Although the pressure of creating art for NCEA at school left Stacey Moore keeping her creativity as a hobby, at the beginning of 2022, she got back into painting. In 2023 she then left her part-time teaching job to take the leap of faith and pursue her dream of painting full time.
Stacey pursued a career in Early Childhood, studying a Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education and has spent the last thirteen years teaching. “Over this time I engaged in various arty projects in my spare time but once I became a mother I didn’t create much art. I got back into painting at the beginning of 2022 when my youngest child was three years old. As a perfectionist I felt prompted by God to let go of my fear of failure before I started painting again, which I did and I’ve been painting freely ever since.”
Originally from Pukekohe and now based in Whangarei, Sonya Prchal has always loved art and has drawn and painted from a young age. “I started working with textiles in 2003 and first entered works in our National Quilt Symposium in Wellington in 2009. When four of my works sold, I was encouraged to create more and started teaching fabric painting and stitching at the next Quilt Symposium in Queenstown, at subsequent symposia and tutoring classes throughout New Zealand.”
Sonya has always managed to fit in daily practice in her studio, but has only recently been creating on a full time basis. “I love making works that draw in an audience and start a discussion. I enjoy commission work, and take great pleasure seeing joy on the faces of people when they receive their favourite pet replicated with thread.”
Born in Kuala Lampur, and immigrating to New Zealand at the age of six, with his family, Iwen Yong has never formally trained as an artist. “I have never had any formal education in art and no one in my family (extended and immediate) have had any experience in the creative field so it was hard to bridge that gap. Growing up I would never consider art as a profession (more of a hobby) so it was a tough decision to give up a stable income and career aspirations to take a risk and pursue art full time."
Iwen grew up in Maungaraki, Lower Hutt and went to Puketiro primary, Hutt Valley high school and then Victoria university. “I went to university to study accounting and commercial law and then I qualified and worked as a chartered accountant. While at work one day I drew a picture of my dog, Gus, on the whiteboard. An older lady who was an artist asked my boss Marie who the artist was. She approached me and asked if I had ever tried oil painting. Growing up I wasn’t really exposed to the arts and I didn’t even know what a canvas was. She offered to bring her student grade oil paints for me if I wanted to give it a try. I was reluctant at first but I found it relaxing and I really enjoyed the creative process. However, accountancy is quite different from pursuing a career in fine arts.”
Other than art lessons while at school, Bryony Bedggood is a self taught artist who has always been drawn to creative pursuits such as dance, music, writing, and of course, art. “Our Mum studied art in Dublin and our Dad played guitar and was a wonderful influence in taking time to stop and really see things. They always encouraged my siblings and I to follow what we loved doing.”
Creating is what makes Bryony happy, “I feel very off kilter if I’m not creating. I’ve had a few different careers with a high element of stress, also interesting life experiences that have contributed to me wanting to focus on my art.” Being an artist gives her the freedom to explore all the different things that excite her. “I have way too many ideas floating around my head to not follow through! Sometimes I definitely feel like there isn’t enough time to cover or discover all the ideas in my head!” She also plays flute and piccolo in a couple of orchestra and chamber groups.
Self-taught artist Ashley McDonald was published in a ‘Youth Art’ article in The New Zealand Artist Magazine in July August 2016, and has continued on with her remarkable journey. Seven years later she catches up with us and in her own words, tells us her story.
My artistic journey began by accident. When I was in my early teens I would paint and draw for school homework (or just for fun). I’d draw things I was interested in - such as birds and fish. One day I painted a portrait of my pet Siamese fighting fish. I posted the end result online to a group of tropical fish enthusiasts. Almost immediately I had comments asking me whether I would take commissions and if I could ship internationally. It was quite overwhelming, as I was in my early teens at the time - I had no idea if I could even send art outside of New Zealand. My first commissioned piece was completed at age 15 and was shipped to the United Kingdom. My artistic career snowballed from there. Once my first commission arrived in the UK, the owner posted the piece online, bringing more queries and future commissions. Before this, I had never thought about selling my artwork.
“I want to say I had formal art training at school, but what did school teach anyone apart from how to prepare yourself to be short on cash. Art was something that I always did that cost me next to nothing that I could learn alone and in my own way, so no, no formal training.”
It’s hard for Wake to pinpoint how he ended up being an artist. “Anyone who does anything slightly creative is an artist to me, but to define it to something more specific, I started to take it seriously when a friend of mine made a social media page for me around the end of 2020, to exhibit and possibly sell some pieces. A couple of years ago, I would never have dreamed of people wanting to pay actual money for the things I draw. However, I sold a piece to a guy all the way in the USA which I’m pretty proud of, it’s very humbling.”
