Brett Mon Garling is an award-winning sculptor and plein-air landscape artist and the man behind the five Hall of fame Sculptures.
He started sculpting when he was a kid.
His mother was a painter and a potter and would often follow her around the opal fields of Lightning Ridge carving into the soft sandstone with a butter knife.
Brett Garling gained the nickname of ‘Monster’, at age five, due to his fascination for anatomy and 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.
Born in Pambula, Mon’s work is influenced by his childhood in rural towns, such as, Lightning Ridge, Narrabri and Dubbo where his love of the bush and it’s characters were nurtured.
Mon strives to find the presence and character in his subjects, breathing life into his work, transforming clay and paint into a vital living form.
A fascination for the technical aspects of casting his sculptures in bronze led Mon to establish his own foundry in conjunction with his art gallery, Garling Gallery in 2004.
This allowed him to have a permanent collection of both his paintings and sculpture on display.
He established the Garling Gallery in 2004 along with his own foundry and sculpture gardens to create a permanent exhibition space for his work.
Located in the village of Wongarbon, near Dubbo, the Garling Gallery is housed in a 100 year old restored shopfront and well worth a visit to view the many paintings on display and wander through the sculpture garden.
Widely regarded as an expert in the field of sculpture and casting, Mon 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.
Mon has had over forty group and solo exhibitions and is an exhibiting member of the Sculptors Society and The Australian Plein-Air Artists Group.
As a multi-award winning artist and sculptor, Mon’s work is held in both private and corporate collections worldwide.
Garling was given the job to of sculpting the Inaugural Bulldogs Hall of Famers by Simon Symond from The Sydney Art Gallery.
Mon had five weeks to get the sculptures ready for the Bulldogs 80th Anniversary Gala dinner and did see it as a challenge.
“I’m never one to back down from a challenge.
“I took it on and sculptured five bust in record time,” said Garling.
Growing up and following league, certainly made the job a little easier for Mon.
“It’s a hard thing to work of photographs, but growing up following football and the likes of Terry, George and Steve compared to Les and Eddie made it easier.”
Garling Gallery is open Wednesday to Friday 10am - 4pm and Saturday 10am - 1pm or by appointment.
A special thank you to Simon Symond from The Sydney Art Gallery for helping the Bulldogs get in contact with Brett ‘Mon” Garling who has put together five amazing Sculptures.
