Bernadette Ballantyne
WINDOWS TO THE SOUL Gaining her Bachelor of Fine Art at Whanganui Quay School of the Arts (now Whanganui UCOL) between…
Ninette Kruger
PROCESS AND PURPOSE
Born in South Africa, Ninette Kruger has always enjoyed being creative and explored different mediums until she discovered pewter embossing in 2004.
She taught herself the basics from an instructional book, and later attended a more advanced techniques workshop at a pewter studio in Johannesburg. Since then , she has been focused on refining her technique and thoroughly enjoying metal embossing as a hobby. “I started out with a career in the food and hotel industry, which I absolutely loved, and completed my MBA in 2006. I quickly realised the corporate world was not for me, and set out to carve out a creative career for myself. I immigrated to New Zealand with my family in 2016 and during lockdown 2020, I attended an online artist masterclass that changed my world.”
Kim Mitchell
FREE SPIRIT
FREE SPIRITRebelling about being told what and how to paint, and being a free spirit, travelling from place to place for extended periods of time, Kim Mitchell never really pursued her talent. “It wasn’t until around the first lockdown in 2020 that I admitted to myself I wasn’t happy with my current situation and wanted a change. In the last year I have found myself more driven and motivated to paint, committed to making a change for myself and wildlife, my enduring interest.”
Kim’s biggest motivation is the plight of wildlife in the world today. “If I can use my skills to raise awareness about endangered animals then I feel like it would be a waste to not at least try. People talk about finding their purpose in life and up until now I’ve never really known what I want to do. I have studied geology, geography, cartography and journalism, with fleeting aspirations of using these to map wildlife habitats. One day I may combine all of this but for now I believe my biggest impact is creating realistic paintings. These can hopefully have a global reach and not only bring joy to people’s homes but also help raise awareness of our beautiful wildlife.”
Jordan Turner
TRUE CALLING
TRUE CALLINGAt the age of 13, Jordan Turner’s foray into the fine art world was cut short by her family’s relocation from their home town of Cromwell to another country town. She’d only managed to have two private lessons. “My tutor handed me four pieces of paper and directed me to paint four faces without my brush leaving the paper. I feel like ever since that time, I have been mastering faces. He must have known that I was drawn to faces, as it’s exactly what I am drawn to now. The face and body and capturing the emotion, it’s just fascinating to me.”
She claims her biggest inspiring factor to becoming an artist was when she was 16: “My Mum took my brother and I to the New Zealand Body Art Awards, in Auckland. That event left a lasting imprint and inspired me to research and then sign up and get accepted into studying makeup and film production, at the Design and Art College of New Zealand.” Jordan completed this certificate at the age of 20. From that point she furthered her skills by travelling and sketching her way around Australia and the UK, finally settling in Melbourne. “During this time I really started to focus on developing my creative craft. This involved leading various creative events, teaching workshops and displaying my artworks in galleries and art shows, throughout Melbourne.”
Alice Spittle
Being an artist for Alice Spittle is all about being in nature, around harakeke, sharing time with her Nani’s and other artists, preparing fibre, weaving and most importantly, this is all so she can share and pass her knowledge to her children and future generations. “My children and husband are my motivation and constantly support and encourage me to follow my passion.”
Being an artist for Alice Spittle is all about being in nature, around harakeke, sharing time with her Nani’s and other artists, preparing fibre, weaving and most importantly, this is all so she can share and pass her knowledge to her children and future generations. “My children and husband are my motivation and constantly support and encourage me to follow my passion.”Having studied Māori design and art at Te Wānanga O Raukawa (The University of Ōtaki) in 2001, with Pip Devonshire and Elaine Beven, Alice spent many years with influential weavers learning traditional arts practices. “In 2017 I went back to study level 5 raranga and focused on kete whakairo (finely woven patterned baskets) at Te Wānanga O Aotearoa with Morehu Flutey-Henare.” Her journey to becoming an artist began when she and her immediate family moved up to the Kapiti Coast. “My husband was working full time and I was home with our daughter. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, or even what I was passionate about. My mother-in-law brought me some paints and brushes and got me to try playing around with paint, which I really enjoyed. My stepfather and mother knew about the Te Wānanga O Raukawa and encouraged me to go check it out. I did and that was the start of me looking into raranga and painting. I had always been creative as my mother was always playing with clay or doing watercolours. so this felt comfortable for me.”
