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Lorna Allan

lorna-allan-aotearoa-artistA PASSIONATE PROCESS

Otautau Gallery in Southland and The Artists Room Fine Art Gallery in Dunedin are a far cry from Alaska, such is the range of locations and distance the artwork of Lorna Allan has travelled. “I have paintings in Alaska, other parts of the US, Australia and the UK.”

From simple beginnings of chalk on a blackboard, to what you see today highlights years of experience and expression. “I have had no formal training as in art school. In those days education for girls was considered a waste of time and money as we would only get married and have children. I recall clearly the first day I started school at High Street School, Dunedin. The teacher gave me a piece of chalk and I was allowed to draw on a board with my name on it while she got the other children onto their work.  When I had finished, I took the chalk to the teacher to give it back to her.  She said, “Oh no dear. That’s yours for always as long as it lasts”. I was overwhelmed with her kindness as I had been told I was to learn reading, writing and numbers and not to play around with “that rubbish” at school.”

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Pam Mundell

pam-mundell-aotearoa-artistBETTER BY THE DOZEN

An evening with friends, a little wine and some chat. Sounds like a typical night, anywhere across New Zealand. What started as one such evening for artist Pam Mundell, triggered a journey into the world of art, starting her down a road that hasn’t reached a destination yet. In her case, this was an evening with friends that changed everything.

“I began painting 12 years ago, purely by chance, so having formal training never occurred to me. Maggie Cross, a Whangarei artist, invited a few friends round to try out painting. She put a wineglass in my left hand (and kept it topped up), and a paintbrush in my right. It was so much fun I haven’t stopped yet, although the wine had to go!” After being caught by the irresistible pull of creating works herself, her inspiration is all around and conveniently for Pam, mostly close to home. From the wonderful scenic spots she’s resided in, or places she’s visited, there is no shortage of things to paint or creations to come to life on her canvas. Like a lot of travellers, Pam has a camera in tow to capture locations and scenes for later works.

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Rosanne Croucher

rosanne-croucher-aotearoa-artistGENEROUS GIFT

From a young age, Rosanne Croucher loved to make things. She won a few colouring in competitions as a child, which was very encouraging. “During high school I took art subjects, but I wasn’t sure how that would translate into a career, so I ended up moving to Auckland and beginning a Health Science degree.”

Two years on, she experienced some health issues and felt a deep need to re-establish creativity in her life. “The following year I did Bible college through my Church Equippers and it was there that I began to develop a vision for a career as an artist. I started up an art group at church and enrolled at Unitec to study a Bachelor of Design and Visual Arts. Looking back, I cringe at some of the work I made during my degree and Masters, but I made some great work as well and learnt so much.

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Mila Renault

mila-renault-aotearoa-artistBRAZILIAN BEAUTY

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Mila Renault grew up sketching and painting landscapes. Her maternal great grandparents (amateur painters) arrived in Brazil, from France and Sweden, in the late 1800s. Mila’s favourite place in her childhood was at her grand-aunties art studio. “I grew up with art supplies around and quickly learned to admire watercolour.”

When Mila was eight, she began art classes with a local artist in her studio. For the next four years, Saturday mornings were her preffered part of the week. When she was 13, she began a classical drawing education lasting two years at Lyceum of Arts & Crafts in Sao Paulo, which she followed up with a further year in a watercolour course at the same school. At such a young age, Mila loved to dedicate her time to her learning even after school. “The course was structured over two years and in the beginning that was too much for a teenager that of course was the ‘puppy’ of the classroom. In the first semester we studied observation drawing and perspective covering exercises in activating the right side of the brain. Second semester was focused in light and dark and understanding volumetric shapes as well as exploring different materials like pastels and coloured pencils.

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Art Capener

art-capener-aotearoa-artistArt Capener did a short amount of formal art training at UK Liverpool Art College way back in the early 60s but found he didn’t really like it, instead taking the long road of being self-taught. “Being taught how to do something is OK but the excitement of discovering it for yourself is much better, I feel. Quite often new techniques are discovered by what I call ‘happy accidents’ – that’s when you’re almost giving up and so you try again and again. Suddenly you find yourself standing back and saying, wow did I do that?”

