WINDOWS TO THE SOUL

Gaining her Bachelor of Fine Art at Whanganui Quay School of the Arts (now Whanganui UCOL) between the years of 2002-2005, Bernadette Ballantyne was born into a family of creatives and maintains it’s in her blood. With a family of potters, musicians, singers, dancers, Bernadette always knew that art would have something to do with her career. “On leaving high school, I was actually applying and had been accepted into two different universities to do a teaching degree, and it was my cousin, who was at the time completing her Bachelor of Fine Art in Whanganui, who talked me into going for Fine Arts instead. That decision totally changed my life.”

Her biggest motivating factor to pursue a career as an artist is her children. “I had been teaching primary school for 13 years and it served me well. It allowed me to travel the world and have the freedom to move where I wanted to. But teaching is not an appealing profession for those with families anymore.

The hours are too long, and the mental strain leaves you no energy for your family. After having my first born in 2019, I knew that I did not want to teach full time anymore, and this actually was a blessing in disguise as it meant that my art was brought to the forefront. The art world can be very hard to forge when starting out. “Being able to get my work into galleries and be producing enough to continue learning, crafting and honing my skills is near impossible without a second job. The catch 22 here is that when you have a second job, your time to create is minimised.”

In October 2023, Bernadette won a Merit Award at the Tasman National Art Awards with her painting ‘Kiwi Kid’ pictured here:

Kiwi Kid. Merit Award from Tasman Art Awards 2023 – Bernadette Ballantyne

Nature and all things living are the inspiration that feeds her soul. “I’ve always held a fascination with the living body and the natural world. Most of the work that I do at the moment is through commissions of people, pets and family portraits. When I do get a chance to hit an original though it remains within the natural world.”
She follows a variety of pastel artists online to gain inspiration and tips on how to hone her skill set in this new medium, as she’s only been using soft pastels since July 22. “I love being able to create something that evokes emotion. The portraits that I do in particular, are often met with joy and happy tears on completion. I love enabling memories to be captured and brought back to life.”

Currently, most of the work she produces is through commissions so her big goal is to be able to maintain her portrait business but have more time to also create her own original work more frequently. “In 2005, I actually won the NZ Emerging Artist of the Year award. This was in the final year of my BFA and was a huge accomplishment for me (it only took me 18 years to ‘emerge’ haha). But to be honest, being able to resign from my teaching degree and finally become a fulltime, successful artist in 2022 would have to be one of my proudest moments. “I recently took part in a wee event called ‘Art in the Cafe’, where a few other local artists and I took our crafts to different cafes around Morrinsville. Art can ultimately be quite a solitary affair, so it was absolutely lovely to meet people and for them to put a face to the artwork they have been seeing online.”

‘Ziva’ – 280 x 360mm. Soft pastels

Mistakes are part and parcel of any trade, and it is just so with Bernadette: “I make mistakes everyday within each drawing, so in small bites I am learning everyday as I hone my skills. In the larger picture, I think I’ve recently learned a lot and am still learning about the fickle marketing system that is social media. Unfortunately, in today’s world, I believe social media is something we all need to learn how to use and utilise to get our art seen by as many people as possible.”

Bernadette’s favourite subject is animals; “I do love drawing the animals that I have made my name with. The eyes, the windows to those beautiful souls, are definitely my favourite part.”
She is currently working with soft pastels but before she moved into portraits, acrylic paint was her favourite medium: “I seem to have found my niche with pastels. With toddlers around interrupting, I needed to move to something less messy than paint, and in which I could work on in small stints. I recently discovered pencil extenders! I wish I’d known about these when I was teaching!”

When she is working on a new piece, she transfers a sketch from a reference photo onto pastel paper and she starts by building up layers of colour in the background using pastel sticks. “Then going in with the pastel pencils, I usually start with the darker areas and build up details and highlights slowly. I use Clairefontaine Pastelmat paper – the best paper I have found for pastels. With a soft grit it allows many layers of pastels to build up. I use a range of pastel pencils including Faber Castell, Derwent and Generals. My pastel sticks are usually Rembrandt and Mungko.”

Rather than music, Bernadette listens to podcasts when she is creating. “I’ve just started listening to podcasts recently and have been delving into all sorts from growing a business, to other artists and their journeys, to podcasts directed at women.” Her free time is spent with her two children, aged 4 and 2, and her partner Russel. For new artists she advises: “Don’t give up! It took me 18 years to be able to go full time, but it did eventually happen.”

She has sold and given work to family and friends, both here and in Australia, and recently enjoyed her first sale to a customer in the USA. See more about Bernadette here: www.bbart.co.nz or you can email her on info@bbart.co.nz