There’s a moment, just before the sun crests the horizon, when the world pauses.
The colours are soft, the light is tentative, and everything feels touched by something ancient and still. It’s in these quiet, early hours that I find the greatest inspiration—not just for my painting, but for living.
Over the past year, I’ve been waking early, walking through wildflower trails and bush tracks in the Perth Hills, sitting with the shifting shadows in the Wheatbelt, and letting those moments of light seep into me. New Light is the result.
Opening this August 1st at Zig Zag Gallery, New Light is a deeply personal collection of oil paintings that explores the spiritual and meditative qualities of dawn. These works reflect not only landscapes I’ve walked through, but the emotional terrain of my own life: cycles of change, healing, and quiet beginnings.
Painting with Memory and Light
Many of the pieces in this series were painted not only from photographs, but from memory and feeling—the way light filters through the trees or the hush in the Wheatbelt as the sun stretches over freshly sprouted wheat fields. Some mornings were golden. Others were grey and quietly luminous.
What I aim to capture is that first touch of light—how it shifts colour, deepens shadow, and reminds us that even in the darkest stillness, change is always beginning. 
Why “New Light”?
I chose the title New Light because each piece in this exhibition is about possibility. A new perspective. A fresh breath. A softening. I captured a several subjects through my time documenting the sunrises from tiny wildflowers to large trees and salt lakes but the one thing all these subject have in common is the light.
Finding My Voice
This exhibition marks a point of growth in my creative practice – my debut into landscape painting. For years I have driven through the countryside, either off to paint a mural or heading back to visit my childhood home, and while on the road thought to myself how inspired I was. Then upon return to my studio I would try to channel that inspiration into bird, flower or other nature inspired paintings but it never seemed to truly translate.
It wasn't about purely representing nature but more engaging with its emotional and spiritual power. I had never considered myself a landscape painter. For some reason, I had been avoiding it, denying that calling. When I started exploring the theme of New Light and documenting my experiences at dawn, there was no way I could truly dive into the concept without delving into this new field. These are not just paintings of landscapes; they are invitations to pause and feel something.
Over the last months in the studio, I have found myself drawn back towards a more detailed and delicate form of realism. While my last collection, Pause, was reflective of a desire to expand my style and loosen up, this collection is more about getting back to myself. A re-awakening to the mediative magic that is pouring myself into the work and losing myself for hours in tiny brush strokes. These landscapes feature thousands of tiny leaves somewhat like my first collection of birds featured thousands of tiny feathers.
As a whole this collection feels like finally find my voice, or maybe just listening to it for the first time.
What You’ll See at the Exhibition
🖼 25–30 oil paintings, each exploring dawn light and its effect on trees, wildflowers, and familiar Australian bushland
🌄 Scenes inspired by WA’s Wheatbelt, Perth Hills, Kalamunda, and more
🎨 A rich, earthy palette designed to bring warmth and serenity into the space
🧘♀️ A meditative experience—one I hope offers calm and reflection to all who visit 
Event Details
Exhibition Title: New Light
Artist: Tammi de Rooy
📍 Location: Zig Zag Gallery, 50 Railway Rd, Kalamunda
🗓 Dates: 1-24 August 2025
🎉 Opening Night: 6-8pm August 1st 2025 — All welcome
🎟 Entry: Free but tickets are limited. 👉 Book Your Free Tickets
Can’t make it in person? I’ve created a full digital catalogue so you can experience the exhibition from wherever you are. Simply sign up to the VIP Collectors Club to recieve it directly to your inbox.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re a fellow early riser, a lover of nature, or simply someone looking for a moment of stillness in a busy world, I hope New Light offers something meaningful to you. These works are gentle reminders that beauty is often found not in loud moments, but in the quiet, slow unfolding of the day.
I can’t wait to share this with you.
With warmth,
Tammi x