“I have no idea what drove my interest in art, I do a lot of geneology research and have gone back over 1500 years, but amazingly I never found an ancestral artist. Having said that, I’m sure many of them would have drawn or painted at some point. I get all the inspiration I need from nature – not just the scenery but the vast array of colours, it’s also very theraputic as we all know colour can lift your spirits or have an opposite effect, adding beauty or drama to a picture. I admire the work of many artists such as Jonathan White, Tim Wilson and the works of 18th century Russian artists, such as Ivan Aivazovsky. 

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Graham Christensen

graham-christensen-aotearoa-artistsGraham Christensen is a rural artist living in the Manawatu. At 72 Graham has spent the majority of his life involved in farming and agriculture – not painting. 

By Natasha Christensen

Graham was in his early 60s when he and his wife Sue were discussing what their up-coming retirement might look like. They had already been living for the last seven years on the Gold Coast in Australia managing a holiday resort in Surfers Paradise. It had been hard work with very little down time and the plan was to move back home to New Zealand to be closer to the grandkids. Their intention was to buy a small farm in the Manawatu, but Sue was concerned that Graham would not have enough to keep him busy on a daily basis. He was such an active person she didn’t think it was a good idea for him to hang around the house all day in between small farm jobs. In 2012, with a birthday approaching and recalling the conversation, Sue, on a bit of a whim, purchased Graham a gift voucher for three painting lessons ‘Learn to Paint’.  In just three lessons Graham was hooked – and painting has since become his great passion.

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Keith Snow

keith-snow-aotearoa-artistBy Matt Mortimer

Keith Snow’s journey as an artist is a literal voyage of creativity, navigating the ups and downs of artistic exploration of largely maritime painting. This is an apt parallel of his definition of his career to date. It comes as no surprise that Keith’s maritime focus is one birthed from a love of the sea and sailing. 

“It’s gone from an interest...to a hobby...to a full-time job, “he says. “To attempt to fill a need to create something of beauty and of longevity.” His background is one of no formal training, of exploring the depths of maritime journals and books. My ideas and inspiration are mainly from reading. Books about early explorers, emigrant ships, local fishing craft and more.”

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Mary Sneyd

mary-sneyd-aotearoa-artistFABRIC AND THREAD

By Matt Mortimer

Artists of all types are often asked about their favourite instruments to make their creations. Music artists will have an instrument of choice that gets that certain sound, a painter may have a brush or easel they love and others, like textile artist Mary Sneyd – well, they reach for something different entirely. And her choice is…? “My sewing machine, because my work has many layers and it is impossible to sew by hand!”

This sets Mary apart from many who call themselves an artist, much like the clear difference between her occupation when she is not sitting behind her sewing machine. “I still work as a doctor/scientist three days a week and do textile art for three days a week or sometimes four - if I can get away with it! - so although I’d like to be one, I’m not a career artist.” 

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Raewyn Harris

raewyn-harris-aotearoa-artistKORU CREATIONS

By Matt Mortimer

We are spoilt across our wonderful country with such natural wonders and beauty right on our doorsteps – or a short drive away. Napier-based artist Raewyn Harris utilises this, camera in hand, to be reproduced later as beautiful watercolour paintings. 

“My creative soul is driven by daily walks on the beach, around our local estuary, walks in our native bush and in forests, enjoying our lakes and rivers, mountains and spectacular landscape features in New Zealand. All the while I’m challenging myself to learn new techniques and skills. My camera is always with me when out and about and the photos I take provide a rich source of ideas for my paintings. Trips overseas also provide photographic opportunities.” A natural ability and experimentation with materials shine through with accolades coming as early as her pre-teens. 

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Romuald Rudzki

romuald-rudzki-aotearoa-artistTHE FIRST PREALIST

Inspiration to create art is drawn from various areas for each artist. For Manawatu-based artist Romuald Rudzki, his motivation stems from a rebirth of colour, following a tragedy.

“I have painted since childhood but did not take up my place at art college when I was 18 as I was advised that I would “end up as an unemployed artist.” In 1988 I was in a head-on collision with a drunk driver which left me blind for several months with retinal detachments, as well as a spine fractured in two places. When I eventually regained my sight, I was struck by how each colour is so different from any other, for example, blue cannot be described in terms of red. I therefore started painting again.”

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