Impressionism

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Alfred Memelink

Alfred Memelink - aotearoa artist

Within the delicate touch of watercolour, Alfred Memelink’s love and admiration of the sea is clearly visible. His joy and wonder in the environments he portrays are clear in the lightness and pleasure of his colour range and composition which emits a sense of satisfaction and contentment. With an easy brushstroke, one gets a feeling of comfort almost giving us permission to forgive nature its dark side with its wondrous and supple beauty. Even his stormy works have a feeling of softness and fragility, yet evoke inspiration.

Self taught, while at sea, his work was developed whilst sailing between New Zealand and Japan, working as a marine engineer. Giving credit to the Pacific Ocean and King Neptune, he began an artistic journey alongside the one he was already on. Having already had an early introduction with a childhood flavoured with artistic parents and wanting a hobby during his voyaging, watercolour was the practical decision to begin his artistic endeavours. A leisurely diversion from the practicalities of living, these early exercises and a book, ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’ led to the decision in 1994 to leave the sea to paint full time and get ready for his first solo exhibition in a local cafe.

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Barbara Schaer

barbara-shaer-aotearoa-artistSOULFUL EXPRESSION

Coming from a fairly long line of artists, Barbara Schaer is thoroughly enjoying her own ability to express herself through painting. Her grandfather was and her mother is an artist, her brother, a photographer and her sister gifted with writing. Having been self employed since age 25, she finally started painting, realising it was her ultimate path to happiness. “The joy I felt, the release and healing that came was amazing. Words cannot really describe this feeling. I can express myself through colours on canvas. I love colour, always did and now mixing and matching on canvas is just wonderful. I feel this is my path and I just love it. I have taken many different career paths, enjoyed them all, but painting takes enjoyment to a completely different level.”

As a child, Barbara always played around with colour, using watercolours on paper. Her mum would paint with watercolour, and she would try to paint the same way but after finding she was unable to get the same results, she gave up. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, Barbara first encountered New Zealand when she came over as an agricultural exchange student in 1979 where she spent her time on a dairy farm, milking cows. She later immigrated to New Zealand in 1981.

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John Dumergue

John Dumergue - aotearoa artist

BELIEVING IN BALANCE

An active family man, at age 71, John Dumergue has the balance right in his life. As a member of the oldest team in the Half Ironman in Wanaka, the swimmer being 72 and the cyclist, 82, his most important advice is believe in yourself. “This is what my running coach would say to me as I lined up for, say, an 800m race. I believe this applies to anything you do in life.”

When John was in his fifties, he spent five years training in the martial art of Kung Fu, with elements of Tai Chi. He became an instructor, enjoying the tutoring of beginners classes. He still runs regularly and counts the benefits as endless. He says art was never a career choice, it was just something he did during his spare time. Although, clearly John’s artistic abilities were part of his career choice after all, as he is also a carpenter by trade, having built his own house at the tender age of 21. Art comes in many forms and what will out, will out. Incidentally, he also has a diploma in writing. A multi-talented man. Now that he’s retired from his job as a Certified Kitchen and Bathroom Designer, he paints about four times a week.

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Barbara von Seida

Barbara von Seida - aotearoa artist

EXPRESSION IN COLOUR

My aim as a painter is to create images that reflect my personal interpretation of my subject. Painting is not really a creative act until such time as the personal judgment and emotional reaction enters into it. In my opinion the ultimate aim of an artist is not to produce a record of something, rather to establish a personal view with a deeper narrative beyond the surface. What a painter feels is more important that what he or she sees. My work starts with a strong feeling and ends with an expression.

Raised near Dusseldorf, Germany, Barbara trained for five years in Art and Design, three years in textiles and two years in product design at University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld. She worked as an employee for, amongst others, the international company Vereinigte Seidenwebereien A.G. (United Silk Weaving Company) in Krefeld, and later, as a freelance fabric designer. In early 1984, Barbara migrated to Bantry Bay in County Cork, south-west Ireland where she opened the Country House Gallery featuring her watercolours, which in a short time were much sought after with both the local population and overseas visitors alike, culminating in her being invited to exhibit at the Royal Hibernian Society in both 1988 and 1989.

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Lynn Webb

Lynn Webb - aotearoa artist

EXPLORING THE COAST

“Waves, rocks, reflections on the sand, boat sheds reflecting on the water - these are my inspiration,” says Lynn Webb, oil and watercolour artist from Tauranga. “Having grown up in the small untouched coastal settlement of Tongaporutu, within the crumbling cliffs and the black reflecting sand amongst the waves and rocks, fills me with an exciting inspiration to capture the many moods of the coast, the sea and the never ending procession of breaking waves.”

Not having had any formal training, Lynn says she has been creative since she was little. “Even as a child I loved to draw. I guess as the years have gone on the urge to paint became stronger and so it began.” Inspired by the likes of Richard Robinson and John Crump, Lynn prefers a loose style of painting, often using a palette knife to capture light and colour in her work.

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Patrick Greene

Patrick Greene - aotearoa artist

TAKING A RAINBOW FOR A WALK

A master watercolour artist, draughtsman and recipient of many awards, James Patrick (Patrick) Greene sadly passed away in October 2014.

By Barbara von Seida

In the 1950’s, he trained as a cartographic draughtsman with the Lands and Survey Dept, which was interrupted for two years whilst he travelled his big “OE”. During this time he was actually shipwrecked in British Guyana. His love for art took him to the great museums of the world which left a big impression on him and a desire to become an artist.

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Serge Souslov

Serge Souslov - aotearoa artist

VIBRANT TALENT

Serge Souslov, born and raised in Irkusk, Russia, has had a passion for art since childhood. He trained at art college between the years of ‘76 - ‘85 and has brought his incredible talent to New Zealand, where we celebrate his contribution to our rich and vibrant art world.

Serge attended the Art College and The Institute of Culture in Russia where he learnt how to play the accordion, compose music and create art pieces. Thoroughly enjoying pushing the boundaries, Serge’s ideas and inspiration come from observing marine life and whimsical sea creatures, as well as from dreams and fantasies dating as far back as his childhood. He is currently a part-time artist but finds his ideas keep pushing him to create.

 

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Dawn Brown Meehan

Dawn Brown Meehan - aotearoa artist

ARTISTIC INTERPRETATION

Drawing was the only thing I enjoyed but from the perspective of my parents, heading into the arts was ‘fickle with no security’ - as opposed to a ‘good government department job’ where I inevitably ended up.

It wasn’t until I was older with a young family, that I took up painting seriously. I began in watercolour and painted scene after scene - ‘stiffies’ I called them, painting exactly what I saw, with little fluidity or deviation from what lay in front of me.

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Andrew Carter

CHALLENGING COLOUR

Oil pastel artist Andrew Carter learned he was colour blind at the age of nine when he argued with his teacher over his choice of selecting yellow instead of green for the grass and red for the bark on the trees in a school painting.

It certainly didn’t put him off painting and drawing and why should it have? Some famous artists such as Constable, Picasso and van Gogh are thought to have been colour blind and they did well. It is, after all, a simple matter of perception, not skill or technique.

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