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Gavin Chai - Aotearoa Artist

Gavin Chai

Gavin Chai - Aotearoa Artist

Self-portrait


THE PRODIGY

At the relatively young age of 17 years, Malaysian-born portrait artist Gavin Chai will hold his first solo exhibition at the Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa in May this year. This follows outstanding achievements in winning both KG Fraser award (best in show) and the gold medal (most successful artist of the show) at the 2014 Royal Easter Show. Gavin also had a painting selected as a finalist in the 2014 Adam Portraiture Award and placed with the nation-wide touring exhibition. In this article Gavin tells how the work of the old masters inspired him to create and pursue a career as a professional artist.

I started drawing and painting when I was 12 years old and trained under an artist in Malaysia where many materials such as oil paints and acrylics are in short supply. I was only taught how to use pencil, watercolour and oil pastels.

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Anne Michelle Johal - Aotearoa Artist

Anne Michelle Johal

Anne Michelle Johal - Aotearoa Artist

THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION

My entire family are passionate readers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and story tellers. My father, a farmer, collected humorous books with illustrations full of wonderful little stories that tickled, and he taught us how to draw cartoons as a child. Beatrix Potter’s little handheld books, with her delicious little watercolour paintings, were read to us by our grandmother. Dad’s books included those written and illustrated by A.S. Paterson, the Andy Capp series, and many others. The coloured line illustrations and stories of Asterix and Obelix, the black and white cartoons of Murray Ball, The What a Mess collection by Frank Muir with Joseph Wright’s wonderful illustrations, Quentin Blake’s work, among others, became part of our favourite collections growing up.

A passionate reader, from a very young age, I lived inside these books as movies in my imagination. The narratives of people and places, emotion and experience captured and transported me out into the world of cultural difference and exciting possibilities, such a contrast to the farm life.

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Bruce Mortimer

Bruce-Mortimer-aotearoa-artistGRAPHIC DETAIL

A life-long artist with no formal art training, graphite photo-realist, Bruce Mortimer, whose work has been sold all over the world, describes himself as a ‘self-learner’. He takes his art very seriously, committing himself to learning with a passion and working to a plan. This applies equally from his art and photography, to learning languages or sport. In this article he writes at length about his life as an artist and his quest to find peace and a sense of value in an increasingly frenetic global village.

My interest in art began at school, and I have practiced it in one form or another ever since. Although I enjoyed art at school and was competent even at that stage with pencil drawing, I developed a genuine love of photography in my early teens that I still have. Even then I approached my photography as an artist, in that I photographed subject matter in my own way and which had meaning for me.

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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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Maxine Waters

Maxine Waters - Aotearoa Artist

CLASS IN CLAY

With nothing more than a deep-seated belief that art would be a major part of her life, internationally-recognised New Zealand ceramicist Maxine Waters decided after attending some night classes at Riccarton High School in Christchurch, that clay was to be her ‘thing’.

“I have had no formal art training, only a passion to learn everything yesterday,” Maxine says emphatically. Formal or not, Maxine says being an active membership of pottery clubs allowed her opportunity to participate in the many workshops from visiting international and local potters, which enhanced her skills and fuelled an inherent passion to create. “I was part of the successful potters co-operative ‘Classy Clay’ in Christchurch for around seven years then continued on my own, making and selling my domestic ware. At one stage employing three sales staff,” Maxine reveals.

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Geoff Noble

Geoff Noble - Aotearoa Artist

FREEDOM AND MOVEMENT

There is a lot of paint and colour, lots of colour. Bright, vibrant and even startling. And movement, always movement, large bold images leap out demanding attention, captured but seemingly not, on the cusp of rising and falling but nowhere near frozen.

There are paintings all over the place when entering a very cluttered Tahuna Studios in Nelson. Some are complete, overs still in that moment of creation. New and old it is an eclectic mix. Added to this are posters, surfboards, skateboards, and all manner of tools.

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Di Tocker

DESTINY IN GLASS

A mother of two, a successful artist in her own right, owner of Dicastglass, a successful business purveying tools and materials for all manner of glass casting, Auckland-born Di Tocker has walked the walk to get where she is today. In the story below she describes the highs and lows of life as a professional artist.

I work full time as a Cast Glass Artist and Tutor from my purpose built casting studio next to my home in Ohaupo, Waikato. Though art is part of my practice as far as form and concept, I consider myself to be more of a ‘maker’ than an artist, due to the massive fabrication process involved in the cast glass medium.

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Di Conway

Di Conway - Aotearoa Artist

DOING IT HER WAY

Wellingtonian Di Conway was all smiles and radiance when we met up with her at The NZ Art Show last year. There is literally a light emanating out of this lady. Displayed on her stand are groups of her renowned ‘Roly’s’ – ‘women of substance’ and a number of her remarkable drawings and yes, the light shines through.

Creating works in both bronze and clay, Di Conway has had many successful solo exhibitions. She is an elected artist member of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Art (NZAFA) and is also a foundation and active member of the Pueto bronze casting group, now in its 26th year.

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Vjekoslav Nemesh

Vjekoslav Nemesh - Aotearoa Artist

UNIVERSAL LOVE

Inspired by nature and the outer reaches of the human soul, award winning artist Vjekoslav Nemesh says the overriding subject matter of all his work is quite simply universal love.

Born in Petrovaradin in the former Yugoslavia, Vjekoslav Nemesh has been a professional working artist since 1984, participating in over 150 group and 30 solo exhibitions.

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DeAnne Lawford-Smith - Aotearoa Artist

DeAnne Lawford-Smith

DeAnne Lawford-Smith - Aotearoa Artist

FOR LOVE OR MONEY

Born in Levin, DeAnne Lawford Smith has been artistically inclined from birth. Growing up in a large family which included many foster children, the easiest and most economical means of entertainment was with paper and pencils. With enthusiastic encouragement from her family, DeAnne has blossomed into a full time professional artist.

Married with three children, DeAnne travelled between Rotorua and Taupo over a four year period to complete her Diploma of Visual Art (Fine Art) in 2000 at the Waiariki Institute of Technology. Armed with this accomplishment, she managed to overcome her shyness and was able to present her work to galleries and buyers, resulting in her first solo exhibition in Tauranga and achieved first place in the prestigious Portage Ceramic Award in 2007.

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