Design and Art Australia Online

painter, illuminator, illustrator, weaver, potter, leather-worker, embroiderer, jeweller and enameller, was born in Leicester, England. She gained a Diploma of Arts and Crafts at the Manchester College of Art on a scholarship (1915-18), then spent three years working as a designer for a Lancashire firm of textile printers until marrying the Queensland pastoralist Andrew Pedersen in 1921. They came to live on a property outside St Laurence, from which she published some cartoons in the Sydney magazine Aussie in the 1920s. Lilian revisited England in 1925-26. On her return she settled at Emerald and continued to produce cartoons, as well as making weavings which she exhibited at local shows.

In 1936 Lilian Pedersen lived in Brisbane in order to take refresher courses with Martyn Roberts and L.J. Harvey at the Central Technical College. She produced pottery in 1936-40 and became a member of the Arts and Crafts Society of Queensland. She was noted for the variety of her exhibits at the annual exhibitions in 1937-40; needlework pictures, pottery, tapestry chairs, leatherwork, weaving and illuminated manuscripts were all mentioned in 1939. She exhibited weavings, pewter, embroidery and illuminations in the Queensland display at the NSW Society of Arts and Crafts in 1940. Independently in 1941 she showed seven illuminations; one of her illuminated books was included in the Elisabeth S öderberg Memorial exhibition in 1948. She exhibited with the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association (Qld) in 1937-38 and with the Australian Watercolour Institute (Sydney) from 1951.

Pedersen’s role in Queensland arts organisations was just as significant. With Mona Elliott, she founded the Half Dozen Group of Artists at Brisbane in 1941 and acted as Honorary Secretary for 31 years. The photograph of Lilian with her illuminations and Mona with her pots was taken at the Group’s inaugural exhibition, and she continued to show her craftwork and oil and watercolour paintings at the annual exhibitions until 1955. Under her direction it actively promoted art and craft in Queensland; the L.J. Harvey Drawing Prize was established in 1951 and she acted as organising secretary for the exhibitions 'Queensland Artists of Fame and Promise’ in 1955-63. In 1975 she established the biennial Andrew and Lilian Pedersen Memorial Prize for printmaking, drawing and small sculpture administered by the Queensland Art Gallery. The Gallery reciprocated. In 1982 Lilian Pedersen was presented with its inaugural Trustees’ Medal for distinguished services to art in Queensland.

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R.

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2011