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Artist & designer Didi La Baÿsse represents a smiling and free-spirited dab of French Polynesian influences in the heart of Far North Queensland’s World Heritage-Listed Rainforest. From her working atelier/showroom - Forest Art Gallery - in the rainforest village of Kuranda, a world-renowned tourist destination above the FNQ air and sea-port of Cairns. Didi, in her mid-30s, has already established an enviable Australian and international reputation as an artist............And it continues to grow. Her desirable acrylic paintings, generous with both strokes and humour, marry her rainforest surroundings with colourful Polynesian influences and a whimsical imagination. As well as her Fine Art paintings, Didi is also gifted with the knack of hand building 3D sculptures from terracotta, forming nude figurines and wildlife creatures to compliment her creativity. Incredibly, Didi handles the ever so delicate and prestigious silk textile, taught by Melbourne and Adelaide French Silk artist / designer "Marie France" Frater, among her early tutor. Didi is equally adept on cotton fabrics, favouring the heliographic sun printing technique to best convey the uniqueness of her Polynesian influences. The results on canvas and silks are often addictive, finding their way into many private collections in Australia and worldwide. Such as visiting celebrities; actress Glenn Close, Pamela Rabe and Director - Bruce Beresford have also snapped up their own personal Didi favourites. Eye catching examples of these works, alongside her paintings, is the Wandjina and the Hagberg Collection of silver and gold jewellery, which Didi manufacture’s on site. From delicate silks, practical cotton to Fine Arts, sculptures, silver/gold smithing..... Didi is truly diverse. If you haven’t already guessed, Didi La Baÿsse was born to French parents on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti. The spirit of Tahiti’s most famous Post-Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, and French Fauvist artist Henri Matisse could well have breathed on the little girl, such was to evolve her natural flair for bold simple structures and the use of brilliant colours on many of her canvasses. Didi’s parents moved her to Cannes, France, when she was five, and five years after that they immigrated to Australia. Though growing up in Australia, Didi’s education mixed her French, Australian and Tahitian influences, and after completing her studies she travelled often between these countries. She also was invited as a "guest artist" on board numerous Pacific cruise ships for the Holland American Line. Other artistic ventures included providing her originally designed silks and cotton textiles for fashion parades - from Cairns’ Pier Market place to Marchetti’s at Palm Cove , an Australian Miss Universe pageant in1996, Australian Tourism promotions and solo textile exhibitions. Her work has also featured heavily in Kuranda village’s own international promotional material. These days, the ever-smiling Didi can usually be found in her Kuranda gallery on Coondoo Street, a couple of blocks up from the Skyrail and train station., splashing paint about on yet another canvas, or simply wooing a new generation of customers.
“My mother is an impressionist artist. As far as I remember I grow up in a household among the perfumes of oil paints and linseed oil. Being surrounded by easels, sketch books, charcoal, and posed many times for my mother’s paintings and attended her art exhibitions. This is me at the age of five in Tahiti working at my new easel, given to me by my mother and I am still using it today to create my work.” Didi La Baysse 2007
Enjoy!!
This table will give you an idea of what is available, but please if you have any special queries let me know .....
[Prices available on request if not listed on web site...]
Copyright Didi La Baysse 2007
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Artist Profile 
