Joanne Luker
ABOVE: Rangitoto Porcelain SHARDS OF JOY Born in the UK, Joanne Luker loved art at high school: “I have always enjoyed…
Tim Houghton
ABOVE: 'Old Garden Shed' - I was struck by the peace and silence of this old garden shed, as the light…
Pam Crowther
PAMELA'S SOUTHERN SYMPHONY
PAMELA'S SOUTHERN SYMPHONYArtists continually strive to bring a piece to life, to fill a canvas with something that personifies a thought or represents a feeling. For artist Pamela Crowther, this is the earliest part of the process. Just as a songwriter starts with no sound and starts with one part of an arrangement – as an artist, Pamela has to start somewhere too.
by Matt Mortimer
“I begin with the largest shapes filling in dark and light areas, usually in one colour, mainly using a brush for this. I’ll then place another three or four colours to start with, using retarding medium on palette – then it’s mix and begin. My technique varies considerably. I basically follow my instinct.” This instinctive approach works well, as she then branches out into the work, on the way to a sometimes-lengthy process to create each work. “Colour, colour, colour – the desire to change the blank white space into some exciting, thought-provoking or sometimes just decorative. Starting the painting takes courage and the need to prepare yourself for mental stimulation and then, near the end of the painting, dealing with exhaustion.”
Rosemarie Murphy
PLAYING WITH LIGHT
PLAYING WITH LIGHTAs a child Rosemarie Murphy always loved drawing and spent most of her pocket money on art materials, but it wasn’t until she was in her thirties that she started to try other media and materials. “I have dabbled in acrylics, watercolour, pottery (hand-work mostly) and silk dyeing, but pastel is the one that I have worked at the longest. I was introduced to pastel by Maxine Thompson, Master Pastelist in New Zealand. My sister, Raewyn, invited me to one of Maxine’s workshops and like so many of Maxine’s pupils I was hooked.
Having had no formal training, Rosemarie learned by attending many workshops - some in watercolour and acrylics, but mostly in pastel. For a long time family and milking cows stopped her from making art full time and she would attend a workshop and then put her work away until the next one. “This is NOT the way to improve,” she states adamantly.
Kristin Hyde
DREAM BIG, AIM HIGH
DREAM BIG, AIM HIGHHaving been a Flight Attendant for 32 years, and after taking a month's holiday with her eldest son in the Bahamas, the night Kristin Hyde flew out of Houston to come home was the night the world started closing its borders and unbeknown to her at the time, she had already crewed her last duty. They say ‘When life gives you Lemons, make lemonade’ ... so I did. I took the leap, and at 60 years old in a pandemic, I became a full-time artist.” Kristin tells us her story:
“I am mainly self-taught, having taken the odd class over the years, both online and in person. I have always been a bit of a closet creative. I would scrimp and save and spend my money on art or craft supplies. When my children were little, I started painting on terracotta pots for friends. They quickly became sought after and so I created ‘Pots for Tots.’ From there I have always dabbled over the years in many different artistic endeavours from mosaics and water colours, screen printing to beading then jewellery making, eco printing and felting. I was always eager to try new things, but painting has become the dominant leader.
Bryony Bedggood
A COMPLETE CREATIVE
Other than art lessons while at school, Bryony Bedggood is a self taught artist who has always been drawn to creative pursuits such as dance, music, writing, and of course, art. “Our Mum studied art in Dublin and our Dad played guitar and was a wonderful influence in taking time to stop and really see things. They always encouraged my siblings and I to follow what we loved doing.”
Creating is what makes Bryony happy, “I feel very off kilter if I’m not creating. I’ve had a few different careers with a high element of stress, also interesting life experiences that have contributed to me wanting to focus on my art.” Being an artist gives her the freedom to explore all the different things that excite her. “I have way too many ideas floating around my head to not follow through! Sometimes I definitely feel like there isn’t enough time to cover or discover all the ideas in my head!” She also plays flute and piccolo in a couple of orchestra and chamber groups.
Sheree Foster
SHEREE FOSTERS ARTISTIC JOURNEY
By Ben Lavin
Sheree Foster has always been involved in one way or another with creative things. Before becoming a full time, self-taught artist “...graduating from the school of Life’’, she was in Banking, Event Marketing and then, after having her family, a Design Build Consultant, with interests in photography, floral, and landscape design. She actually never considered becoming an artist until a visiting friend observed a piece she had created lying on a table and then asked her what gallery she had bought it from. She was quite taken aback to hear that Sheree had made it and after learning there were no plans for it she promptly decided to buy it on the spot. It now hangs proudly on their wall in their new contemporary beach house in Waihi Beach - all two metres of it, and recently been joined by piece number two another two metre monster. Thus began Sheree’s adventure as an artist which she admits was a bit of a crossroads in her life. What should she do next?
After doing several weddings and seeing the wastage of flowers for one day she decided she wanted to create something from this and the idea came to her of repurposing floral waste into all sorts of art pieces from wreaths to busts of heads, all in pre-loved flowers and often with a vintage flair. The enjoyment of creating this art, as well as the pleasure of seeing one of her pieces in its forever place, was what really motivated her to keep going.
Rebecca Mathews
MY SOUL DREAM
MY SOUL DREAM“When you find something that makes you happy then the pursuit to better yourself comes naturally”, says Rebecca Mathews, whose mantra is, whatever is good for your soul, do that. “After I found my love for painting, I started showing my work to friends and colleagues who loved it. I sold many pieces and picked up a few commissions.”
Rebecca is a self-taught artist. She loves learning and the challenge of trying new things. “My first painting on canvas was in my 20s. I bought a paint-by-number and loved it. However, it didn't look real enough for me so I started researching; reading books and watching tutorials.”
Jackie Krzyzowski
DETAILED DELIGHT
Jackie Krzyzowski never had any formal training but always enjoyed drawing as a child. She used one private workshop and various online tutorials to get her started with pastels. She explains further:
I spent most of my adult life with horses and riding as a hobby and with family life, working full time and studying part time there was not much time for anything else. I always thought that one day I might come back to my art. Getting older, I was not fit enough to carry on with the horse riding and moved to breeding and showing miniature horses. This was successful for 10 years, but again, getting older, mobility issues were making this hobby more difficult and so I decided to retire from it. Then came COVID lockdown and I was looking for something to do and now I am on this new, amazing art journey.
Bec Robertson
AVIAN AFFINITY
AVIAN AFFINITYBec Robertson’s grandmother and her grandmother’s sister were painters in their retirement. Bec’s grandmother also wrote and illustrated poems and stories, “As a kid I also wrote and illustrated A LOT of ‘newspapers’. I would make up fanciful news stories and pictures then sell ‘the paper’ to my dad for lolly money. I soon learnt that I could resell the same articles to my other family members for more money for lollies! I loved showing them new pictures and ideas and getting their feedback.”
She tells us more: “I have loved being creative for as long as I can remember. As a young child I had a cupboard in the kitchen under the bench where I kept all my treasures, little bottles of crayon sharpenings, paper cut outs of anything which took my fancy, matchboxes full of strange found objects - I think a few unfortunate forgotten lady bugs and a caterpillar died as a result of my match box obsession.”