CARVING A NEW FASHION
“Have a goal, have something to achieve and then go and fulfill it. It always a nice feeling to look back on the journey of how you realised your dreams.”
So says Tanya Short, who some may remember as Tanya Finlayson making and selling handmade jewellery and sewing children’s clothing at the Whangarei markets.
DOODLEWOOD
“I call my work doodlewood because that’s what it is, literally doodling with wood”
Mark Jones’s organic sculptures are shaped by the wood he is working with: “I enjoy having the gift of being able to see an ordinary piece of wood and visualise it being a piece of art.”
Mark started at the Stevenson Brothers Rocking Horse Makers, UK, assembling wooden horses in the factory for a year when the opportunity to learn how to carve the horses arose.
Throughout his life, Matt Diamond has had an interest in drawing, endeavouring to put to paper that which he saw, developing his talent through the years. He travelled Europe and the Middle East for four years, returning to New Zealand to train at Aucklands Freelance Animation Studio.
After working in 2 and 3 dimensional animation and spending time doing animation for Maori TV, he realised his creativity didn’t really flourish in an office environment and decided to start travelling again. Whilst in central America he spent time sketching people in cafés, without them knowing, and then presenting them with the drawing when they had finished their meal. Sometimes he just made a new friend, other times the unwitting model would buy him a meal or tip him. However, although this was entertaining, it did not satisfy his overwhelming urge to create huge artworks.
Kim Kerr has enjoyed drawing and painting from an early age and expressed a keen interest in studying further. When her art teacher at high school tried to discourage her saying she couldn’t do Fine Arts Prelim in Form 7, she decided to prove him wrong, and enrolled at Art School.
She spent three years at Otago Polytechnic where she obtained a Distinction in a Fine & Applied Arts Diploma. After completing this diploma, Kim went on to study at Teachers College. She spent several years as Head of Art Departments at various secondary schools, teaching art, design and history of art.
CAPTURING MEMORIES OF LIFESandra has found that being largely self-taught can raise issues in the budding artists career. “Having a ‘name’ seems to take precedence above quality in the art world. This seems to become more of an issue as my career develops. I am breaking through this barrier now, thanks to opportunities created by select clients and galleries having a belief in my abilities. I have had to hang on to small achievements and push sceptics aside.”
Aaron Hoskins has completed a large commissioned work and finds it very interesting to meet his clients’ wishes. He is creating a series of carved and painted oars that are based on his own historical Maori research on Northland, enjoying the combination of Maori and European influences and reflecting on New Zealand history.
A QUIET LIFE“When I look at a painting I like, I ask myself what it is about that painting which draws me to it. For me colour is a very important component and it tends to be a very emotional thing. I love bold vibrant colours, but the combination of colours is also important. The way the play on light is used to make contrasts between light and dark creates an impact, which also draws me to it."
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