Artists

In 1998, Vaughn Wykes took his wife aside to discuss what would be the start of a great adventure – to move to Qatar in the Middle East to live and work. Nervous yet excited, Janice agreed; over the next few months the house was a flurry of activity as they prepared their three children for the long journey and sorted everything in their native New Zealand to jet-set across the world and begin their new life.
With Vaughn earning more than enough to live on with his new job, and the three kids at school, Janice finally had the leisure to pursue her artistic passions. “Opportunity was the greatest motivating factor to becoming an artist. My husband was offered a position working in the Middle East and we took the very brave step of moving there with our three children. I was very fortunate that I had the opportunity while we were there to be able to follow my passion and devote much of my time to painting in those early years of my career. I always found oil paintings fascinating.
“A very dear Aunty, who happened to paint, suggested that I give it a go myself and so I did. I was lucky enough to devote myself to learning and experimenting with pencils and oils full time after the move. In those early years I always loved the old romantic masters such as Rembrandt; his play of rich, dark shadows and warm, glowing highlights has always captured my attention. As I developed through the years, my use of colour has become stronger and I use a lot of contrast, shadows and light – although I will admit the first 10 years were hard and sometimes very frustrating as I tried to capture what I wanted to portray.
Janice Clifton Wykes

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A devoted family woman and enthusiastic grandmother, Tauranga-based Debbie Clarke balances helping to run a family business with creative expression through beautiful paintings of nature. “In October 2015 I attended a watercolour demonstration by friend and wonderful artist Jenny Coker in Tauranga. I was surprised to find that she intended us to ‘have a go’, rather than just watch her – we painted a fuchsia bud. It totally ignited a passion in me and I completed my first painting in January 2016.”
Previously, Debbie had enjoyed a busy life; gardening, floral art, sewing and being involved in new home and interior design in their family business where her creative energy was focussed. Now an award-winning painter, Debbie Clarke shares with us her journey.
“After seeing Jenny’s demonstration, I ‘googled’ large flower paintings and eventually came across Birgit O’Connor of California, USA, and her online workshops.
Off I went, starting with her White Flowers online workshop. Later, I bought some of Tauranga artist Susan Harrison Tustain’s DVD’s, and learnt so much about watercolour painting and how to achieve the colours I wanted such as in leaves and skin tones. I watched many more training sessions by Birgit and others on You Tube throughout the nearly two years I have been painting. It is such a great way to learn – just like having a private tutor.
Debbie Clarke

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Unlike many painters, Carolyn Judge has always identified as an artist, and has been developing and honing her talent ever since she was a small child. From working on quilts and tapestries in her youth to designing and creating pottery, glazes and glass sculptures, she has finally found her true calling and favourite medium. A woman filled with an abundance of patience and staunch determination, Carolyn shares her journey to understanding watercolour and her road to success.
Hailing from Norwich, England, Carolyn emigrated to New Zealand in the late 80s and settled in the suburbs of Auckland. Creativity and crafts were her greatest friends as a child, and this soon transformed itself into a true passion in later life.
“I’m motivated by the massive challenge that painting with watercolour provides. When I worked in IT, I earned good money on an hourly rate, but that money doesn’t compare with the buzz of selling a painting, winning an award, or being asked by a shop or publisher to represent me – those are huge satisfying achievements that feed the soul. I just didn’t want to paint in any other medium.”

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Mark Adams is a painter of beautiful scenes of wide, sweeping landscapes and pristine locations hidden within the landscape of New Zealand. He shares with us his journey through harder years, as well as the defining influences that have lead him to his current passion.

A chance encounter with a friend started Mark on his journey towards a sucessful future as an accomplished artist. “One day a friend of mine came over and told me to come outside to check something out. So I went out to the front drive to see he’d airbrushed a picture of DC Comicbook villian The Joker on the bonnet of his car. Until then I hadn’t even considered painting on anything other than paper or canvas.
“I decided I’d like to learn how to use an airbrush so down to the book shop I went. It wasn’t long before I was doing the odd painting for all sorts of people; from truck murals to shop walls - this artistic outlet gave me a feeling of pride to know that I could do something most people believed they couldn’t. The encouragement It gave me more confidence and determination to do better with my art.
“Since then I have moved onto painting on canvas. New Zealand landscape is my greatest inspiration and topic – plus living so close to the mountains (near Oxford) does the soul good. I aim to portray and master the amazing landscape so people feel like they are standing in the scene.”
Mark Adams

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After 10 years as a hobby-painter, her daughters having left the nest, Luane saw the opportunity to do, to the fullest, what has become her biggest passion. “I quit my job in the council and jumped into my own business. We had lots of space and a big function room in the barn and I opened my own art school in 2002.” It sounds as if Luane had everything organised, but fate intervened again. She shares her story with us.