Toni Tittleton
REFLECTIVE SCULPTING
REFLECTIVE SCULPTINGHaving always been creative and taking as many art classes as she could at school, but knowing nothing about glass casting, Toni Tittleton studied glass production and design at Whanganui Glass School, graduating with a diploma in 2012 and specialising in cast and kiln formed glass.
Pleased to have completed her diploma by the age of 20, once she had completed her studies she had to think outside the box – “I was challenged with the question all students face - what now? My goal was to create art for a living, however. I had no money for materials or to set up a studio.”
Siobhan Demeester
MY HAPPY PLACE
MY HAPPY PLACEFrom the moment Siobhan Demeester opens her eyes in the morning and sees the sun hit the top of the gum trees outside her window, she just wants to put those colours onto canvas. “Everything I see I convert it into a painting. I take my camera with me everywhere I go and am constantly taking photos to paint. Then when I go to bed at night, I dream about painting…quite obsessive really.” Obsessive or not, the positive feedback she receives from people and the fact that when she paints, she is in a very happy place, motivates her as well as winning prizes, being commissioned and selling her work.
Born in England and sharing her time between Australia and New Zealand, Siobhan completed two years at Gold Coast Art School between 2011 and 2013. When she moved to Russell Island, she saw a notice on the board at the ferry terminal, advertising a workshop with New Zealand Master Pastelist, Maxine Thompson, which she promptly signed up for and has never regretted.
Mike Brown
FULL CIRCLE
Mike Brown, a bone carver born in Pukekohe, now living in North Taranaki, says his art flows directly from his reflections on life. Carving has become a means of communication about what is important to him - speaking without words. “As a kid, art was important to me, but as the pressure went on at school and university, raising a family and working long hours, art became peripheral. Now, in my senior years, I have found more time and space. As a result, my desire to create has blossomed once again – I’ve gone full circle – how cool!” Mike shares his journey with us.
I am a thoughtful and reflective artist with a particular interest in people, their connections, relationships and spiritual journeys. Belonging is key. “You are never alone – you are part of something bigger than yourself.” For me there needs to be meaning to the pieces I create. I ask myself “why am I making this”? What does it mean? What is its significance? And if a commission, who is going to be wearing this? Each piece is unique in design and meaning.
UK ARTIST Danny Mooney
When drawing people you would think it might help to actually remember their faces… What if you can’t remember them? British artist Danny Mooney suffers from facial blindness but finds that he can overcome this obstacle by focussing on other aspects of a person’s character, an approach that lends itself to caricatures.
“I can draw recognisable people with just a few lines without any real trouble,” he reveals. “I’ve been doing political cartoons. They’re an expression of my annoyance. Cartoons are caricatures really. Say I’m doing a cartoon of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson… I can do the shape and the way he stands without too much effort. I look at a couple of other people’s cartoons of him and see that they all have little piggy eyes and droopy eyelids. For me the thing that makes Boris look like Boris is the hair, the round face, the fat body and the shabby suit. It doesn’t really need any additional features. That cartoon could be Donald trump or Boris Johnson. In order to produce political cartoons you have to stay abreast of the news but in order to stay sane you have to not stay abreast of the news! It’s a difficult tight rope to walk. I have always recognised people by their shape, the way they move, the way they walk, rather than by their faces. If I’m painting someone then those are the characteristics that are most important to me.”
Ken Tanner
ROOM TO MOVE
Brought up in the London suburbs and having studied art as a school subject, an enthusiastic teacher encouraged Ken Tanner to maintain his interest in art, which he has done for over 30 years. Training as an engineer and then working in construction management, Ken found there was not much room for creativity in his daytime work, so art as a hobby became a welcome respite, giving his creative mind room to move. He moved to New Zealand in 1974 but busy with his wife and children, and his work, he only really started to paint in the 1990s. Since then painting has become a large part of his life.
Ken’s inspiration, he says, is mostly to do with the creation of an image, rather than trying to convey some political message. “I really enjoy the realism but I did an abstract course some years ago and I now also enjoy developing the realistic image into a more abstract form. I have entered some of these paintings into the Howick Art Group’s annual competition and they have taken 1st prize. One of the judges, Evan Woodruff, said that the work was more abstractionism than pure abstract.”