Subject Archives - Page 10 of 29

Cindy Woest

1 December 2021
Africa, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Figures, Impressionism, Nature, Oils, Painting, Realism, Seascape

HONEST ABANDON

While visiting Dougie Chowns one Sunday, I met a neighbour of his, Cindy Woest. Cindy is a very talented woman with a pioneering spirit and endless ‘get up and go.’ She has the ability to tramp into a spot she enjoys, with her canvas and paint, and just - in a couple of hours - produce a painting so true to the view, yet with a loose, pleasing technique. Cindy also writes for this magazine as well as others and is indeed, multi-talented. She tells us her story

I love being outside – the sights, sounds and physical connection with everything outdoors makes me somehow feel part of a larger whole. Being in nature, as a specific part of the ‘outside’, leaves me with a sense of generic wellbeing that travels with me when I return to my ‘inside’ and very average life. The uplifting impact of this residual feeling (which can last for days) has drawn me into capturing that ‘happiness essence’ so that I can use it to stir up good memories for myself and hopefully others viewing my work.

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Caitlin Johnston

1 December 2021
Acrylic, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Carving, Collage, Drawing, Featured Artists, Figures, Mixed Media, Resin, Seascape, South America

SELF-TAUGHT BY THE SEA

By Matt Mortimer

It is said that if you make a job out of what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. For self-taught artist Caitlin Johnston, this saying is her reality.

Being self-taught brings forward a love of creating things, having to channel your inspiration into your work. Whether it is our surroundings or environment, our current state of mind, or our emotional state. Having to be her own teacher is clearly not something that has held Caitlin back, and she offers this advice for those thinking they have to attend a school to get better, instead instilling a solid work effort in the creative space being more advantageous.

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Monisha Gallage

1 October 2021
Abstract, Artists, Asia, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Batik, Digital, Drawing, Featured Artists, Ink, Portraits

WAX ON - WAX OFF

Born in Sri Lanka, and the daughter of a well recognised newspaper artist, Monisha Gallage did a bachelor’s degree in Fashion and LifeStyle design at the University of Moratuwa. During this course, she did a module of batik in 2012 and completed another course in batik at teachers training college in 2018. She has excelled in this laborious but rewarding discipline in art.

“Soon after I completed university, I started working in apparel manufacturing and worked as a junior fashion designer for several leading apparel manufacturing companies who provide design-to-delivery solutions for some of the world’s most recognized brands such as Calvin Klein, Versace and Superdry Japan. This was a highly competitive and fast-moving environment which I didn’t enjoy as much as I thought I would. I grew up in an arty background as my father was a well recognized newspaper artist in Sri Lanka. He also worked as an Art Advisor for the Ministry of Education and I had the opportunity to get his guidance towards art from an early age.

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Marc Mckinlay

1 October 2021
Acrylic, Animals, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Featured Artists, Floral, Painting, Portraits, United Kingdom

Marc currently lives in Christchurch and has never had any formal training in art. He says his major interest in art stemmed from secondary school in Scotland, when he was selected to represent his school in regional art programmes.

“I like to experiment with colour and find inspiration everywhere. I don’t focus on other artists’ work but the vibrant art scene in Christchurch has inspired me to create more art in the last 24 months than I did over the last twenty years. Due to this, my art has evolved significantly in the past 18 months and I am now considered to have evolved a style.”

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Madison Rogers

1 October 2021
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Contemporary Art, Featured Artists, Jewellery, Metallurgy, Nature, Stylized, Symbolism

SACRED GEOMETRY

Having always enjoyed working with her hands and anything to do with crafts, by the time Madison Rogers entered high school, she knew she wanted to pursue a career that would allow her to develop and explore her creative skills. With her favourite subject at school being metalwork, she investigated career options that would embrace both her artistic side and her love of working with metal.

“It was around this time that I learned a friend of mine’s father was a jeweller and gem setter. This sounded like the perfect option for me and I pursued this with vigour.” She went straight from high school to study at Hungry Creek Art and Craft School, graduating after four years with a Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Jewellery. “The biggest motivating factor for me to become a jeweller was the overwhelming need to create. To have the skills and knowledge to turn raw materials and a concept into a functional, wearable, beautiful piece of jewellery that is not only meaningful to me, but also becomes something special and cherished by others. I love contributing to the meaningful moments in people’s lives - engagements, weddings, birthdays, graduations or anniversaries etc.”

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Lucia Laubscher

1 October 2021
Acrylic, Africa, Animals, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Birdlife, Digital, Fantasy, Featured Artists, Kiwiana, Landscape, Murals, Oils, Painting, Portraits, Symbolism

Lucia Laubscher was born in South Africa and carved an impressive career there around her painting. She immigrated to New Zealand in 2017, and battled with the adjustment of living in a new country with a different culture and set of rules. She started building her career from scratch again and has done exceptionally well in those four years. She tells us her story

When I was five years old, my first grade teacher looked at a cartoon elephant I drew and exclaimed “You are an artist!” This stuck with me throughout my life and my love for creating grew stronger with every passing year. When I was 12 years old my parents ordered me my first oil painting kit in the mail and it arrived with four small canvasses and instructions on how to paint four different artworks – trees, buildings, still-life etc. I enjoyed drawing and experimenting with paint and have always been creative and would find myself doodling all the time.

