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Sue Currie - Aotearoa Artist

Sue Currie

Sue Currie - Aotearoa Artist

Sue Currie was delighted to find that a comprehensive Australian correspondence course in graphic design for three years while at high school in Christchurch was a successful background for working in art. “In those days there were few opportunities for women to be taken seriously. In Sydney, Australia, the attitude was much more positive.”

Sue also took lessons with artist and illustrator Arthur Renshaw, (a retired tutor from the NSW Polytech), twice a week for six months as well as working freelance in graphic design. After six years she returned to New Zealand to paint, attending weekend workshops with a few fellow artists.

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Sally-Ann Davies

Sally-Ann Davies was born in Shropshire, England and resides in Taupo. She started her journey of becoming an artist as a toddler, drawing on the newly wallpapered walls of the farmhouse she grew up in. Her favourite subject at school without doubt was art. She vividly remembers that the primary school she attended would reward you if you finished your work early, with going and playing in the craft corner. She remembers how amazing creations developed with the simple materials such as egg cartons and toilet rolls. 

Her journey to becoming the esteemed artist she is today did not come with ease. A the age of 12 she had a detached retina so ended up having quite a few months off school. This meant no active play, which she says was very frustrating when you grow up on a farm with her brothers. Sally-Ann is a triplet, so you can understand the frustration she must have had, because she and her brothers normally spent their time building dens, rafts and camping by the river. 

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John White

John White - Aotearoa Artist

WILD PASSION

“Don’t be afraid, all the great painters had to start somewhere. You will make many mistakes so go ahead and start making them”. Adeptly using the time honoured mediums of oil and watercolour, John White portrays his love of wildlife through richly built paintings, softly painted, revealing the passion he has for his subject. Having built his skills over a lifetime he continues to create, advise and exhibit in New Zealand and overseas.

You know the first thing people ask me when they see my art is “how long have you been painting”? My answer is that I have always painted. I was brought up in a small place called Macandrew Bay on the Otago Peninsula with my three brothers and one sister. One of my brothers is my identical twin who is also an artist. We are the only ones in our family who do art, so my parents really did not understand what it was all about but they did encourage us. In my late teens I used to come home after playing rugby on a Saturday and paint watercolours on our kitchen table. If we had any visitors my mother would bring out my paintings and show them.

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Roger Shanks

Roger Shanks - aotearoa artist

HARNESSING THE BEAUTY

When Roger Shanks retired from a full time career in sheep and cattle farming, he became an artist, gaining knowledge from reading books and magazines and attending workshops with prominent Australian and New Zealand artists.

Having had no formal training, art filled a need to keep himself occupied during his retirement with the biggest motivating factor being the sense of achievement that comes from creating beautiful paintings. Roger retired at age 54. Eighteen years later, Roger is very proud of having had a private exhibition in Napier, two exhibitions in Gisborne and being a finalist in the Australian Artist magazine competition, Volume 203. He intends to continue on his artistic journey indefinitel

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Tony Clarke

Tony Clarke - aotearoa artist

CORNERSTONE SKILL

With luscious, almost glowing colour pouring out from the canvas, Tony Clarke’s work emits a sense of vibrancy making his art feel alive. The intricate texture conveys the feeling that you could reach out and touch the feather or fur.

Tony’s father was a very accomplished hobby painter and encouraged him from an early age. “He gave me a book at age 13 of Raymond Ching’s book of British Birds and took me out drawing over the weekends. I copied paintings from that book and studied originals at the International Art Centre.”

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John Dumergue

John Dumergue - aotearoa artist

BELIEVING IN BALANCE

An active family man, at age 71, John Dumergue has the balance right in his life. As a member of the oldest team in the Half Ironman in Wanaka, the swimmer being 72 and the cyclist, 82, his most important advice is believe in yourself. “This is what my running coach would say to me as I lined up for, say, an 800m race. I believe this applies to anything you do in life.”

When John was in his fifties, he spent five years training in the martial art of Kung Fu, with elements of Tai Chi. He became an instructor, enjoying the tutoring of beginners classes. He still runs regularly and counts the benefits as endless. He says art was never a career choice, it was just something he did during his spare time. Although, clearly John’s artistic abilities were part of his career choice after all, as he is also a carpenter by trade, having built his own house at the tender age of 21. Art comes in many forms and what will out, will out. Incidentally, he also has a diploma in writing. A multi-talented man. Now that he’s retired from his job as a Certified Kitchen and Bathroom Designer, he paints about four times a week.

