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Oils

Oils painting is a traditional painting technique in which artists use oil-based paints to create two-dimensional artworks on surfaces like canvas or wooden panels. It is known for its slow drying time, allowing for blending, layering, and the creation of rich, luminous colors and textures, making it a favored medium for various artistic styles and subjects.

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Diana Peel

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FLORAL FREEDOM

With a Master’s Degree in design and having had full training in visual arts, Diana Peel has found herself in her exuberant floral paintings. Hailing originally from Russia, her natural passion radiates through her work.

When Diana first immigrated to New Zealand, she struggled to find work with her qualifications; she eventually started as an interior designer, but discontinued as “I was not good at designing pharmacies”. In great frustration she bought herself a large canvas and passionately painted an amazing iris, which she completed in four hours. “It was a turning point in my life - the energy flowing through my blood and that feeling of happiness and satisfaction just blew me away! After finishing that painting, I stepped back and said to myself: I am not an interior designer anymore, I am an artist!” Inner happiness and balance are the biggest inspirations for Diana. She doesn’t work with reference pictures anymore. “With time and lots of practice, I have learned to express myself in an abstract floral language. I can pour my feelings onto the canvas. Usually I just need to be happy, full of energy and craving some particular colours, and the magic happens.

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Carina Sim-Smith

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CARINA CREATES

Born in Singapore, Carina Sim-Smith is a marine biologist by profession and a very talented artist in her free time. She taught herself how to paint by attending art classes and workshops by various tutors at her local arts centre, and by hours of practice.

“I’ve always enjoyed art but could never afford any of the pieces in art galleries that I liked, so I decided to learn how to paint so that I’d have something to hang on my walls. I enrolled in a beginner’s art class and found that I really enjoyed painting.” She feels the pressure of having to earn a full-time income from her art would ruin her enjoyment of creating. “For me, art is an activity that I do for pleasure.”

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Vjekoslav Nemesh 2022

Vjekoslav Nemesh - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

NEMESH

Artist Nemesh Vjekoslav, hailing originally from former Yugoslavia (now Serbia), has developed his own unique style of painting, calling it semi-abstract. His work is vibrant, colourful and representative of a prolific connection to spirituality.

Demonstrating exceptional drawing skills from early childhood, his main interest was drawing comics. “However, that changed in my early 20s when a schoolmate commissioned me to create a large oil painting. This commission progressed into a more detailed and graphic representation of my artistic style.”

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Hiria Anderson

HiriaAnderson - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

PAINTER OF LIGHT

Hiria Anderson prefers to be known simply as Hiria, a preference which reflects her shy and retiring nature. Brought up with her grandparents who were practitioners of Raranga (weaving) and Whakairo (carving) she grew up surrounded by creativity, loving drawing and making things with her hands.

“I’ve grown up around creatives so it was a natural transition for me to make art my career. As a young person I remember wanting to become an artist so I didn’t have to talk to people. I was fearful of having a job in front-of-house, reception, or serving in a shop. Anything to do with people I didn’t want to do. Well, I’ve come a long way in thinking from back then.”

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Carl Cockill

Carl_Cockill - Aotearoa Artist - The New Zealand Artists Magazine

AN INNER GLOW

As an Architectural Technician, Carl Cockill works a 40 hour week in Dunedin and is currently raising three children with his wife Cheryl. As such, his time for painting is limited to night times and weekends. He has no formal training in oil painting so his natural talent is a joy to behold.

The inconsistent revenue stream from being a full time artist is the only thing that’s holding him back from enjoying his talent on a permanent basis. “Once the financial burdens have lessened and my lovely children have flown the nest, I feel retirement would be the best time for me to pursue this path on a full-time basis. In the meantime I am happy pursuing my art as a (slightly out of hand) hobby. I am always pleased to sell the odd piece of work and have one of my paintings go to a new home.” The privilege of raising his children saw a necessary ceasing of his artistic pursuits for a time. “I’m not complaining, my wife and family come first, always. I am loving every minute of my family, and wouldn’t change a thing.”

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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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UK ARTIST James Lester

Successful British designer and art director James Lester left his fast paced life in London and became a full-time artist in tranquil Devon. After initial study James established a career in advertising and publishing, when he worked on many national advertising campaigns and magazines. It was throughout this time that his paintings were exhibited in various London exhibitions, including the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists. 

Born in Dover, Kent, James spent much of his early life among the chalk Downs and picturesque Weald of Kent. For hundreds of years this county has been referred to as The Garden of England with its gentle hills, fertile farmland, orchards and cultivated country estates such as Penshurst Place, Sissinghurst Castle and Hall Place Gardens. Historically the coastal houses here were used as a location to dry hops for the brewing process. Perhaps unsurprisingly the county is home to Britain’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, whose brewery was established in 1698 but “there is clear evidence that its heritage pre-dates even this period” according to the brewer. Today award winning English wines are produced here, too. Magnificent coastal views and the world-renowned White Cliffs of Dover together with Kent’s rolling green hills and beautiful scenery provide an artist with plenty of inspiration. 

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Jenny Geelan

INTERNAL DRIVE

Self-taught, Jenny Geelan has created all her life. “My grandmother, Mabel Drummund taught me to embroider when I was five. I clearly remember one morning at her home,  being so proud of my work. However as I lifted it up to show her, we realised I had embroidered it to the table cloth. All the teacups and saucers, plates and biscuits went flying! She was unfazed and calmly helped me clean up. She told me my work was lovely!” With encouragement like that and her Aunty Lucy who became a gentle driving force in her career, Jenny tells us a bit more:

“I have to credit my beautiful Aunty Lucy as a gentle driving force in my art career. I stayed with her on the Kapiti Coast during school holidays. She would take me on long beach walks where we would stop to look at the shapes in driftwood, pick up shells to draw or sit on the beach with a sketchbook and draw any beauty around us. She taught me to admire nature in its raw form and to see the small details that can be easily overlooked. Her loving encouragement was priceless. Aunty Lucy was the first person to call me an artist, that was an incredible thing for a small child to hear.

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Sarah Kolver

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BLUE PUDDLE REFLECTIONS

Sarah Kolver’s beginnings are like many young people who fall in love with art, wielding a paintbrush and easel after seeing, and learning in their younger years. However, her story comes forth like it came from the pages of a novel, set in the Redwoods Forest in Rotorua, nestled in a small ‘hut’ among the giant trees that guarded a secret desire to challenge one occupant…

“One summer, I think it was 2018, I was working as a barista in a little café in the Redwoods Forest. It was adjacent to the information centre and souvenir shop. I looked at the artwork and prints being sold in the shop and thought ‘hey, I could do something like this,’” she says.

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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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