Ninette Kruger
PROCESS AND PURPOSE
Born in South Africa, Ninette Kruger has always enjoyed being creative and explored different mediums until she discovered pewter embossing in 2004.
She taught herself the basics from an instructional book, and later attended a more advanced techniques workshop at a pewter studio in Johannesburg. Since then , she has been focused on refining her technique and thoroughly enjoying metal embossing as a hobby. “I started out with a career in the food and hotel industry, which I absolutely loved, and completed my MBA in 2006. I quickly realised the corporate world was not for me, and set out to carve out a creative career for myself. I immigrated to New Zealand with my family in 2016 and during lockdown 2020, I attended an online artist masterclass that changed my world.”
Roxanne Milson
THE MAGIC WEAVER
THE MAGIC WEAVERWe introduce you to Roxanne Milson, an artist formerly of Australia, now living in Tauranga. Roxanne tells us her story:
I haven’t had any formal art training. My education was based in Graphic Design since I was predominantly a digital artist until two years ago. When I was pursuing education, graphic design was all that was offered for digital artists but it turns out it was not what I wanted! I wanted to illustrate, to draw, to create. So the internet and books were the things that educated me. If I wanted to know how to do something, I looked it up.
Michaela Voigt
MICHAELA JANE VOIGT
Always a very creative person, when the decision came in year 13 to decide what was next for Michaela Voigt, it was either going to be something along the lines of Sports and Nutrition or something creative and she chose an Applied Arts Degree - a Bachelor of Applied Media Art at the Southern Institute of Technology which she completed in 2013.
“I did focus a lot on the digital side whilst studying but my favourite class, looking back, was definitely life drawing. Since graduating I have mostly been a full time Graphic Designer putting work into the odd exhibition but in the last couple of years I have really started pursuing my love of drawing again in particular flowers and botanicals.”
She finds inspiration in all that surrounds her. “I draw things I have seen that are memorable to me and it’s usually the little things.
Lacey Middleton
SYMBOLIC DETAIL
With a diploma in Creative technologies from WelTec, Lacey Middleton began painting seriously when her twins were babies
as a way to earn extra cash while looking after her three young children.
“Art was something I was naturally good at, and it brought in extra income. My realistic paintings seemed to sell as fast as I could make them, and word of mouth sales meant I began to have commissions come in. I also studied art history for seven years, and adore the renaissance and impressionism styles. The work of great artists, like Monet, never ages.”
Kaleb Smith
BLADESMITH
BLADESMITHKaleb Smith has had no formal training and is completely selftaught, drawing all his information from trial and error and also from the internet. “I’m a builder by trade and was just playing at making things, and then these things started selling faster than I could make them! I decided I may as well give it a shot and with the support of my partner, left my carpentry job and never looked back.”
The freedom to enjoy his hobbies and live a lifestyle worth living, rather than working himself into the ground doing a job he wasn’t happy with, has made everything worthwhile. He is not sure what drives his creative streak as an artist but likes just doing things and making things that are hard to achieve and hopefully haven’t been done before.
Deborah Taylor
Never having had any formal art training, Deborah Taylor attempted an online course a few years ago but found the deadlines and stress of it all too much as well as working full time. Other financial constraints had left her feeling inadequate and floundering and after being diagnosed with bipolar, she found art to be cathartic and a means with which to express herself. With a level 5 in Academic Writing, she also likes to write and compose poetry.
“I have always been interested in art since high school especially, my art teacher Mr Hebley was a great teacher. I did unfortunately muck around a lot and never passed art as a subject but I always kept on painting and creating art whenever I could. When my children were little I would always have art stuff set up for them to express themselves through drawing and painting or making salt dough craft. I started painting again when my children were older, as a hobby.”
Andrea Robinson 2022
Drawn to painting native birds and flowers from a young age, Andrea Robinson’s first sale was as a teenager when a friend bought one of her drawings for a few dollars. “I started to sell my drawings and designs on pillowcases, tablecloths, and tee-shirts. As an adult I continued to paint and draw around my office job and family. I started selling professionally in 2015 and I now sell my artwork through galleries and art shows.” Featured in The New Zealand Artist Magazine before, in 2017, Andrea has caught up with us and tells us where she is now.
Creating artwork is as important to me as the air that I breathe. It is the language I use to tell my story, to celebrate nature, and to raise awareness of environmental issues. This has always been my biggest motivating factor. Three exhibitions I am particularly proud of include exhibiting work in The Garzoni Challenge, curated by the Uffizi Gallery in Italy; receiving two excellence awards through Manhattan Arts International, New York, and receiving a Special Recognition Award in ‘All Women’ Art Exhibition 2022, in Santa Fe.
Sue Laursen
TURNING THE LIGHT ON
As the first thing Sue Laursen thinks about when she wakes up and the last thing she thinks about when she falls asleep, the urge to create has always been very strong for her. “I very quickly realised art was connected to my mental wellbeing and as I was brought up in a generation where I was not allowed to show my thoughts or emotions, by the age of 16, I was using my art to tell my story.”
When she was 16 she was a member of and had her work accepted at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts. “This, I recall, some people seemed to be a little amazed about. At the time I didn’t really appreciate the significance of it, but I do now. As the years went on, my style of painting changed and I drifted away from the NZ Academy of Fine Arts, and did my own thing, as the academy no longer liked what I did. Such is life.”
Monique Tichborne
ARTISTIC ESCAPE
ARTISTIC ESCAPEDiagnosed in 2018 with Fibromyalgia and FND (Functional neurological disorder) Monique Tichborne bravely started to use art as a means of therapy, a distraction from the pain. She explains further . . .
My health and requiring home based work were the motivations for me to become an artist. I gain inspiration from all around me. I don’t think my creative head ever switches off. I’m always capturing photos to add to my ideas folder. At the end of 2019 I was struggling with my drawing so to test myself I turned my page around which oddly was easier. I have been drawing all my portrait work upside down since. I have only begun painting this year. My canvas doesn’t remain stationery here either and I don’t work on an easel. Art therapy has been one consistent ‘healer’ while I manage daily pain. This year I officially classify my occupation as an artist.
