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.”
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.
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.”
Dylan Keys
CREATIVE INTUITION
Self-taught artist Dylan Keys has been creating since he was a small child. “I always wanted to be a full-time artist but it was an unexpected series of events that led to it actually becoming a reality. Unfortunately, I’ve been in poor health for a number of years and one of the ways I cope with the pain and unpleasant sensations is to distract myself by drawing and painting.”
“A few years ago, I did a realistic charcoal drawing which caught the attention of leading motivational speaker Craig Harper, who is also a writer and educator in the areas of health, high performance and personal development. He shared my work with his online audience and I soon had a few commission enquiries coming in for charcoal portraits. Although my preferred style has always been a very loose and expressive one rather than realism, I decided to make the most of that momentum. I launched my website and social media pages soon after and I’m lucky enough to have been a full-time artist since.”
Alison Gilmour
VISUAL STORIES
Alison Gilmour has always been a visual person and able to draw. Part of her job as a graphic designer was illustrating and visualising with art markers. In 2001 she did some night classes at Mairangi Arts as a fun thing to do with a friend. “In one of the classes I started doing some still life drawings in coloured pencil. They were pretty good so I decided to go out and buy some acrylic paints, canvas and brushes and give it go. They were good, so I carried on and the rest is history.”
Alison finds inspiration is everywhere. How the light falls on an object or vista, how colours change with the light. Marvelling at nature’s detail and beauty, especially flora and the sea, she loves to note how weather affects them. “I thoroughly enjoy being able to express myself on the canvas and use my talent to create beauty, painting detail and sculpting my subject matter through light and depth to make the beholder overjoyed.”
Uriel Tian
INSPIRATIONAL FANTASY
Growing up in Barcelona, Spain and watching fantasy films filled with amazing creatures, Uriel Tian found the 1990s and 2000s a golden age for fantasy films. He was absolutely delighted to find the world he could create just using his imagination. This made him realise that he could do something like this and he began to direct his life toward becoming an artist.
“I studied Practical FX (A practical effect is a special effect produced physically, without computer-generated imagery or other post-production techniques) for the film industry in Barcelona in THUYA Academy in 2012, and then I began my Sculpture degree in 2014 in La Llotja Arts School in Barcelona.” Loving the feeling he gets while creating and the freedom that comes with it, Uriel knows he can challenge himself to become better and better. “I like to have dynamic projects and I feel I could never get tired of working. That also makes me understand how powerful it is to pursue your goals and dreams.”
Karin McCombe Jones
THE ESSENCE OF COLOUR
THE ESSENCE OF COLOURWith a plethora of training in all sorts of artistic areas including art and design, dance, physical education, and achieving a Bachelor’s Degree of Education with Honours, Karin McCombe Jones started her career teaching dance, drama and art in England. She moved to Canada and after immigrating to New Zealand, did various courses at the Learning Connexion school of art and creativity in Wellington where she now holds evening classes.
Born in Wales, Karin was a child who enjoyed drawing although her main ambition was to be an actress. “I got to teach drama, dance and art, which was close to being on stage at times, and painted sets for productions although I craved to be able to create my own work rather than simply making exemplars.”
