INTERNAL DRIVE
Self-taught, Jenny Geelan has created all her life. “My grandmother, Mabel Drummund taught me to embroider when I was five. I clearly remember one morning at her home, being so proud of my work. However as I lifted it up to show her, we realised I had embroidered it to the table cloth. All the teacups and saucers, plates and biscuits went flying! She was unfazed and calmly helped me clean up. She told me my work was lovely!” With encouragement like that and her Aunty Lucy who became a gentle driving force in her career, Jenny tells us a bit more:
“I have to credit my beautiful Aunty Lucy as a gentle driving force in my art career. I stayed with her on the Kapiti Coast during school holidays. She would take me on long beach walks where we would stop to look at the shapes in driftwood, pick up shells to draw or sit on the beach with a sketchbook and draw any beauty around us. She taught me to admire nature in its raw form and to see the small details that can be easily overlooked. Her loving encouragement was priceless. Aunty Lucy was the first person to call me an artist, that was an incredible thing for a small child to hear.
