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Julia Sternkopf

aotearoa-artist-julia-sternkopfTHE GIFT OF TIME

Julia Sternkopf is a self-taught artist, originally from Germany. She loved to draw and paint as a child and in high school, she drew people’s portraits for $20 a shot, although her real interest at that time was music. She moved to New Zealand in 2018 and is happily ensconced in Lake Hawea where she gains much inspiration from the scenery surrounding her.

Always having been told that being an artist is not a good career choice, Julia was disappointed with her art education at school. “We never even looked at the Old Masters and were solely focussed on Modern Art – I didn’t enjoy that very much.”

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Guy duToit

JOYOUS ARTISAN

Born in South Africa and now a proud New Zealand citizen, Gideon (Guy) du Toit tried woodturning as a hobby and discovered a real passion and natural talent for it. He took his passion to France, where he studied at Ecole Escoulen, a woodturning school that was created in 2012 on the will of the municipality of Aiguines to promote the unique know-how of woodturners, knowledge which is deeply embedded in the cultural heritage of the territory. Guy qualified from here as a professional production and artistic woodturner.

“Giving up everything to go to France to study full-time was very hard. Not being able to speak French and having to be immersed in the school and classes full-time was exceptionally hard.”

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Daniel Carter

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Oriental Dragon, 1200 x 800mm, Blowtorched on wood.

DESIRE FOR CREATION

The closest Daniel Carter came to formal art training would have been extension art classes and graphic design throughout intermediate and college years. “These classes were taken above my selected art classes, as the art teachers noticed I had an interest and above level ability for my age group. I left college at an early age to become a car painter, which ultimately led me towards the automotive artistry of airbrushing.”

The artist life started for Daniel at a very early age, “As a young child my parents encouraged my artistic abilities. By year two of primary school, my father Roger would sit with me for hours, teaching me how to draw realistic people, muscle cars, fighter planes, architectural buildings with two-point perspective etc. We didn’t have much but wherever I went I would have a small pad and pencil, taking inspiration from my surroundings, nature, birds, people, cars, buildings, that sort of thing.

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Stacey Moore

Stacyey Moore The NZ Artist

SIMPLY MYSELF

Although the pressure of creating art for NCEA at school left Stacey Moore keeping her creativity as a hobby, at the beginning of 2022, she got back into painting. In 2023 she then left her part-time teaching job to take the leap of faith and pursue her dream of painting full time.

Stacey pursued a career in Early Childhood, studying a Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education and has spent the last thirteen years teaching. “Over this time I engaged in various arty projects in my spare time but once I became a mother I didn’t create much art. I got back into painting at the beginning of 2022 when my youngest child was three years old. As a perfectionist I felt prompted by God to let go of my fear of failure before I started painting again, which I did and I’ve been painting freely ever since.”

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Sonya Prchal The NZArtist Magazine

Sonya Prchal

Sonya Prchal

PAINTING WITH THREAD

Originally from Pukekohe and now based in Whangarei, Sonya Prchal has always loved art and has drawn and painted from a young age. “I started working with textiles in 2003 and first entered works in our National Quilt Symposium in Wellington in 2009. When four of my works sold, I was encouraged to create more and started teaching fabric painting and stitching at the next Quilt Symposium in Queenstown, at subsequent symposia and tutoring classes throughout New Zealand.”

Sonya has always managed to fit in daily practice in her studio, but has only recently been creating on a full time basis. “I love making works that draw in an audience and start a discussion. I enjoy commission work, and take great pleasure seeing joy on the faces of people when they receive their favourite pet replicated with thread.” 

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Iwen Yong

NOTABLE TALENT

Born in Kuala Lampur, and immigrating to New Zealand at the age of six, with his family, Iwen Yong has never formally trained as an artist. “I have never had any formal education in art and no one in my family (extended and immediate) have had any experience in the creative field so it was hard to bridge that gap. Growing up I would never consider art as a profession (more of a hobby) so it was a tough decision to give up a stable income and career aspirations to take a risk and pursue art full time."

