Leaving a Legacy with Glenda Borchard
Combining fine art, nostalgia and the magic of a second chapter, Jodie Cameron meets the artist behind our classic winter cover…
I have always been a romantic at heart – the kind who believes serendipity can play cupid and the stars can align simply because the universe decides two souls are meant to find each other. So, when my Editor-in-Chief briefed me on this story, I was quietly hoping for one of those love stories. Winding through the Yandina Creek hinterland on my way to meet our front cover artist, I found myself on one of those drives that feels like they’re taking you somewhere before you even arrive. I pondered the subjects in Glenda Borchard’s paintings – the elegant figures caught in moments of quiet grace – wondering what it must be like to share your days with someone who truly gets your kindred soul, because they have one too.
Walking into the home Glenda shares with her husband, fellow artist and graphic designer David Hughes, I had my answer. Art adorned every wall, handmade upholstered furniture featured Glenda’s work, and every surface told a story – set amongst a backdrop of the Sunshine Coast that stretched out like a landscape in itself. Having lived a rich life, Glenda is standing exactly where she should be. A beautiful second chance – two passionate artists who found each other, rediscovered their purpose, and gave themselves permission to spend the rest of their lives doing exactly what they love, together.
For Glenda, her passion started early – first falling in love with the nostalgic world as a child on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The women in her paintings, caught in the sophisticated moments of the 1950s, carry a piece of her mother in every brushstroke.
“I’ve always stayed in my heart with nostalgia, the simplicity of the fifties and sixties and my childhood memories,” Glenda says.
Growing two young boys, Glenda’s journey to the canvas was a mindful and purposeful one. With fine arts courses unavailable while living regionally in Cambewarra, near the picturesque Kangaroo Valley on the NSW South Coast, she turned to ceramics – spending seven years running a professional studio, crafting large platters and forms. But it was always the decorating that called to her most.
“In the end I thought, I need to make a transfer onto canvas – all I want to do is paint,” she says.
And paint she did. Mentored by renowned Australian artist Neil Cuthbert, Glenda developed a strong artistic career across the South Coast, Sydney and Canberra, exhibiting in associated galleries before her love of sharing knowledge led her toward teaching.
“I love teaching young people how to talk about art, and the language of understanding what holds your gaze,” Glenda says.
But teaching, as rewarding as it was, came at a cost. It’s hard to paint full time when you are pouring yourself into others. So, it took a chance encounter, a global pandemic, and a retro poster artist named David Hughes to change all of that.
“Meeting David and retiring from teaching gave me the opportunity to return to full time painting,” she said. “It’s my time now. It’s rare for an artist to settle on one complete style for their entire life, and my technique has been a big exploration through the decades, but I now feel very content building my legacy as a fine artist.”
David and Glenda’s love story unfolded as effortlessly as the woman gracing our radiant Winter cover – chic, unhurried and undoubtedly their own. During the uncertainty of the pandemic, the two widowed artists found each other online, Glenda in Kiama, on the NSW South Coast and David in Inverloch, Victoria. What followed was a courtship that Glenda says felt like it belonged to another era entirely.
“It was like a teenage relationship, right back to our youth,” she says. “It was predominantly email and then eventually Zoom, which I dreaded.”
But when you know you know. Within months David had proposed, and Glenda said ‘yes’. What neither realised at the time was just how much they had in common beyond their initial connection. Both carried 40 years of experience, and remarkable careers behind them, each humbly holding something back.
“Neither of us fully understood our art backgrounds at that point,” David says. “I didn’t know Glenda was this good, she was very humble about it.”
Marrying in Brisbane and honeymooning on the Sunshine Coast, they wanted to find a home they could make their own. However, the property market was moving faster than they could keep up with. But fate intervened – a house not yet on the market, a motivated seller, a tip from a real estate agent’s son and a quick-thinking offer solidified the deal.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that Glenda’s nostalgic world has found a natural home on the Sunshine Coast. Sharing a love of classic cars with David, the vintage charm and glamour of her work has earned commissions that speak to the same community of collectors and enthusiasts who gather at Noosa Concours d’Elegance on Hastings Street every July.
“I love painting the classic cars and I’ve had several commissions for them” she says.
Settling into their Yandina Creek home, surrounded by sweeping coastal views and the freedom most artists only dream of, something began to shift. The first two years were a honeymoon – getting to know each other, discovering their community, and slowly, beautifully, realising what they could build together.
“There’s nothing to prove to anybody now,” Glenda says. “This is 100 per cent passion, the client is us.”
Though they share a studio, a home and a life, Glenda and David are parallel artists, not collaborators. Glenda paints the world she remembers, sees and feels. David researches, adds narratives, contextualises and layers timeless typography to bring nostalgic moments to life as vintage posters.
Fiercely supportive of each other’s individual vision, they have built something rare – two distinct voices that are stronger simply for existing alongside each other. As Glenda continues painting her legacy, one canvas at a time, somewhere in the background her biggest champion is watching on, quietly certain he always knew she was this good.
DISCOVER GLENDA
Discover works by Glenda at Montville Art Gallery, Red Hill Gallery, Brisbane and online. Explore her creative process as part of Open Studios Sunshine Coast from 17 – 26 July or visit www.gborchard.com
WIN!
Glenda is giving away a framed satin print of Freefall from her Vintage Series valued at $260 to one lucky reader! Simply visit out WIN page for your chance to win!
