“My jobs were always art related and it was always in the back of my mind that one day I would take my art more seriously. That day came when our youngest son started school and before long I was tutoring adults and children and painting most of the week. Drawing peoples’ portraits came naturally to me and I thought I might become a portrait artist.
With a number of artists in the family, Jan says art was always in her blood. Why she avoided it for 47 years she didn’t say but once she started she was instantly and totally hooked. “I started with watercolours and then moved onto oils,” she reveals. “I learnt to paint by going out to Wellington’s (sometimes wild) south coast, wrestling with the elements and trying to put down on paper what was in front of me.”
“I had many ideas for my future but I am sad to say my school would not support any of them. I wanted to become an architect, but I wasn’t allowed to study any of the foundation courses. I was even told by the school career counsellor “not to worry about art or music school as I was just going to get pregnant, so why bother?”
Recalling her early years when the call of the artist flowed strongly in her heart, Pauline says she has always loved anything to do with art: “I wanted to do art at school, however my school in Wellsford, didn’t offer this as an option in those days. My mother looked into some individual lessons and the principal of Rodney College said he would try to arrange an art teacher; however this never amounted to anything. “Art as a career was what I desired, teaching is where I ended up,” she says wryly.
Those who are familiar with this work marvel at the photographic realism. TNZAM first came across her pohutukawa paintings for an exhibition at the Dunedin International Airport 2010. Kerry was one of the instigators behind the ‘Artist in the Terminal idea.’
You might have come across this talented lady’s work in a book or magazine or even a calendar. Although no one in Jacky Pearson’s family painted, she was encouraged to do so because she was so passionate about drawing and painting which she took to A level standard in high school.
When she is not running, Kellie works part time-caring for children of local families. This time spent with children has been a good counter balance to her work in fine art, being the opposite of contemplative studio time. The transition back into almost full time art has helped her work past being the perfectionist, and having less studio time in the week has been great leverage to keep her fearlessly moving forward.
As long as he can remember Bernd has enjoyed drawing. At first he restricted himself to copying photographs of people from magazines always trying to capture as much detail as possible.
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