Bulletin - Vol 8 No. 4 July/August 2005

The artist with passion for lighthouses - Julie Carstairs

By Denise Shultz, President LoA Inc & Prism Editor

“It is very hard work to create these sculptures, any sculpture, sometimes you just have to stop to avoid developing repetitive strain injury”, explains Warrnambool artist Julie Carstairs while we are standing in her spacious light-flooded art studio overlooking Hopkins River.

Many lighthouse enthusiasts would be familiar with Julie's work. Her lighthouses can be found in many souvenir shops and resorts in coastal towns with proximity to lighthouses. Julie’s lamps are modelled on real lighthouses and carved out of coralline limestone. The "lantern room" is formed by glass plates joined together with strips of lead and equipped inside with a pilot globe.

Julie studied Art and Design at Monash University in Melbourne, where she also later worked as a graphic designer. She moved with her family to Warrnambool in 1989.

“I realised that I could not sit behind a computer any more, so I did the course and became an artist. I like both painting and sculpture, the sculpture however, is a lot more difficult.“ 

Now a mother of three and full-time artist, Julie does not confine herself to just sculpting lighthouses, though they probably are the most commercially successful part of Julie’s work. Other examples of her art are on display throughout her house and garden, with paintings and sculptures of anything from sea birds to seahorses, seals and whales. Julie’s favourite painting medium is pastel but she enjoys just as well the challenge of watercolour and oil.

The first lighthouse sculpture Julie has ever created was, not surprisingly, the Warrnambool Upper Light, which stands in the grounds of the Flagstaff Maritime Museum. Encouraged by the museum manager, she moved on to re-create nearby Port Fairy lighthouse followed by Cape Nelson. From then on, every family holiday spent on the coast included another lighthouse and resulted in another “first” prototype. Today Julie’s mini lighthouse collection counts 45 and ranges geographically from South Australia’s Kangaroo Island to Queensland’s Double Island Point.

"My favourite lighthouse is Split Point because of its beautiful shape and form and Macquarie, it almost looks like the Taj Mahal.”

Julie carves her lighthouses from a single block of Mount Gambier limestone carefully selected for shape. She uses either a photograph or a plan to keep to the proportions. Some lighthouses are easier to carve than others. The most difficult are the ones with attached buildings, like Macquarie, or outside staircases. Because the limestone that Julie uses is actually a compressed sediment consisting of tiny shells of sea organisms from Cretaceous era, sometimes she is awarded with a beautiful fossil of a larger shell, even shark’s tooth. Julie has a little collection of them.

All the lighthouses are carved entirely by hand and as a result, no two are ever the same. Their little imperfections make them unique. Julie rarely paints her sculptures, but there are a few exceptions, like Queenscliff Black, Gabo Island or Hornby lighthouses, where the colour is the most recognised feature and an integral part of the lighthouse character.

The sculpting is a dusty affair and takes place in Julie’s garage. It takes three days of strenuous sawing, rasping and sanding to shape the material. Then there is the electric component (already made) to be added, as well as the lead glass lantern and balcony railings.

The final result is appreciated by many and not only around Australia - few of her model lighthouses even found their way overseas to England and America.

The lighthouses available in Julie's catalogue are as follows:

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