Painting in oils is a common enough practice, although before oils really became popular and were readily available, tempera was the painting medium of choice. Veronique Tatoue is passionate about this medium. She also does mosaic work when she finds the time. Tempera is a method of painting with pigments typically dispersed in egg yolk. The method was used in Europe for fine painting, mainly on wood panels, from the 12th or early 13th centuries until the 15th, when it gave way to oils. Perhaps it is apt that the old European style attracted a young French painter, who now resides in Christchurch. Veronique has given herself a pseudonym ‘Chaveron’ after her grandfather, Charles, a painter himself. Painting with tempera has ties back to Europe, Byzantine art. “All my life I have painted, but I started to paint with tempera because I started painting Byzantine icons from 1990. A nun taught me for three months then after this I continued learning by myself. “My biggest motivation is my passion for what I am doing – it is different and tempera is an old technique, a very long process and you must be patient and take your time.” Byzantine icons are religious work sof art, deep in the culture of traditional churches, with subjects including Christ, the Virgin Mary, and various saints and angels. “I have painted 13 icons at ‘the cross station’ in the town of Sanary sur Mer, in France in 2000,” she says. She also uses gesso when preparing each canvas. This is a time-consuming practice.
After graduating from the Dunedin School of Art, Invercargill-born Nic Tucker spent a few decades teaching Visual and Performing Arts, before deciding she wanted to be a full-time artist. Her medium is complex and very interesting. Nic is accomplished at woodcut printing. “I love the creative freedom. Printmaking has a particular magic to it. You can draw up the image in reverse (as it is in my case, landscape) and carve it but it is not until you ink and print it up that you know what it will look like. This is the magic part for me in the process.” Having had a range of exhibitions around NZ from Invercargill to Whangarei and cities/towns in between, she has gained art awards in a range of mediums but her love of carving wood and printing seems to have the biggest hold on her. “I have currently finished a series of four small works that will be part of The Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand’s Small Print Exhibition that will travel around New Zealand.” As a team, Nic and her husband Craig had to work really hard to pay off their mortgage to be able to take the risk of Nic being a full-time artist, to develop a body of work and have her works in galleries around New Zealand, to maintain their lifestyle. “My husband is a full-time frame maker for my works and is my backbone. He mounts my works and makes fitted boxes for the prints that are sent all over New Zealand as well as internationally. We are both tremendously lucky to have incredibly supportive parents that have helped over the years and supported us in our goals.
First featured in TNZAM Series 1, Issue 4 Volume 4, Lynne Sinclair Taylor has come a long way in the past five years. She is a self-taught artist who, before the internet was available, had many visits to the library to gain knowledge from art books on techniques and to be inspired by looking at art. Having always been creative and drawing for as long as she can remember, Lynne won prizes as a child for colouring in and drawing. Amongst the art-related positions she has held, the one she enjoyed most was being a fashion illustrator as advertising manageress for a department store. Designing and making her own clothes for many years, she also won prizes in fashion design. Because of her love for drawing and painting, it seemed a natural progression to begin painting. “I am a realist at heart and I began with drawing and painting people’s portraits. When I was on a ferry on the Mediterranean in my youth, I started sketching people and before I knew it, I had people requesting their portraits and ended up sketching nine portraits!” Early in her career, inspiration came from Rembrandt’s use of light and shade, Monet’s techniques and use of colour, and particularly the Fauvists for their creative use of colour. “There are many artists I admire today, too many to name. I went on my own journey with different mediums and technique and I had a passion for chalk pastels for a number of years. I also ventured into impressionism, expressionism, and abstracts. “When I first started painting seriously about 25 years ago I entered a few competitions and won five first prizes in the first five years. When I won the overall prize at the Royal Easter Show in Auckland they rang me a couple of days before the prize-giving to see if I would be present. I said I wouldn’t be attending and they strongly recommended that it would be in my best interest to attend, which I did. It was a wonderful surprise to take the overall prize. My first exhibition was in an Auckland gallery in Devonport and I was so encouraged when most of the paintings sold in one week.”
If ornithology is the study of birds, it’s a difficult task to describe the sketches of Hannah Shand, as she takes the studying of these magnificent winged creatures one step further, by putting pen to paper and recreating them. On looking deeper, it’s apparent Hannah takes things to another level with her beautiful bird artwork. The story of why and how for Hannah is one that doesn’t take a traditional path. As much as study was a part of her life at one point it wasn’t art, but another area of education entirely – fashion. “I studied at Massey University in Wellington, completing a four-year Bachelor of Design, majoring in fashion. I was working in the fashion industry and was drawing in my evenings, weekends, and even on the hour-long train ride to and from work. My social media accounts for my art were growing, and with encouragement from my partner I started making prints and originals available. Social media has been an incredible way to promote and share my art, and having that audience enabled me to take the leap to being a full-time artist nearly two years ago.” And take the leap she did, taking the chance to combine her love of birds and sketching. “I love meeting birds, being out in nature and taking photos. It’s always really exciting to go to a new predator-free island or sanctuary and see a new bird for the first time, doing what I love every day! Helping conservation groups is very rewarding, and I enjoy sharing the things I love with those who are also passionate about birds and art.” Her current project played right into her hands, taking the opportunity to be a part of an upcoming exhibition with other like-minded artists in an exhibition. Birds of a feather, perhaps?