Iwen grew up in Maungaraki, Lower Hutt and went to Puketiro primary, Hutt Valley high school and then Victoria university. “I went to university to study accounting and commercial law and then I qualified and worked as a chartered accountant. While at work one day I drew a picture of my dog, Gus, on the whiteboard. An older lady who was an artist asked my boss Marie who the artist was. She approached me and asked if I had ever tried oil painting. Growing up I wasn’t really exposed to the arts and I didn’t even know what a canvas was. She offered to bring her student grade oil paints for me if I wanted to give it a try. I was reluctant at first but I found it relaxing and I really enjoyed the creative process. However, accountancy is quite different from pursuing a career in fine arts.”  

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Bryony Bedggood

Bryony Bedggood The NZ Artist

A COMPLETE CREATIVE

Other than art lessons while at school, Bryony Bedggood is a self taught artist who has always been drawn to creative pursuits such as dance, music, writing, and of course, art. “Our Mum studied art in Dublin and our Dad played guitar and was a wonderful influence in taking time to stop and really see things. They always encouraged my siblings and I to follow what we loved doing.”

Creating is what makes Bryony happy, “I feel very off kilter if I’m not creating. I’ve had a few different careers with a high element of stress, also interesting life experiences that have contributed to me wanting to focus on my art.” Being an artist gives her the freedom to explore all the different things that excite her. “I have way too many ideas floating around my head to not follow through! Sometimes I definitely feel like there isn’t enough time to cover or discover all the ideas in my head!” She also plays flute and piccolo in a couple of orchestra and chamber groups.

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Ashley Mcdonald

Ashley McDonald 2023

Ashley McDonald The NZ Artist

CONSCIOUS PERSPECTIVE

Self-taught artist Ashley McDonald was published in a ‘Youth Art’ article in The New Zealand Artist Magazine in July August 2016, and has continued on with her remarkable journey. Seven years later she catches up with us and in her own words, tells us her story.

My artistic journey began by accident. When I was in my early teens I would paint and draw for school homework (or just for fun). I’d draw things I was interested in - such as birds and fish. One day I painted a portrait of my pet Siamese fighting fish. I posted the end result online to a group of tropical fish enthusiasts. Almost immediately I had comments asking me whether I would take commissions and if I could ship internationally. It was quite overwhelming, as I was in my early teens at the time - I had no idea if I could even send art outside of New Zealand. My first commissioned piece was completed at age 15 and was shipped to the United Kingdom. My artistic career snowballed from there. Once my first commission arrived in the UK, the owner posted the piece online, bringing more queries and future commissions. Before this, I had never thought about selling my artwork.

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WAKE (Alex Tikaram)

WAKE Alex Tikaram The NZ Artist

ESOTERIC CANDOUR

“I want to say I had formal art training at school, but what did school teach anyone apart from how to prepare yourself to be short on cash. Art was something that I always did that cost me next to nothing that I could learn alone and in my own way, so no, no formal training.”

It’s hard for Wake to pinpoint how he ended up being an artist. “Anyone who does anything slightly creative is an artist to me, but to define it to something more specific, I started to take it seriously when a friend of mine made a social media page for me around the end of 2020, to exhibit and possibly sell some pieces. A couple of years ago, I would never have dreamed of people wanting to pay actual money for the things I draw. However, I sold a piece to a guy all the way in the USA which I’m pretty proud of, it’s very humbling.”

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Sheree Foster

Sheree Foster Aotearoa Artist Magazine

SHEREE FOSTERS ARTISTIC JOURNEY

By Ben Lavin

Sheree Foster has always been involved in one way or another with creative things. Before becoming a full time, self-taught artist “...graduating from the school of Life’’, she was in Banking, Event Marketing and then, after having her family, a Design Build Consultant, with interests in photography, floral, and landscape design. She actually never considered becoming an artist until a visiting friend observed a piece she had created lying on a table and then asked her what gallery she had bought it from. She was quite taken aback to hear that Sheree had made it and after learning there were no plans for it she promptly decided to buy it on the spot. It now hangs proudly on their wall in their new contemporary beach house in Waihi Beach - all two metres of it, and recently been joined by piece number two another two metre monster. Thus began Sheree’s adventure as an artist which she admits was a bit of a crossroads in her life. What should she do next? 

After doing several weddings and seeing the wastage of flowers for one day she decided she wanted to create something from this and the idea came to her of repurposing floral waste into all sorts of art pieces from wreaths to busts of heads, all in pre-loved flowers and often with a vintage flair. The enjoyment of creating this art, as well as the pleasure of seeing one of her pieces in its forever place, was what really motivated her to keep going. 

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