Barbara Uini
Mostly a self-taught artist, Barbara Uini also studied illustration for a year at the Chisholm Institute in Melbourne, Australia. Serendipitously she…
Carla Sclanders
BLESSED INSPIRATION Born in South Africa and immigrating to New Zealand in 2020, Carla Sclanders is inspired by God. “He has…
Audrey Anderson
ALWAYS AN ARTIST Audrey Anderson grew up in a home where both her parents would draw and practice art. “When visiting…
Fiona Ehm
INTERVIEW WITH FIONA EHM How did you end up being an artist? I’ve always had a deep motivation to create. Early…
Sheelagh McHaffie
IN FOR THE RIDE A self taught artist, as her mother was, Sheelagh McHaffie has embraced her self discovery to art…
Rosemarie Murphy
PLAYING WITH LIGHT As a child Rosemarie Murphy always loved drawing and spent most of her pocket money on art materials,…
Kristin Hyde
DREAM BIG, AIM HIGH
DREAM BIG, AIM HIGHHaving been a Flight Attendant for 32 years, and after taking a month's holiday with her eldest son in the Bahamas, the night Kristin Hyde flew out of Houston to come home was the night the world started closing its borders and unbeknown to her at the time, she had already crewed her last duty. They say ‘When life gives you Lemons, make lemonade’ ... so I did. I took the leap, and at 60 years old in a pandemic, I became a full-time artist.” Kristin tells us her story:
“I am mainly self-taught, having taken the odd class over the years, both online and in person. I have always been a bit of a closet creative. I would scrimp and save and spend my money on art or craft supplies. When my children were little, I started painting on terracotta pots for friends. They quickly became sought after and so I created ‘Pots for Tots.’ From there I have always dabbled over the years in many different artistic endeavours from mosaics and water colours, screen printing to beading then jewellery making, eco printing and felting. I was always eager to try new things, but painting has become the dominant leader.
Julia Sternkopf
THE GIFT OF TIME
THE GIFT OF TIMEJulia 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.”
Daniel Carter
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.
Stacey Moore
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.”