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Painting

Painting art is a visual artistic medium in which artists use various pigments, such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, or gouache, to apply color to a surface, typically canvas or paper, to create two-dimensional artworks. Paintings can encompass a wide range of styles and subjects, offering artists a versatile means of self-expression and storytelling.

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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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Truck Wheel With Reflection

Rochelle Thomas

AUTO ART

Taking the time to use her observational skills, Rochelle Thomas has always been fascinated with paintings. At Cafe’s, offices, anywhere art hangs, Rochelle studies the work to fathom how it has been done. One day she decided to try this out for herself, and purchased paint, brushes, paper and books of scenic New Zealand. After completing her first painting she was hooked.

Rochelle completed a correspondence course with The Learning Connection, earning a Level 5 Diploma in Art & Creativity in 2014. Working full time, and a single Mum of three, Rochelle juggled her work and art for a couple of years until an unfortunate accident, which resulted in a broken leg, left her at home for six months, where she concentrated daily on her painting. She decided not to return to work, but rather became self-employed, concentrating on commissions to paint vehicles.

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Lizzy Dickie

lizzy-dickie-aotearoa-artistCELEBRATIONS OF LIFE

Born into a family of nine children, Lizzy Dickie has always been encouraged to pursue her creativity. Art is an important part of life and something her family celebrated. Lizzy was encouraged to go to university and study her passion, which at that time was sculpture. Having studied in the UK, achieving a BTEC Diploma pre-foundation at Mid Warwickshire College in 1996, a BTEC Diploma in art and design at St Martins College in London and finally receiving a BA Hons in Fine Art from Coventry University, she travelled extensively and volunteered in various parts of the world, creating murals and teaching.

She settled in Auckland and worked as the lead mural artist on ‘Storyfest’ for the Waitakere City Council for several years. “This gave me the confidence to create work for others, but honestly, Instagram has given me a real outlet to share my more personal work and to meet other creatives who inspire me daily. Instagram gives me the freedom to create what I want and gives me the confidence to call myself an artist.”

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Heather Leonard

EXPRESSIONS

Having always done well with art subjects in secondary school, Heather Leonard returned to school as an adult to complete her sixth form certificate in drawing and painting at Tokoroa High School in 1989, finding the teacher of that year to have made all the difference and making her realise how serious she was about painting.

“I realised that art and painting was something I wanted to do every day. As a watcher of people and having an understanding of body language, I enjoy art with an expressionist style, not wishing to paint in a realistic way, I want my own interpretation of the subject to be the art, and not to render an exact copy of what I see. My work often has a humorous aspect, as I realise most people respond to humour.”

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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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Magda van der Walt

magda-van-der-walt-aotearoa-artistIRONING IT OUT

Mixed media artwork embraces so many mediums, differing creative processes and ways of getting to that all-important final result. We hear about the use of all sorts of medium and materials, however for Magda van der Walt, the word ‘wax’ changes everything.

“The moment I melted the first small block of wax on the hot travelling iron, I was hooked. It is a medium like nothing else I have ever experienced. It can fluctuate between solid and liquid within a few seconds and it dries solid in a single breath, she says. “It retains texture and reflects light in a way no other medium can. Working with it is almost meditative; definitely therapeutic.”

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Sarah Kolver

sarah-kolver-aotearoa-artist

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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