Sisters Julia Roche and Jacqui Meyers explore their artistic talents in Wagga Wagga

Julia Roche, 36, is an interpretive landscape artist who works in a 100-year-old shearing shed on her family’s property at Mangoplah, 40 kilometres from Wagga Wagga. She moved back home from Sydney four years ago with her husband Mick and three children — Rosie, six, Jimmy, five, and three-year-old Francesca — and in this rural environment she creates dramatic, fluid scenes in acrylics and oils, often leaving the canvases out in the elements to allow nature to add its own unique mark.

Her sister Jacqui ‘Jacko’ Meyers, 40, lives in Wagga Wagga with her husband Kane and is a popular artist and performer with The Art Factory, a studio that supports the professional development of artists living with disability. Jacqui creates quirky portraits and pop culture references in acrylics and other media; is a prolific jewellery maker; performs in dance, theatre and experimental art; and has featured in documentaries and short films.

JULIA: We grew up on the family property with our brother William. Jac was the older sister and the leader; I just followed her around. We really enjoyed playing together and both liked sport and creating. We’d go to school on the bus together; we’d come home together. We were just great mates. After I finished school, a friend and I spent a gap year helping build a hospital in Tanzania in Africa before coming back to study at Sydney College of the Arts. I don’t think Jac missed me too much: we were always good at writing letters and had those phone plans where you could call each other for free after 9pm.

There have been challenging times. Jac has a particular interest in famous people and TV soaps and sometimes those scenarios inhabit her reality so we have to gently bring her back. There were also times when I was quite aware I was growing up with a sister with a disability. But when my brother was in his mid-teens he really celebrated Jacqui and took her along to parties and his college ball. That was an inspiring, influential time, and helped me make a conscious decision to incorporate everything she stands for in my life as well.

Jac likes to remind us she was the first one to get married. We both played an important role in each other’s weddings. I was one of Jac’s bridesmaids and it was gorgeous. Jac and Kane went to school together and he’s incredible. Like all relationships, they have their ups and downs, but they really balance each other.

Jac is naturally a very creative person. She’s interested in colour, shapes and patterns and investigates all sorts of media. She pushes me to be more authentic with my practice because she has no limitations. Once you are art trained and influenced by commercial factors it’s hard to let go of those constraints. I think her practice helps keep me grounded and looking for connection.

Our first collaboration was a group show at the Wagga Art Gallery called 8 Artists, where four artists with a disability were linked with four emerging artists. Jacqui and I worked on a series of mixed media tiles called ‘Patterns for Sister’. More recently, we created a family portrait in ceramics as part of my 2020 independent exhibition ‘Works From a Foggy Year’. It was great fun and very well received.

JACQUI: When we were little, we would swing together, play with dolls in our big doll’s house and we shared a bedroom. We had lots of pets and Mum and Dad bought me a horse called Hercules. He was a thoroughbred. Julia wasn’t crazy about horses; she liked her painting.

I was second oldest and a bit of a leader, especially when Mum and Dad split up when I was about 12. When Julia and Will went away to boarding school I went to Kurrajong Park [now called Willans Hill School] and was school captain two times. Sometimes I’d miss her, but I went to visit her and Will in Sydney. I liked going to Bondi and seeing famous people. One day Will took me to Summer Bay [the location of her favourite TV show, Home & Away] and I saw Alf. Julia also took me clothes shopping and out for lunches.

I got married when I was 27. My wedding was very emotional: I had been dreaming of it ever since seeing weddings on TV. Our honeymoon was at Port Macquarie. I was the MC with Will at Julia’s wedding… I did a great job and Julia and Mick are a good couple.

My passion is my art and doing exhibitions. I’ve done Artstate [a project showcasing regional artists] and I did mixed media. I danced with The Leisure Company [a local not-for-profit organisation providing recreation, leisure and lifestyle opportunities] and I was an ambassador for the Don’t DIS
My ABILITY awareness campaign.

I liked it when Julia was in Sydney but I loved it when she came back. We have family time together; we watch the footy together — I like the Geelong Cats and Canberra Raiders. Julia’s family is good to her and I love my nieces and nephews: I like helping at bath time, reading books with them and last weekend we had a bonfire and cooked marshmallows. I also like going away with Julia and Will to the beach.
Julia is an incredible artist. I like watching her paint and I enjoy working with her and making the clay figures. She’s a good cook, she supports me and is a good mum. Her kids are a bit of a handful for me sometimes but we hug a lot.

See more of Julia’s work at on her website and her Instagram. Jacqui’s work is at The Art Factory Supported Studio.

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