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Ben Woollcombe

Ben Woollcombe - aotearoa artist

DISTILLED INSPIRATION

After almost four years of studying Industrial design at the Wellington School of Design in the early ‘70’s, Ben Woollcombe realised industry was not such an inviting option when the alternative was that he could create things of his own fancy and have people appreciate them, even buy them. The motivation to become an artist came from being able to make his own decisions and “enjoy living by my own wit rather than swapping my time for a pittance, while manifesting someone else’s dream.” He loves being able to use his time as he pleases - fishing, entertaining friends, sailing, painting or digging the garden.

Ben always enjoyed the Geography & Biology sets during his early education through correspondence school, as they usually involved illustration of some sort. A high mark in art was his main reason for gaining school certificate. 

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Margaret Scott

Margaret Scott aotearoa artist

Photo by Pip Guthrie


PRIDE AND PASSION

When Margaret Scott got married, she started painting as a way to supplement their income. Early farming years were tough and she found she could sell paintings of Mount Taranaki to tourists and gift shops. “If I had a hundred calves to feed or four children to look after, I still found time in the evenings to paint. I am constantly thinking of the next painting and what I will paint. I live by the sea and spend lots of time walking, looking at the environment, taking photos and making workbook drawings. Gathering resources is a very important part of being an artist and a teacher.”

It has been a complete need, a passion and drive that has brought Margaret to this point. Having just published her first book, ‘Self-portrait of a Paua’ she laments about the lack of support from the government for artists. “We used to have a thriving arts environment, supported by local arts councils. I was chairperson of the Egmont Community Arts Council for over ten years and we had exciting projects, exhibitions and workshops, all government funded. There were four arts councils in Taranaki and it’s much harder to get funding from the local councils. There is virtually no funding available for solo artist’s ventures, for example, my book, which I had to fund myself. “I am very proud of this book, as it is part autobiographical, historical and resource. The students I teach encouraged me to do this as they felt I should reproduce pages from my workbooks. This makes the book a valuable resource for both teachers and students alike.”

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Barbara von Seida

Barbara von Seida - aotearoa artist

EXPRESSION IN COLOUR

My aim as a painter is to create images that reflect my personal interpretation of my subject. Painting is not really a creative act until such time as the personal judgment and emotional reaction enters into it. In my opinion the ultimate aim of an artist is not to produce a record of something, rather to establish a personal view with a deeper narrative beyond the surface. What a painter feels is more important that what he or she sees. My work starts with a strong feeling and ends with an expression.

Raised near Dusseldorf, Germany, Barbara trained for five years in Art and Design, three years in textiles and two years in product design at University of Applied Sciences in Krefeld. She worked as an employee for, amongst others, the international company Vereinigte Seidenwebereien A.G. (United Silk Weaving Company) in Krefeld, and later, as a freelance fabric designer. In early 1984, Barbara migrated to Bantry Bay in County Cork, south-west Ireland where she opened the Country House Gallery featuring her watercolours, which in a short time were much sought after with both the local population and overseas visitors alike, culminating in her being invited to exhibit at the Royal Hibernian Society in both 1988 and 1989.

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Lynn Webb

Lynn Webb - aotearoa artist

EXPLORING THE COAST

“Waves, rocks, reflections on the sand, boat sheds reflecting on the water - these are my inspiration,” says Lynn Webb, oil and watercolour artist from Tauranga. “Having grown up in the small untouched coastal settlement of Tongaporutu, within the crumbling cliffs and the black reflecting sand amongst the waves and rocks, fills me with an exciting inspiration to capture the many moods of the coast, the sea and the never ending procession of breaking waves.”

Not having had any formal training, Lynn says she has been creative since she was little. “Even as a child I loved to draw. I guess as the years have gone on the urge to paint became stronger and so it began.” Inspired by the likes of Richard Robinson and John Crump, Lynn prefers a loose style of painting, often using a palette knife to capture light and colour in her work.

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