, the scrub breaks into a patchwork of sage, olive, ochre and burnt orange. Copper leaf catches the light like sun on ironstone, with fine pencil lines tracing the tracks between.
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Gold Country
A companion view from the air, in deeper greens and grey-blue. Flecks of gold leaf glint across the scrub and dark outcrops, as if the land is lit from within.
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Last Light I
Rust, crimson and burnt orange crowd the page, with flickers of gold and charcoal rising through them like spinifex catching alight. A small, fierce study of country at last light.
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Last Light II
Late sun breaks through in pools of cream and gold, caught between hanging leaves of plum, mauve and grey-green. Dusk in the bush, when everything glows for a moment before dark.
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Among the Reeds I
Dense and immersive, this work places you inside the reeds rather than looking at them. Turquoise, deep blue and lilac marks twist upward through cool air, while greens and yellows ground the base, catching flecks of gold like late sunlight. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, layered loosely so the surface hums with movement, as if a breeze has just passed through.
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Among the Reeds II
Here the reeds open up to the sky. Ribbons of teal, cobalt and ochre rise and curl into a soft, hazy blue, lighter and more spacious than its companion piece. At the base, greens and yellows glow with flecks of gold. Acrylic and pastel on canvas, it captures that moment when the air clears and everything seems to be growing towards the light.
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Unfurling I
After the wet, everything moves at once. Dark vines twist and climb through warm sienna and ochre, while bright yellow-green leaves curl open along every branch. Flecks of red and grey catch between them like seed pods and bark. Layered in metallic paint, acrylic and pastel, the surface shimmers as the light shifts, alive with growth that can’t wait.
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Unfurling II
Here the growth hangs and drifts, fine tendrils of olive, silver and rust falling through a warm copper glow, like vines heavy with rain. Built in layers of metallic paint, acrylic and pastel, the surface catches light differently from every angle. It is the bush exhaling after the wet, soft, saturated and full of life.
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Between the Trees I
Orange dominates, but greens, yellows and greys push through the light, hinting at the bush that will return after the season is over. Acrylic and pastel on sienna paper, with fast, scribbled marks that capture the speed and noise of a ground fire.
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Between the Trees II
Three dark trunks stand firm while the bush around them catches. Pale ribbons of light curl between the trees, and the undergrowth flickers with orange, ochre, sage and yellow. Acrylic and pastel on sienna paper, the warm ground glowing through every gap, so the whole surface feels heated from beneath. A moment of stillness at the centre of something moving fast.
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First Light, Kimberley I
Dark trunks twist up through yellow and green, with thin white lines along the branches where the first sun catches the bark. Painted on gold canvas, so the warmth glows through every gap.
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First Light, Kimberley II
Fronds of deep green and lime rise in a tangle, and flakes of metallic leaf catch the light like dew drying in the early sun. A dark trunk anchors the left edge.
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First Light, Kimberley III
The warmest of the six. Streaks of rust and orange run through the greens, with flecks of metallic leaf scattered across the surface like morning light on the undergrowth.
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First Light, Kimberley IV
Loose, looping strokes of olive and bottle green curl over a pale gold ground, with broad flakes of leaf hanging like blossom. Open and airy, the bush just beginning to stir.
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First Light, Kimberley V
Grey-blue and teal sit with brown and green in a close thicket, and a scatter of metallic leaf glints near the centre where the light finds its way through.
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First Light, Kimberley VI
Ribbons of green, yellow and black fall like hanging leaves, with soft clusters of metallic leaf that shimmer as you move past. It closes the series of six morning studies.
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Ember Rain I
A small, intensely textured work where red, orange and metallic gold crowd the surface like embers still holding their heat. Fine streaks of white and black fall through the colour, part rain, part ash. Framed in a deep black shadow box, it carries the energy of a much larger painting, a single moment where fire and weather meet.
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Ember Rain II
Beneath a crust of cracked, bark-like texture, the colour refuses to cool. Crimson, orange and gold push up through deep maroon, while fine lines of white and black drift down the surface like smoke trails. Small in scale and set in a black shadow box, this is the quiet after the flare, when the fire has passed but the heat lingers.
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From the studio
Small can show a lot
I don’t often share my workings, but I’ve been encouraged to, so you can see how much goes into each piece before it emerges.
Up close, the detail of the outback shows its sheer magnificence. It is pixel by pixel that makes up the whole.
