OCEANS OF TALENT
Caitlin Johnston has been featured here before in 2021, and has come on in leaps and bounds since her last coverage: https://thenzartist.co.nz/article/caitlin-johnston/ . In this article we delve a bit deeper.
Caitlin has always loved art and did well at college. “After college, instead of going to Uni, I decided to travel for four years. I was living in Panama, and they had a rainy season that would last months. I found it super difficult to cope, so I started painting on big pieces of old wood, or surfboards as that’s all that was available. There was nowhere to buy canvases and such. I then started to sell my paintings and it went well. That was the beginning of my art business, and I carried it on more professionally when I came back to NZ to live.”
Heavily inspired by what surrounds her, the oceans and New Zealand’s unique nature, creation and emotion are direct influences on her work. “Creating has always come naturally to me, it’s always in the back of my mind – thinking about ideas. I think it’s important in this world today (as screen’s run a lot of our lives), to continue creating and using our hands. When I see anything I always look at it in a way to inspire or turn into something.”
In order to keep her work unique and original, Caitlin hasn’t been too influenced by other artists. “However, the Japanese Hukasai wave initially inspired my waves that I create in a lot of my paintings. It has grown from there.”
She hopes her originality will continue to be admired and bought by patrons of the art shows she has successfully attended. “Someone once told me that ‘making art is a great tranquilizer’. I love that being an artist gives me time to express my emotions, but it also gives me a lot of peace and calmness when I am painting. I also love that it gets me away from screens, disconnecting me from the busy world around me, but making me totally present at the same time.”
She enjoys utilising different techniques including oxidised copper, oxidized mirrors, resin and other ‘throw-away’ items – a talented mixed-media force. “However, my work always consists of painting as the base.”
Caitlin belongs to Orewa Estuary Arts and feels they help her network, include her in the community and are always happy to have her work on display. “Art is always difficult, it’s very subjective. I do find it hard trying to make a living out of it so I am constantly trying to figure out what people want/like – but also not losing my creativity and authenticity at the same time.’ In this fine balancing act, she is excelling!
When she gets inspired by a place or an emotion, she roughly sketches the idea, keeping it fluid and changing it as she goes. “I’ll use surfboards, wood, old frames or mirrors as my canvas. My paintings sometimes start with a map from the area I’m inspired by. Then I tea stain the maps. Then the painting builds around that, and the map becomes part of the landscape or image. I add layers and layers of paint, sometimes mixed media as well. When I’m happy with the painting I cover most of it in pure copper, which I then oxidize. When I’m happy with it, I’ll then neutralize and seal it with either resin or a car clear coat.”
As a waterbaby, she spends a lot of time surfing, walking on the beach or in some form of nature. She loves cooking, fermenting, anything creative. “Spending time with family and friends is very important to me. I am also a support Worker two days a week which I love and gets me out into the world, as being an artist can be very isolating at times.”
Caitlin currently has work in Art Matakana and the Orewa Framing Studio and has sold to patrons from Vanuatu, USA, Finland, Norfolk Island and of course, New Zealand. She will be exhibiting her new collection at the Queenstown Art show in October 2025.
For new artists her advice is: “Give it a go and don’t stop giving it a go, always experiment and keep learning, never stop creating and enjoy the process. That’s the most important part. Always put yourself out there, even though it’s scary.”
