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Jonathan Bourla 1 Aotearoa Artist Magazine

Jonathan Bourla

Jonathan Bourla Aotearoa Artist Magazine

CREATIVE FORCE

Jonathan Bourla has never been formally trained, however he has gained invaluable experience and insight from the likes of Ansel Adams and Howard Bond. In 1997 when he travelled from New Zealand to attend a workshop in America run by Howard Bond, Howard realised Jonathan couldn’t learn everything from a single workshop so he gave him a whole book’s worth of notes to take home. 

These notes, together with instructional books written by the great American photographer Ansel Adams, formed the basis of his education. Both Howard and Ansel believed you had to be in good control of the technical aspects before you would be in a position to express yourself creatively. Adams had created a system called the Zone System which allowed you to calculate ideal camera settings and film development times. “It was very difficult to grasp from Adams’ writings but became clearer from Bond’s notes. Many people apparently give up on the Zone System as too complicated but it formed the basis of my photography’s technical side for many years.”

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Bernadette Ross 1 Aotearoa Artist Magazine

Bernadette Ross

Bernadette Ross Aotearoa Artist Magazine

RARANGA HARAKEKE

Gaining a Bachelor of Māori Art between 2010 and 2013, at Te Wananga O Aotearoa was the solution for Bernadette Ross after she sustained permanent damage to her spine from landscaping.

Bernadette adores working with plant material. “After visiting the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, UK, when I was a younger mum, I was drawn to the woven artefacts on display. After 18 years in the UK I returned to NZ with my family and the journey into Raranga began eight years later.” She feels very privileged to live both by the sea and bush, claiming the inspiration is all around!

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Sayed Sadat 1 Aotearoa Artist Magazine

Sayed Sadat

Sayed Sadat Aotearoa Artist Magazine

ESCAPE THROUGH ART

Sayed Sadat is an Afghan refugee who has had a remarkably difficult life. He tells us some of his story and illustrates how he came to be here and shares his work with us.

I am a self-taught artist, graphic designer and nature photographer. I never had formal study as my school was burnt down during the Russian invasion in 1979 when I was a year 10 student. My father was a high ranked Police Officer in Afghanistan during King Zahir Shah and president Dawood Khan, and he served his country for nearly 40 years. He, along with my two uncles (who were also army generals) were thrown in jail, right the same day when the Communist Regime took power. Fortunately, my father escaped and took refuge in Pakistan, and soon after that the government turned on me to arrest me or keep me as hostage to get to my father, who joined the opposition. I fled the country for my life and also to stay away from the war, which was started by the Russian invasion in my country, to join him and started living in exile as a refugee.

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Beyond Self - Artist Diane Ammar

Diane Ammar

diane-ammar-aotearoa-artist

I AM AN ARTIST

25 years ago Diane Ammar completed a correspondence course on learning how to draw and with the final assignment assessed, the mentor suggested she should investigate paint as a medium as they felt she had an affinity to that. Diane explains further:

“For about four years I occasionally attended short courses held by local artists on learning how to use watercolour, and discovered I loved portraiture. I had a long break from attending classes and workshops until 2021, but during those years I painted many portraits for friends and family using photographs I had taken or ones they had given me to use. These paintings are hanging in homes in Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and England.

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Int UK Jennifer Evans 1 Aotearoa Artist Magazine

UK Artist Jennifer Evans

A ROYAL COMMISSION

Jennifer Evans received a commission to paint HM the late Queen’s corgis for her Silver Jubilee.

“I taught my husband on the train how to use the second camera: I set it on Green and continuous, my usual mode. We went to Windsor Castle, and met the Queen’s Diary Secretary and the Footman, who was OC Dogs during her absence. Thank goodness the Queen was not actually there that day, I don’t think I could have managed the social area and the unaccustomed nuances and curtseying requirements while concentrating on photographing each of the seven dogs.

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Rebecca Mathews

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.”

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Ninette Kruger

Ninette Kruger-aotearoa-artist-the-nz-artist-magazine

PROCESS AND PURPOSE

Born in South Africa, Ninette Kruger has always enjoyed being creative and explored different mediums until she discovered pewter embossing in 2004.

She taught herself the basics from an instructional book, and later attended a more advanced  techniques workshop at a pewter studio  in Johannesburg. Since then , she has been focused on refining her technique and thoroughly enjoying metal embossing as a hobby. “I started out with a career in the food and hotel industry, which I absolutely loved, and completed my MBA in 2006. I quickly realised the corporate world was not for me, and set out to carve out a creative career for myself. I immigrated to New Zealand with my family in 2016 and during lockdown 2020, I attended an online artist masterclass that changed my world.”

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Jo Rankin

jo-rankin-aotearoa-artistABSTRACT BALANCE

Formal training began for Jo Rankin when she graduated from the two year Nanette Cameron Interior Design School Auckland in 2008. Included in the training subjects were colour harmony, balance, styling and art history which also sparked her interest in painting and becoming an artist.

Moving to Kinloch in 2010, Jo joined a watercolour group in her local community. At the same time she joined Active Arts Taupō where she went every week to paint. “I had a great time there, being encouraged by other artists and making new friends.” Semi-retirement allowed her the time to explore her artistic dreams. “Loving colour and design led me to begin my journey as an artist. I have always been a voracious reader and love my collection of art books where I constantly find inspiration. Also our beautiful country and scenery fires my creative soul each day.”

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James Price

James Price-aotearoa-artist-the-nz-artist-magazine

SOOTHING INSPIRATION

James Price had done some photography previously but in 2021 completed the Level 4 New Zealand Certificate in Creativity through The Learning Connexion. In 2022 James completed the Level 5 Diploma with them, and is already working through Level 6 and loving every moment of his study.

“I love being behind a camera, and whilst commercial work might pay the bills, I like spending time working on a single image that might not come together otherwise. Art for me is when you share a bit of your soul with what you do.” Art has carried him through his three very different careers, becoming the defining part of his character: “In my first career, I looked at art. In my second career, art was a learning experience, and in my third career, art was part of the creative process. Art has taught me, soothed me, and inspired me. Now I continue my journey with art, as an artist. It’s pretty cool.”  

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