Original artwork · Sydney, Australia
Naomi Simson Art
Original acrylic works on Belgian linen and cotton paper — colour drawn from the Australian outback, reef and garden. Each piece is a signed original.
Signed originalsFramed in Australian oakEnquire to purchase
Artist statement
Why I paint
I’m Naomi Simson OAM, a Sydney-based contemporary Australian artist. As a young girl, I wanted to be an artist. Life took me down a different path, into a long and busy career in business, but I never stopped painting. For years my weekends have been spent at the easel, and with the encouragement of family, friends and fellow artists, I’m now sharing my work more broadly.
My brain is always busy. Painting is the one place it goes quiet. It’s like meditation for me. I can lose whole days in the paint. The studio is my happy place; without it I’d struggle to be calm and present, and if I go too long without getting to my paints, I start to feel it. I believe creativity is essential to being human.
Over decades I’ve developed a distinct painting style. I hear the rhythm as I listen to the earth and water around me, and that rhythm finds its way into my work. My paintings tell a story: I see something and I reimagine it. Light and colour dance.
The major works in this collection are inspired by the Kimberley in the far north west of Australia. I’ve travelled there many times with my husband, sketching on location and bringing home the colour, light and texture of that ancient country. Each painting takes weeks to create, and I work only with the highest quality materials.
I also take commissions, each delivered to the size and colour range requested, and interior designers refer me to help bring colour, life and vibrancy to a space.
I’ve shown at the Affordable Art Fair Melbourne, as a visiting artist at Hunt Leather in Balmain, and co-hosted a private event at the Dunne residence in Sydney. I’m grateful to artist Lara Scolari for welcoming me to Australian Soul gallery in Balmain for Spirit of Essence.
Alongside the larger works, I have a small collection of framed studio studies. Please ask if you’d like to see them.
The collection
For Collectors
$8,800
Night Desert
The moment the light drops away in the outback, and the colour of the scrub holds a little longer than the sky above it.
Enquire about this piece →$2,200
Spring
A garden caught mid-bloom — soft white and blush blossom breaking through fresh green and gold.
Enquire about this piece →$7,700
Tree Tops
The forest canopy of the Scenic Rim from above — deep green and teal over pockets of gold light.
Enquire about this piece →$8,800
Ripples
The cool clarity of reef rockpools — teal and turquoise cascading like light through shallow water.
Enquire about this piece →$9,900
Tropics (diptych)
A lush field of green rising into a cloud-streaked sky, painted across two canvases as a diptych.
Enquire about this piece →Most works are framed in Australian oak; sizes shown are the stretched canvas. To purchase, commission, or view a piece in person, get in touch.
Enquire about a piece →
Questions
About Naomi Simson’s art
Who is Naomi Simson the artist?
Naomi Simson OAM is a Sydney-based contemporary Australian artist and the founder of RedBalloon. She wanted to be an artist as a young girl, built a long career in business, and never stopped painting.
What inspires Naomi Simson’s paintings?
Her major works are inspired by the Kimberley in the far north west of Australia, which she has travelled to many times, sketching on location. Other works draw on the Australian outback, reef and garden.
Where can I see Naomi Simson’s work in person?
Naomi is exhibiting with artist Lara Scolari in Spirit of Essence at Australian Soul gallery in Balmain, Sydney, from 19 November to 13 December 2026. She will be Artist in Residence on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 November, 11am–2pm.
Can I buy or commission a painting?
Yes. Every work is a signed original, and Naomi takes commissions. Get in touch to purchase, commission, or view a piece in person, including her framed studio studies.
The collection
Recent Sales
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Lissadell Station
We visited this remote station south of Lake Argyle, where the vastness of the landscape and the fine red dust created an extraordinary palette of ochre, rust, gold and muted earth tones. The painting captures the quiet drama of this immense country—the heat, dust and endless horizon distilled into colour, texture and light.
This piece has found its home.
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Night Autumn
A fall of rust, coral and amber against a charcoal night — the last colour catching the light. Autumn always feels like the season holding its breath before winter, and I wanted this piece to sit right in that pause.
This piece has found its home.
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Night Jacaranda
A haze of violet and lavender jacaranda blossom against the dark, with silvered blue and blush. Jacaranda season in Sydney is so fleeting, and this was my way of holding onto it a little longer.
