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Mixed Media

Mixed media art is a versatile artistic practice where artists combine different materials and techniques, such as painting, drawing, collage, sculpture, and digital elements, to create complex and multifaceted artworks. The blending of diverse media allows for creative experimentation and the production of visually engaging and often layered compositions.

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Jo Rankin

jo-rankin-aotearoa-artistABSTRACT BALANCE

Formal training began for Jo Rankin when she graduated from the two year Nanette Cameron Interior Design School Auckland in 2008. Included in the training subjects were colour harmony, balance, styling and art history which also sparked her interest in painting and becoming an artist.

Moving to Kinloch in 2010, Jo joined a watercolour group in her local community. At the same time she joined Active Arts Taupō where she went every week to paint. “I had a great time there, being encouraged by other artists and making new friends.” Semi-retirement allowed her the time to explore her artistic dreams. “Loving colour and design led me to begin my journey as an artist. I have always been a voracious reader and love my collection of art books where I constantly find inspiration. Also our beautiful country and scenery fires my creative soul each day.”

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Jordan Turner

jordan-turner-aotearoa-artistTRUE CALLING

At the age of 13, Jordan Turner’s foray into the fine art world was cut short by her family’s relocation from their home town of Cromwell to another country town. She’d only managed to have two private lessons. “My tutor handed me four pieces of paper and directed me to paint four faces without my brush leaving the paper. I feel like ever since that time, I have been mastering faces. He must have known that I was drawn to faces, as it’s exactly what I am drawn to now. The face and body and capturing the emotion, it’s just fascinating to me.” 

She claims her biggest inspiring factor to becoming an artist was when she was 16: “My Mum took my brother and I to the New Zealand Body Art Awards, in Auckland. That event left a lasting imprint and inspired me to research and then sign up and get accepted into studying makeup and film production, at the Design and Art College of New Zealand.” Jordan completed this certificate at the age of 20. From that point she furthered her skills by travelling and sketching her way around Australia and the UK, finally settling in Melbourne. “During this time I really started to focus on developing my creative craft. This involved leading various creative events, teaching workshops and displaying my artworks in galleries and art shows, throughout Melbourne.” 

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UK ARTIST Danny Mooney

Danny-Mooney-aotearoa-artist-the new-zealand-artist-magazine

When drawing people you would think it might help to actually remember their faces… What if you can’t remember them? British artist Danny Mooney suffers from facial blindness but finds that he can overcome this obstacle by focussing on other aspects of a person’s character, an approach that lends itself to caricatures.

“I can draw recognisable people with just a few lines without any real trouble,” he reveals. “I’ve been doing political cartoons. They’re an expression of my annoyance.  Cartoons are caricatures really. Say I’m doing a cartoon of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson… I can do the shape and the way he stands without too much effort. I look at a couple of other people’s cartoons of him and see that they all have little piggy eyes and droopy eyelids. For me the thing that makes Boris look like Boris is the hair, the round face, the fat body and the shabby suit. It doesn’t really need any additional features. That cartoon could be Donald trump or Boris Johnson. In order to produce political cartoons you have to stay abreast of the news but in order to stay sane you have to not stay abreast of the news! It’s a difficult tight rope to walk. I have always recognised people by their shape, the way they move, the way they walk, rather than by their faces. If I’m painting someone then those are the characteristics that are most important to me.”

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Sarah Pou

Sarah Pou - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

COLOURFUL AFFAIR

Studying Visual Communication at Unitec in Auckland from the early age of 17, Sarah Pou went on to have her art showcased in several high street art Galleries in Auckland and then later in London. She met her husband when she was travelling in England and her artistic career was put on hold in favour of consistent income.

After the birth of her first child she painted childrens nursery artwork and one of her customers proclaimed that she was an ‘illustrator’. This resonated with her and after returning to New Zealand and having their third child, she felt an overwhelming desire to create again, which she could not ignore. She started to develop her style whilst working and looking after her young family. “Time was very limited so I carved out time in the evenings. Although it was tiring, I felt fulfilled and content when I was creating.”

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Brenda Liddiard

brendaliddiard - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

LYRICAL FLOW

Being involved in the arts as a songwriter, singer and musician for most of her life, Brenda Liddiard became interested in painting around 2000. A big influence and inspiration in this discipline was her late brother, Chris Liddiard, who was a watercolour artist based in the UK. Brenda and her brother were born in Essex in the UK, Brenda now living in Auckland, New Zealand.

