CreaTechArt in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia | Art Gallery

Welcome to CreaTechArt, Art Gallery, Surfers Paradise, Australia. CreaTechArt Studio & Art Gallery is proud to introduce you to the unique art of Jeff Gilberthorpe from Australia.  When my husband, Ulrich Buchholtz, and I first discovered Jeff’s vibrant, whimsical paintings full of little secrets and details and all of them full of bright and colorful hot air balloons, we walked past with a smile on our faces and thinking, “Only in Australia …..”.

The paintings were huge and filled the better part of an Art Gallery on the Gold Coast in Queensland, featuring only Australian artists. Around the paintings were hand crafted buildings, lifted by hot air balloons and a tropical island made of paper mache. It was bizarre, to say the least – how could this unconventional artist take up so much space at the gallery. In the coming weeks we would visit often and to our surprise, crowds of people would flock around Jeff Gilberthorpe as he was painting and recounting his tales of the balloon adventures.  One day, shortly after our move to Australia in 1997, with one of our children on my arm, I asked about Jeff and was shown the way to the second floor where he was teaching art classes. I joined the classes and soon found out that Jeff was also a gifted teacher. He would say, “Kirsten, everybody can paint – it is easy!”

This is where our paths began to merge and through all the ups and downs in the art world, the bright balloons have kept our dreams and beliefs floating in the sky.  As history goes, this was our beginning together. We opened a gallery in a warehouse, in an industrial area on theSurfers Paradise Gold Coast where Jeff was able to paint his magic onto huge canvases. During opening night, the Mayor of the Gold Coast officiated, we received a letter of support from the Premier of Queensland and Jeff was suspended from the ceiling in a hot air balloon basket that had been given to us by a hot air balloonist.

Over the past few years our journey has taken us far and wide, with many exciting opportunities – we have also learned that the art world is unique and filled with interesting people and situations.

At CreaTechArt we will pursue along our path to one day realize the dream we share together with Jeff Gilberthorpe.

Enjoy the journey and let us lift your imagination to new heights…