This piece has found its home.
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Rainforest from Above
From our time in Far North Queensland, this bird’s-eye view takes in the deep, tangled canopy below. I wanted to capture just how impenetrable and alive that forest feels from above, layer upon layer of green holding its own secrets.
This piece has found its home.
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Spring on Raw Linen
Painted on raw linen during a season when I was home in the studio a lot, this one captures our garden in Balmain in full bloom. It’s become one of my favourites for how much joy and colour came out of such a quiet, ordinary time.
This piece has found its home.
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Mist
Inspired by the haze of dust hanging over the cotton fields beyond Gunnedah, this piece holds that soft, in-between light you only catch early in the morning. There’s a stillness to it I still think about.
This piece has found its home.
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Beach Pebble Dance
This is the water’s edge at Oak Beach, where the froth and foam dance over the pebbles and catch the light. I love how something so small and ordinary can hold so much movement.
This piece has found its home.
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Desert Dunes
Brought back from the heart of the Red Centre, after a trip with my work team that stayed with me long after we’d flown home. The colour and scale of that landscape are impossible to forget, and I wanted this piece to hold a little of that.
This piece has found its home.
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Water World
Born out of endless walks along Sydney’s northern beaches, chasing the shifting nature of water and light on sand. It’s one of the largest pieces I’ve painted, and still one of the most meditative to have made.
This piece has found its home.
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Outback Spring
Inspired by early morning light breaking over the outback, when everything feels washed in gold before the heat of the day sets in. A quiet, hopeful piece.
This piece has found its home.
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Winter in the Australian Alps
Inspired by our many trips to Thredbo and Mount Kosciuszko, when fresh snow settles and sunlight sprinkles through with a delicate glow. This is one of my earliest large works, and still one of the pieces closest to my heart.
This piece has found its home.
Bespoke & personal
About Commissions
One of the great gifts of painting is meeting people who connect with my work — who tell me how it makes them feel, or what it stirs in them. People often ask about the “value” of a piece. The real question is simpler: does it give you joy, curiosity, energy? Does it make you feel something?
I love working with commission clients — understanding their space, and the colours, shades and textures they’re drawn to. With a commissioned painting, you choose the size, the frame, and have input into the palette, so the finished work is made for your space, not just placed in it.
Spirit Paintings
A client was moving into a new home right across from the sea, and wanted a set of paintings that would bring the spirit of the sea inside with her. They now hang in her living room, near the balcony, looking out over Melbourne Bay. Hearing her talk about that view, then finding the colours for it, was a real delight.
Global Citizen Series
Commissioned for a home in the mountains of Colorado. The windows already looked out to the peaks, but my client wanted round portals too — he felt the circle was the shape most in harmony with nature. Painting in the round was a genuine challenge, and one I loved taking on.
Whisper
This client had been to a few of my shows, but nothing quite fit her space in Bondi. What she wanted was simple: to feel the whisper of the ocean inside her home. It was one of the best briefs I’ve ever been given.
Every commission starts with a conversation about your space, your palette and what you want the piece to say. Sizes and frames are tailored to fit.
Enquire about a commission →Good to know
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Naomi Simson start painting?
Naomi has been painting for around 40 years, alongside a long career in business. For years her weekends have been spent at the easel, and the studio is still the place where her busy mind goes quiet.
Is Naomi Simson a self-taught artist?
Yes — she’s painted for decades alongside her business career, developing her own style without formal training.
How long has Naomi Simson been exhibiting?
For the last few years. After decades of painting mostly for herself, Naomi has shown as a visiting artist at Hunt Leather in Balmain, co-hosted a private exhibition in Balmain, shown at Australian Soul gallery and exhibited at the Affordable Art Fair Melbourne in 2026.
What medium does Naomi Simson paint in?
Acrylic on Belgian linen and cotton paper, mostly framed in Australian oak.
Where can I see Naomi Simson’s art now?
Spirit of Essence runs 19 November – 13 December 2026 at Australian Soul gallery, 46–48 Beattie Street, Balmain, alongside artist Lara Scolari. Naomi is Artist in Residence on 21–22 November.
How do I buy a painting or find out the price?
Every work is a signed original. Send an enquiry for pricing, to view a piece in person, or to talk about a commission.
Behind the scenes
Follow along on Instagram
I share works in progress, studio moments and new pieces as they happen — come and follow along.
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