With her brother's influence, Brenda started her painting career using watercolours. She attended many workshops and summer schools with well respected tutors including Allie Eagle, Cushla Parekowhai, Jane Zusters, James Lawrence, Sue Daly, Maree Wilson, Phillipa Blair and Brett A’Court. “At age 50, finding a new creative path was very exciting for me, it opened up a whole new world. I wanted to pursue the learning for as long as possible and realised this was something I could do as I grew older.”

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Lorraine Bailey

lorraine-bailey-aotearoa-artistHAPPY HEART, HAPPY ART

Moving from one place to the next can be a drag. Boxing up your life in the hope of finding your happy place; eventually realizing this is more than just a location it also becomes your state of mind too. For Lorraine Bailey this has happened a few times, after a stint in Auckland, she settled in a new happy place – Matamata in the Waikato – however all this came about from her beginnings in Rhodesia, Africa where her love of the environment there spurred her creative desire.

“My environment plays a pivotal role in my creativity. In fact, I can’t imagine what my art would look like without it. I believe, that it’s your surroundings that trigger all the senses to influence your heart and soul, which you then interpret onto canvas/paper. I particularly enjoy capturing that moment when light bounces or reveals something on the subject causing the viewer to pause in reflection. When I lived in Rhodesia and then in South Africa it was the wild life that influenced my work. My father was a Scoutmaster, and so from a very young age I became very aware of my natural surroundings,” she says.

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Caitlin Johnston

caitlin-johnston-aotearoa-artistSELF-TAUGHT BY THE SEA

By Matt Mortimer

It is said that if you make a job out of what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. For self-taught artist Caitlin Johnston, this saying is her reality.

Being self-taught brings forward a love of creating things, having to channel your inspiration into your work. Whether it is our surroundings or environment, our current state of mind, or our emotional state. Having to be her own teacher is clearly not something that has held Caitlin back, and she offers this advice for those thinking they have to attend a school to get better, instead instilling a solid work effort in the creative space being more advantageous.

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Coral Noel Yang - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

Coral Noel Yang

Professionally trained in film production, giving her a solid foundation in visual language, storytelling, colour theory, cinematography, and lighting amongst other skills, Coral Noel Yang’s predominant painting training comes from her mother who is a premier painter in Taiwan and also from various classes she took throughout the years including a Master of Fine Arts (Cinema-Television Production) at the University of Southern California, USA and Art History at the Whitman College, USA, amongst others. She tells us about herself: 

I was very fortunate to grow up in an artsy family – my Chinese dad was a professor and my Japanese mom is a painter so I grew up immersed in a strong love for arts and literature, which continues to develop. With a passion for storytelling and visual arts I chose my professional pathway as a filmmaker. After earning an MFA in Cinema-TV production from the University of Southern California I embarked on a rich creative journey involving living and traveling in different countries, directing and producing films, TV commercials and children’s television.

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Rachel Barber

rachel-barber-aotearoa-artistLOCKDOWN LIMBO REVERSED

Rachel Barber is an inspiration to us all. With her enthusiasm, self-discipline and drive she took the economic and psychological impact of a COVID19 lockdown job and home loss, and turned the situation around into an opportunity for artistic growth and self-employment. And what an opportunity she created! Rachel tells us about it . . .

After I left school, I studied Digital Photography at Raffles College of Design. I have always been an artist, but I always worked as well. I was in such limbo when lockdown happened, I had lost all my work overnight due to COVID and moved out of my flat the day of lockdown. So, I was really faced with the reality of a ‘blank canvas’ in my life. I just knew I wanted to paint every day, that it was my dream job and my passion. So, the biggest flex was just saying to myself – I’m going to do this thing! I came to the realisation “I literally have nothing to lose right now.

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Fiona Newton - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

Fiona Newton

fiona-newton-aotearoa-artistFINDING WHENUA

By Matt Mortimer

Here in Aotearoa we are blessed to have an abundance of stunning natural beauty around us to inspire creative works and fire the coals of our imagination. This connection to our whenua is more than simply sightseeing or exploring to artist Fiona Newton, this began and still forms the base for much of her work today, including an approach of kaitiaki – guardianship of the land. This includes utilising discarded items she finds along the way.

"I began gathering off the coastline, finding marine waste, sea glass, sea stones and sandblasted crockery on old tile and brick, my concern was respecting the beautiful coastline (keeping it) free of rubbish. A lot of it comes from boats and people throwing waste off the cliffs," she says. "I’m very visual and notice the beauty in most simple things especially nature and our incredible Aotearoa. We have fantastic coastlines, rivers, mountains, and native bush. We are the lucky country! I see myself as an environmental artist. I work with found objects in nature in my garden art and found objects in my sculptural work, recycling and sustainable art. I began mosaicking on concrete, making garden art."

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