Ben Timmins
THE NATURAL
Three time winner of the ‘People’s Choice’ award at the NZ Art Show, Ben Timmins is a well-known ‘natural artist’ working out of his studio in Parapara, Golden Bay. In this article he talks about his life, work and penchant for ‘un-learning’.
Ben Timmins paints with oils on wooden panels. He says the painting process and materials used are deliberately employed to engage the viewer on many experiential levels. There is an underlying resonance throughout these paintings, nature as a subject matter is painted upon nature itself, the wood grain is integrated into the compositions with both paint and subject.
Di Tocker
DESTINY IN GLASS A mother of two, a successful artist in her own right, owner of Dicastglass, a successful business purveying…
Karen Vernon
UNDER A BENIGN SPIRIT
“My art doesn’t stand on words. What is on my canvas I sometimes can’t explain away with clever talk. It is not an intellectual process, my paintings are intuitive, and, I feel, painted under the tutelage of a benign spirit.” So says Karen Vernon whose journey into the art world began in 1993 while attending American Folk Art classes in Auckland.
Largely self-taught and without any formal art training Karen says she has been fortunate to have had the guidance of a number of “wonderful” art tutors to get to the level she is at today. “I was a student of Jayne Sprott, and attended her watercolour class for three years. It was at this point I developed a passion for art and began trying other mediums, but staying in the realms of more traditional realistic painting.
Alan Lakisoe
THE JOY OF CREATING
“The joy of creating something with my hands and then being able to share it so that others can experience that same joy too.” This is what up and coming artist Alan Lakisoe loves about his life and work.
Born in Napier, Alan has always been interested in art from a young age. “I attended weekend art classes at primary school. I took a deep interest in fine arts, took it through high school and had enrolled to do art at Polytech before deciding to put my passion aside for work to support a family. While I was working, I did sketching in my spare time. I also taught myself a lot through studying art books and online video tutorials of different artists’ techniques.
Keith Grinter
EXTREME ART
EXTREME ARTIt is not every day one meets an artist who ‘renounced’ the relatively calm aura of oil paints and easel for the fiery inferno of glassblowing, but it was enough to make Whangarei-based glass-artist Keith Grinter an irresistible subject for The New Zealand Artist Magazine. Photographs by Diana Rees.
Keith Grinter started work in his own glass blowing studio in Whangarei in September 2013. He recalls: “I had been discussing moving to Whangarei and working with Keith Mahy, (one of the founding fathers of art glass in New Zealand), when he unfortunately passed away.”
Vinny Thompson
THE PASSION THAT SURROUNDS
When a fine artist was introduced to ceramics the resultant mix was an evocative blend of genres and bold colours recalling another side to what makes New Zealand what it is. Vinny Thompson talks about her life, work and her passion for clay.
My introduction into ceramics came about while I was attending night classes at Archibald’s ‘The Art Place’, in Upper Hutt where I was learning portraiture painting with Mary Archibald. I booked in for a weekend class doing clay sculpture with Wellington sculptor Di Conway who was teaching us how to make ‘roly poly’ women. In the first 10 minutes of having my hands on the clay, I thought, “Oh I can do this! I like this!”
Charles Lyle
A PROLIFIC TALENT
A PROLIFIC TALENTBorn in Rotorua, Charles Lyle is a straight-up, 'look-you-the-eye-and tell-you-like-it-is' type of man. It’s all good. This multi-award winning Kerikeri-based artists reflections on a bygone era of cars, tractors and motorbikes takes one back to a time when things were somehow more simple and direct, quieter with none of the frenetic rush of the times in which are living right now.
Of course, there is a harsher reality Charles’ work, particularly in his interpretations of aeroplanes and ships from both World Wars and which have proved immensely popular to collectors of this genre.
Di Conway
DOING IT HER WAY
Wellingtonian Di Conway was all smiles and radiance when we met up with her at The NZ Art Show last year. There is literally a light emanating out of this lady. Displayed on her stand are groups of her renowned ‘Roly’s’ – ‘women of substance’ and a number of her remarkable drawings and yes, the light shines through.
Creating works in both bronze and clay, Di Conway has had many successful solo exhibitions. She is an elected artist member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Art (NZAFA) and is also a foundation and active member of the Pueto bronze casting group, now in its 26th year.
Jan Huijbers
THE CREATIVE MIND
A history buff, a fascination for new inventions and a keen gardener. During his life-long journey to establish himself as a full-time practicing artist, Jan Huijbers has been exposed to a myriad of different styles and influences. In the article below he talks about his life long journey as an artist.
I had no formal training but was involved in art at an early age. At age 16, I was a member of an art design team creating flower structure parades, a yearly event in Zundert Holland for many years.
Jodie Marlow
VIBRANT COLOUR
“When I am happy the people in my life are happy.” says landscape artist Jodie Marlow. Whangarei-born Jodie is happiest when she is painting. “I love how it makes me feel so alive, it gives me the ability to express who I am as a person.”
Jodie has been painting and drawing her entire life, attending many after-school art classes and achieving a cracking 98 percent for her final school art certificate. From 1990-1993 she studied for a diploma in fashion design in her hometown of Whangarei.