Design and Art Australia Online

painter and printmaker, was born Muriel Foote in Ipswich, Queensland. She acquired her lifelong nickname 'Mim’ during her formative years at the Presbyterian Girls College in Warwick. From 1930 to 1935 she attended Vida Lahey 's (q.v.) painting and drawing classes in Brisbane. She also studied pottery with L.J. Harvey in 1933. At Lahey’s suggestion, Mim moved to Sydney in 1935 to further her studies and absorb the latest European Impressionist influences. She attended Adelaide Perry’s School for Painting and Drawing. In 1937 she participated in an exhibition called “A Group of Young Painters’ at Macquarie Galleries. Included in the group exhibition were Vera Blackburn and Paul Haefliger . During this period she shared a studio in Daley Street with another former Lahey student, Rene (Toby) Williamson.

In 1938 Mim sailed to London. Whilst abroad she enrolled at Westminster Art School. She studied drawing with Meninsky, abstract painting with Enislie Owen, wood-engraving with Clifford Webb, drypoint and life drawing with Blair Hughes-Stanton and figure painting with John Howard. John Passmore and Eric Wilson were among the students in the painting class. During this period Mim also made sketching trips to Europe. With the outbreak of World War II, Mim was forced to return to Australia. Most of her paintings were left behind. The art school was closed and the buildings occupied by the army. Upon her return to Brisbane she exhibited with Ella Robinson (Fry, q.v.) and Vera M. Cottew in 1940. She was also asked to take over the arranging of the Friday lunch-time lectures at the Art Library in George Street. Lahey and Daphne Mayo , who had previously organised the lectures, received an Art Fund grant from the Carnegie Corp USA to raise money to purchase paintings for the Brisbane Art Gallery. From 1941 to 1945 Mim taught weaving, pottery, painting and art history at St Hilda’s Girls School which was situated at Stanthorpe during the War. In addition, in 1944 she taught part-time at Moreton Bay High School whilst also attending university. During this period Mim also taught weaving and design theory at the Red Cross and assisted with Lahey’s afternoon painting and drawing classes for children.

In 1945 Mim married James Graham Shaw, stepbrother of her old friend Rene Williamson. The following year they moved to Sydney where Graham worked as a biochemist at Superannuation Department, York Street. Together they had two daughters Helen Jane (born 1946) and Margaret Evelyn (born 1947). For her daughters she made toys such as jigsaw puzzles, hobbyhorses, dolls houses and leather comb-cases. Later she was to illustrate books for her grandchildren and their friends. After her marriage Mim signed her work 'M Shaw’ instead of 'M Foote’. However, illustrations, sketchbooks and cards were always signed 'Mim’.

Whilst in Sydney, Mim continued to strengthen her skills at Dora Sweetapple’s (q.v.) art school in Woollahra where she studied design and screen-printing. In 1957 she resumed teaching. Mim taught art at Queenwood Girls School in Mosman. Her husband died the following year, in 1958. She had been fortunate to have had a teaching career which enable her to support her young family. Three years after Graham’s death, she travelled England and Europe with her daughters visiting major art galleries and museums. Upon her return to Sydney, Mim resumed her teaching position at Queenwood. During the early 1960s she also taught art at Claremont Girls School in Coogee. Whilst Mim continued to teach, she also took the opportunity to be taught. She joined the screen-printing classes at the Workshop Art Centre, Willoughby, and in 1965 attended Phyllis Shillito’s Design Art School.

Due to family illnesses, Mim returned to Brisbane in 1971 and immediately joined the Half Dozen Group of Artists, which was located at St Mary’s Anglican Church, Kangaroo Point. The following year she became the group’s secretary and later Vice-President in 1974. From 1979 to 1982 she studied Fine Arts at the University of Queensland. Her lecturers included Nancy Underhill and Margaret Maynard. Mim’s desire to keep learning fuelled her interest in batik, which she later studied in Bali. In turn, Mim taught batik at The Half Dozen Group Studio. From the 1970s to 1989 Mim attended group painting sessions at The Half Dozen Group Studio and regularly exhibited in their group exhibitions. From 1987 to when her health began to fail in 1989, she attended Elizabeth Duguid’s art classes. Here she used acrylic and experimented with large still-life paintings.

During the 1970s and 1980s Mim travelled extensively visiting China, Russia, Italy, the United States of America, New Zealand and around Australia. She loved the Australian outback and travelled with art groups to Broken Hill, Cooper Pedy and central Australia. Along the way she made many sketches, notes and paintings. In 1985 she visited Kakadu in a group led by Clifton Pugh and in 1987 travelled to the Flinders Rangers with Jeff Makin.

In December 1989 Mim was admitted to Greenslopes Hospital with bowel cancer. She died at her Kangaroo Point home surrounded by family on 11 June 1990. In 1993 a retrospective of Mim’s art was held at The Half Dozen Group Studio in Kangaroo Point.

Mim Shaw lived life to the fullest. She was interested in everything and everyone. Her many interests included shells, geology, ballet, opera, music and travel. She believed art involved history, civilisation and religion. For Mim, art was a way of life.

For further information:

Photograph appeared accompanying an article by Dr Duhig. Women well known in the Art World in The Steering Wheel and Society Home, 4 May 1941 p 38. Meanjin Papers Contemporary Verse and Prose Vol 2. Number Three Spring 1942. Woodcut by Muriel Foote. L.J. Harvey and His School. Queensland Art Galley 1983 catalogue. p 101. Muriel Foote. Australian Studio Pottery and China Painting by Peter Timms. Muriel Foote p139.

Writers:

Collerton, E J
stokel

Date written:

1995

Last updated:

2008