Alan Williams
OUTLAW ARTIST There has always been something indefinable about motorcycling and motorbikes. Perhaps it is the independent nature of man and…
John Unasa
CONSUMED BY PASSION
After many years of focusing on various career paths John Unasa recalls that it was becoming quite apparent his desire to create from a very young age was still very much alive and something had to be done about it. Now, at 35, full of life experience, qualifications and a range of skills, he says he feels the time is right for him to put his full focus into his creative passion.
“My inspirations emanate from my feelings about my physical and social environment, my mood, my imagination, my culture, pop culture and my education,” he says.
Maxine Waters
CLASS IN CLAY
With nothing more than a deep-seated belief that art would be a major part of her life, internationally-recognised New Zealand ceramicist Maxine Waters decided after attending some night classes at Riccarton High School in Christchurch, that clay was to be her ‘thing’.
“I have had no formal art training, only a passion to learn everything yesterday,” Maxine says emphatically. Formal or not, Maxine says being an active membership of pottery clubs allowed her opportunity to participate in the many workshops from visiting international and local potters, which enhanced her skills and fuelled an inherent passion to create. “I was part of the successful potters co-operative ‘Classy Clay’ in Christchurch for around seven years then continued on my own, making and selling my domestic ware. At one stage employing three sales staff,” Maxine reveals.
Geoff Noble
FREEDOM AND MOVEMENT
There is a lot of paint and colour, lots of colour. Bright, vibrant and even startling. And movement, always movement, large bold images leap out demanding attention, captured but seemingly not, on the cusp of rising and falling but nowhere near frozen.
There are paintings all over the place when entering a very cluttered Tahuna Studios in Nelson. Some are complete, overs still in that moment of creation. New and old it is an eclectic mix. Added to this are posters, surfboards, skateboards, and all manner of tools.
Adam Styles
ETHEREAL DIMENSIONS
Inspired by dreams and images from another time and place and forged with fire and passion, the steel warriors, dragons and other mythological beings that emerge from the Nelson-based workshop of Adam Styles are real and definable but their earthly shell has been removed to reveal a core of what is normally hidden, the unseen.
Adam’s work has taken on a life of its own. It is more than simply ethereal, it is otherworldly. His fish swim in from somewhere we haven’t seen, a parallel dimension perhaps. Steel warriors stand vigilant, swords readied, steel angels look on, observing. Of course it is all fantasy such creatures simply don’t exist, not on this earth at any rate, do they?
Ben Timmins
THE NATURAL
Three time winner of the ‘People’s Choice’ award at the NZ Art Show, Ben Timmins is a well-known ‘natural artist’ working out of his studio in Parapara, Golden Bay. In this article he talks about his life, work and penchant for ‘un-learning’.
Ben Timmins paints with oils on wooden panels. He says the painting process and materials used are deliberately employed to engage the viewer on many experiential levels. There is an underlying resonance throughout these paintings, nature as a subject matter is painted upon nature itself, the wood grain is integrated into the compositions with both paint and subject.
Di Tocker
DESTINY IN GLASS A mother of two, a successful artist in her own right, owner of Dicastglass, a successful business purveying…
Michael Angelo Burke
HERITAGE ART A carver and painter of murals and pictures, portraying an individual style unique in New Zealand, Michael Angelo Burke’s…
Karen Vernon
UNDER A BENIGN SPIRIT
“My art doesn’t stand on words. What is on my canvas I sometimes can’t explain away with clever talk. It is not an intellectual process, my paintings are intuitive, and, I feel, painted under the tutelage of a benign spirit.” So says Karen Vernon whose journey into the art world began in 1993 while attending American Folk Art classes in Auckland.
Largely self-taught and without any formal art training Karen says she has been fortunate to have had the guidance of a number of “wonderful” art tutors to get to the level she is at today. “I was a student of Jayne Sprott, and attended her watercolour class for three years. It was at this point I developed a passion for art and began trying other mediums, but staying in the realms of more traditional realistic painting.
Alan Lakisoe
THE JOY OF CREATING
“The joy of creating something with my hands and then being able to share it so that others can experience that same joy too.” This is what up and coming artist Alan Lakisoe loves about his life and work.
Born in Napier, Alan has always been interested in art from a young age. “I attended weekend art classes at primary school. I took a deep interest in fine arts, took it through high school and had enrolled to do art at Polytech before deciding to put my passion aside for work to support a family. While I was working, I did sketching in my spare time. I also taught myself a lot through studying art books and online video tutorials of different artists’ techniques.