"I am a self trained artist, self-employed since 2000. I was living with my husband and three daughters, in a big, old forest-house in East Germany and I had a full time job. Renovating and gardening took a lot of time too and I was looking for something to charge my inner battery. I found a very inspiring book about the Russian landscape painter Iwan Schischkin, and started to copy some of his paintings. I then started making copies from other old masters, and soon I wanted to paint my own work. After a few years – in 1995 – one of my colleagues from the council came to see our old charming forest-house and was astonished to see all the paintings on the walls. Soon after they organised an exhibition and it all snowballed. I had more and more exhibitions, features and commissions.
I lived in the forest, in the middle of nowhere, finding my inspiration in nature, and so it is here in New Zealand as well. But when my first grand-daughter was born I fell in love immediately and started to paint her portrait over and over again, and so I became more and more a portraitist. It’s the beauty and the joy in life that I love and what better impression and evidence than to find it in faces, animals and landscapes.
Luane Brauner

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After having her talent dismissed by a high school art teacher and being told to ‘stick to design’, Louise Williams let go of her passion for creation and almost gave up on her dream of being an artist. Almost two decades later, now a mother and an accomplished graphic designer, she has once more put pen to paper and allowed her creative talents to flourish. Her biggest accomplishment? Finding the courage to try again.

Born in Doncaster, England, Louise emigrated with her family as a toddler and settled in New Zealand. Although she always had a creative flare, it was during her years in high school that the first blow to her artistic confidence occurred, and she was told to stick to design as the teacher didn’t like her style. These words were especially discouraging, and although she had since taken up crafting and scrapbooking as a hobby, Louise was unable to follow her dreams and didn’t so much as pick up a pencil for over two decades.
The second blow came swiftly indeed. By the age of 24, Louise was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease – a type of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the gastrointestinal tract and can cause persistent abdominal pain. Although the Crohn’s Disease is still present in her life, Louise has managed to wrestle control over this and bring her focus back onto her art. Her saving grace has not only been her undeniable strength to overcome these challenges but also the love of her partner and two young children.
Gradually Louise felt the compulsion to draw, create and grow stronger. Starting again with small canvases, her confidence grew when she tentatively placed these pictures for sale on ‘Etsy’ and was able to profit immediately. Her confidence in her style and work continued to grow, leading her to be the accomplished artist she is today. Very humble, Louise still describes herself as a ‘work in progess’.
Louise Williams

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Taking inspiration from Orphism and Cubism concepts, as well as the works of Kandinsky and Mondrian, Alysn Midgelow-Marsden has been able to produce and perfect abstract mediums, creating, commissioning and exhibiting her art from around the world since the early 90s.

Alysn is currently an established business and family woman with a scientific background - whose works have won awards for the use of many varied mediums to construct gripping textile and stitched art. Although a native of Nottingham in the UK, Alysn and her husband have travelled extensively throughout the United Kingdom, New Zealand and America, not only to exhibit her crafts but also to indulge her fascination and love of world art and textiles - from the ancient, primeval cave paintings of the Aboriginal to beautiful African Kuba cloths and dazzling Indian embroidery.
“From childhood onwards, I’ve always created, painted and stitched, and so, as is the case with so many people, the urge was always there. However, getting ‘proper’ training and a ‘proper’ job was the direction advocated by my parents. This I did through both Bangor University in Wales where I gained Honours Degrees in Marine Biology and Biochemistry, as well as a PhD in Systematics from Loughborough University in the UK.” Alysn Midgelow-Marsden

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Kiwi-born Jewel Lynam returned to New Zealand in 2010 after living in Arizona as an artist for many years. Besides showing her artworks in various shows, an art expo in Miami and galleries in the USA, she also had solo exhibits in Paris and Aix-en-Provence. It was in France that she began her career in 1987.

“I moved to the USA, and the following year I journeyed to Europe, where I unexpectedly started my career as an artist. For a number of years, I did not have a green card to work. To exist and find the resources for the materials to paint and then transport them to where ever the artworks needed to be shown, required stamina coupled with the conviction that this was meant to be. I did not have a family or any financial support, so at times the exhibiting side required a lot of time and work as some of my artworks were large and heavy.
Many of the shows I went to were selected expensive high-end outdoor weekend shows, but in order to have the faith that there would be sales and I would be seen by art collectors, there was no other choice but to get there. This exposure meant I now have collectors from many different parts of the world.” Jewel is an acrylic painter, though she also works with ink. Largely self taught, (just some classes at Hamilton Art Society many years ago) her creativity gave her the freedom of imagination to express a rhythm and a mysterious atmosphere to her compositions. Most of the works are painted without any pre-conceived idea in mind, therefore her colorful figuative works reveal varying subject matter from the subtle, to an alchemy of color, intrique and strength in very articulate terms.
See more about Jewel here.

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