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The Foundry- Jonathan-Campbell-aotearoa-artist

Jonathan Campbell’s Foundry

LOST AND FOUND

Jonathan Campbell has had sketch books since he was a youngster, constantly sketching compositions and ideas, generally ending up in one theme that leads to another. When he starts to make sculptures, he experiences further changes. “I don’t over-think, once I start doing a piece of work, it seems to take off.”

Having studied at the Foundation of Fine Arts in Whitirea, Jonathan had just picked up his skills when a French wool buying company approached him to produce about 200 castings, to celebrate their centenary. “They had seen my work in a group show and had tracked me down. It was complete luck and it enabled me to set up with decent equipment right away.”

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Indigo Wise

PROCEED BEYOND

Well known for her paintings and drawings of New Zealand native birds; including the Native New Zealand Falcon, Fantail, Kea and Tui, Indigo Wise found her passion for art after overcoming long-term health issues and enrolling in an 18 month Visual Arts course at the Golden Bay Work centre.

That was in 2010-2011 and it was not her first study of the arts. Prior to this, in 1988, Indigo completed a diploma of Interior Design, which included life drawing, graphic design, art history and technical drawing at Whitecliffe Art School. As a distance delivery student in Golden Bay, Indigo studied through The Learning Connexion from 2012 – 2014 coming out with a diploma of Art & Creativity and Diploma of Art & Creativity (honours).

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Beverly Reid

Beverly Reid - Aotearoa Artist

THE JOURNEY

Californian-born Beverly Reid has had a passion for art since childhood. “When I received my first set of Crayola crayons and a colouring book, I loved the exciting hues of colours I could create with them, which led me to drawing different things on my own. My very first memories of drawing were that of a sailing ship, Black Beauty and a ballerina. I was so excited with all the details I could put into my drawings making them ‘come alive’, I wanted to do more! This began my art journey into enjoying realism which still continues today!” .

Apart from a short college course in 3-Dimensional Art in 1994-5, Beverly is a self-taught artist with no formal training, but dedicated to perfecting her craft, and developing her own unique style. “I love being an artist, because I can communicate a feeling or capture a moment in time through my work, and share it with other people. There’s nothing more gratifying to me, when I receive feedback that my art made someone stop, stare at it and keep looking at it!

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Janet Marshall

Janet Marshall - Aotearoa Artist

DREAM CHASER

English-born Kiwi, Janet Marshall has exhibited and sold her work as far afield as England, Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, Italy and China and designed stamps for NZ Post and NZ Fish and Game.

Janet is a founding member of Nature in Art, Gloucestor, England and has work in numerous collections including Nature in Art England, NZ Milk Board USA, NZ Post, NZ Treasury, Puki Ariki Museum Taranaki, and Birds in Art, Wisconsin, USA. She has also written and had published five illustrated children’s books as well as an illustrated garden diary of her former home Te Popo Gardens in Taranaki, called ‘Images of a Garden’.

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Reina Cottier

Reina Cottier - Aotearoa Artist

THE INNER ARTIST

After learning the basics of art at high school Reina Cottier spent much of her life running a series of businesses and raising a family. About seven years ago she took a course dubbed ‘Awaken the Artist Within’, which, she says, “was not so much about learning how to paint, but more about expressing yourself from within and finding inspiration”.

Needless to say the artist within Reina was re-ignited. Not that it was ever that far away. With a theatre wardrobe mistress for a mother Reina had an unconventional upbringing, surrounded by art and craft and everything that went with it.

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John Unasa

John Unasa - Aotearoa Artist

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.

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Ben Timmins - Aotearoa Artist

Ben Timmins

Ben Timmins - Aotearoa Artist

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.

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Alan Lakisoe

Alan Lakisoe - Aotearoa Artist

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.

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Vinny Thompson

Vinny Thompson - Aotearoa Artist

THE PASSION THAT SURROUNDS

When a fine artist was introduced to ceramics the resultant mix was an evocative blend of genres and bold colours recalling another side to what makes New Zealand what it is. Vinny Thompson talks about her life, work and her passion for clay.

My introduction into ceramics came about while I was attending night classes at Archibald’s ‘The Art Place’, in Upper Hutt where I was learning portraiture painting with Mary Archibald. I booked in for a weekend class doing clay sculpture with Wellington sculptor Di Conway who was teaching us how to make ‘roly poly’ women. In the first 10 minutes of having my hands on the clay, I thought, “Oh I can do this! I like this!”

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Charles Lyle

aotearoa-artist-charles-lyleA PROLIFIC TALENT

Born in Rotorua, Charles Lyle is a straight-up, 'look-you-the-eye-and tell-you-like-it-is' type of man. It’s all good. This multi-award winning Kerikeri-based artists reflections on a bygone era of cars, tractors and motorbikes takes one back to a time when things were somehow more simple and direct, quieter with none of the frenetic rush of the times in which are living right now.

Of course, there is a harsher reality Charles’ work, particularly in his interpretations of aeroplanes and ships from both World Wars and which have proved immensely popular to collectors of this genre.

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