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Liz Payne

1 October 2021
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Birdlife, Featured Artists, Impressionism, Landscape, Oils, Painting, Realism, Seascape

A DEMANDING MISTRESS IS ART

Time, concentration, organisation and capital investment in materials. Liz Payne is delighted to dedicate all of the above to her demanding mistress, that of being an artist. Having studied with several tutors such as those from the Uxbridge Arts centre in Howick, Auckland - amongst others - including Amber Brook, Alvin Zhong (portraits) and Merv Appleton (landscape impressionist), she is thoroughly enjoying her retirement in this pursuit.

We asked Liz where she finds her inspiration: “I love a stormy sky, the colour and mood, the intense green of the sun shining through on the grass in contrast to the dark skies. The movement of sand and water as well as the vibrant colour of birds and their bright, inquisitive eyes.”

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Kirsten McIntosh

1 October 2021
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Featured Artists, Landscape, Oils, Painting, Realism, Seascape

Kirsten lives and breathes her art, and the results speak volumes: “I always advise people to just keep going with your art if you love it. Live it and breathe it. See the beauty and keep going through the ugly stage; persevere.”

I didn’t have any formal art training until I got going. Being a full time Mum, I was home and thought that I should paint some paintings for my baby’s bedroom walls and I really liked the result. I eventually plucked up the courage to do some art classes, just classes with good artists in the area. I also started watching YouTube videos and then I went to every available art class that I could. I realised that my work was consistently turning out okay. I thought my art could be a way to make some money, whilst still being a stay-at-home Mum - and I went from there. I live and breathe it. Honestly, to get to sleep I visualise the next steps that I will take with my current painting!

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Vanessa Pollen

1 August 2021
Animals, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Coloured Pencils, Drawing, Featured Artists, Hyper Realism, Realism

INHERENT TALENT

Vanessa Pollen hails from sunny Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty – and like the name of the bay, she has plenty of artistic skill and drawing talent, which has been sharpened by hard mahi. She recently told us her story, and here we share it with you...

I guess I’ve been lucky whereby I have always been able to draw. It certainly runs in my family with my father, aunt & granny to name a few all being very good artists in different mediums. My passion would be drawing animals, both pets and wildlife. It gives me so much joy when I draw someone’s much loved pet who has passed on or is still around. When we immigrated to New Zealand in 2016 and I saw how much people here loved their pets, just as much as I do (we had to leave our pets in Zimbabwe which was heart breaking) so I decided to begin drawing again and took it up full time in December 2019.

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Froyle Davies

1 August 2021
Abstract, Acrylic, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Featured Artists, Nature, Painting

BRUSHSTROKE MILEAGE

By Matt Mortimer

There is something to be said for the lighthouse in the storm. To being the beacon of hope that shines through the darkness, piercing the gloom with a positive message to those braving the ravaging seas. Akin to this element of light across stormy waters and threatening skies, is the uplifting attitude and message behind the paintings of Manawatu-based artist, Froyle Davies.

Her wonderful outlook is summed up in her thoughts to budding creative types everywhere. “My best advice is mileage under the brush. Don’t give up. Keep creating, keep experimenting and keep learning. If you are an artist then you have to create. For me, painting is as necessary as breathing. Don’t let any art establishment or disappointment stop you from pursuing your goals. Not everyone will like what you do, but someone will. Find where you fit and go on and shine, she says.”

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Sally Heritage
Above: Aldeburgh 594 x 330mm Loving watercolour, Sally Heritage has never had any formal training…
Nick Hayter
ABOVE: Cow Repose - 455 x 610mm. Oil on board NICK HAYTER Nick Hayter is…
Creative Room Update
Above: Womans Face - Watercolour by John Dumergue John writes about recycling Looking around our…
Mangaweka Magic 2024
Forecasted Rain Holds Off for an Energetic Mangaweka Mega Event 2024. Despite a heavy rain…
Sketch Club 18 – Dougie Chowns
ABOVE: 1985 ‘Embryo’ watercolour - Dougie Chowns. Birthing New Zealand as an adult embryo to…

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-7016 alignleft" src="https://i0.wp.com/thenzartist.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/caitlin-johnston-aotearoa-artist.jpg?resize=99%2C135&#038;ssl=1" alt="caitlin-johnston-aotearoa-artist" width="99" height="135" />SELF-TAUGHT BY THE SEA

It is said that if you make a job out of what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. For self-taught artist Caitlin Johnston, this saying is her reality.

A DEMANDING MISTRESS IS ART

Vanessa Pollen hails from sunny Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty – and like the name of the bay, she has plenty of artistic skill and drawing talent, which has been sharpened by hard mahi. She recently told us her story, and here we share it with you...

SELF-TAUGHT BY THE SEA