Gareth Barlow
A SENSE OF BEING
Accompanied by family and friends, well-known Lower-Hutt-born New Zealand carver and painter Gareth Barlow describes his first major solo show at the Kura Gallery in Wellington earlier this year as “a very proud moment and a wonderful experience.”
The show was a great success to further represent Gareths work, as well as his future exhibitions in New Zealand and Australia including a show scheduled for Queenstown this month (July). In this article Gareth writes about his insights and the thought processes that brought his exhibition ‘From the Land’ to fruition.
Michael Angelo Burke
HERITAGE ART
HERITAGE ARTA carver and painter of murals and pictures, portraying an individual style unique in New Zealand, Michael Angelo Burke’s inspiration comes from the spiritual aspects of nature.
The themes of his work reflect a childhood spent playing among native trees, observing wildlife in the Coromandel native bush and extensive travel to National Parks of the world, including USA, Canada, Alaska, Australia and UK.
“I express this inspiration by combining the disciplines of drawing, carving and painting. I don’t plan my artworks - they just flow from my life experiences.” Michael Angelo says.
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.
DeAnne Lawford-Smith
FOR LOVE OR MONEY
Born in Levin, DeAnne Lawford Smith has been artistically inclined from birth. Growing up in a large family which included many foster children, the easiest and most economical means of entertainment was with paper and pencils. With enthusiastic encouragement from her family, DeAnne has blossomed into a full time professional artist.
Married with three children, DeAnne travelled between Rotorua and Taupo over a four year period to complete her Diploma of Visual Art (Fine Art) in 2000 at the Waiariki Institute of Technology. Armed with this accomplishment, she managed to overcome her shyness and was able to present her work to galleries and buyers, resulting in her first solo exhibition in Tauranga and achieved first place in the prestigious Portage Ceramic Award in 2007.
Robyn Mitchell
CHISELING OAMARU STONE
“Learn to organise your life, make time to do the things you dream of.”
Robyn Mitchell’s favourite sculptural medium is wood: “It is not until you start to shape and polish the wood, that the beauty of the grain and colour are revealed,” she says. “Because of the variants of grain, the type of wood and what part of the tree they come from, no two pieces will ever come out the same.”
Tanya Finlayson
CARVING A NEW FASHION
“Have a goal, have something to achieve and then go and fulfill it. It always a nice feeling to look back on the journey of how you realised your dreams.”
So says Tanya Short, who some may remember as Tanya Finlayson making and selling handmade jewellery and sewing children’s clothing at the Whangarei markets.
Mark Jones
DOODLEWOOD
“I call my work doodlewood because that’s what it is, literally doodling with wood”
Mark Jones’s organic sculptures are shaped by the wood he is working with: “I enjoy having the gift of being able to see an ordinary piece of wood and visualise it being a piece of art.”
Mark started at the Stevenson Brothers Rocking Horse Makers, UK, assembling wooden horses in the factory for a year when the opportunity to learn how to carve the horses arose.
Aaron Hoskings
THE URGE TO CREATE
Aaron Hoskins has completed a large commissioned work and finds it very interesting to meet his clients’ wishes. He is creating a series of carved and painted oars that are based on his own historical Maori research on Northland, enjoying the combination of Maori and European influences and reflecting on New Zealand history.
