Still-life Archives - Page 2 of 3

Andrew Moon

1 September 2015
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Featured Artists, Figures, Hyper Realism, Oils, Painting, Portraits, Realism, Still-life

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

“It’s the urge to create. The outlet for ideas and creativity and to stand back at the end of a completed painting with satisfaction and to say to yourself, ‘You know, that’s not crap.”

So says Andrew Moon who adds that much of his inspirations grow out of darkness. “In my mind I’ll get the sense of a glimpse of light and colour amid the shadows, then watch to see what develops around that. So most of my work is set against a dark background with a harsh chiaroscuro contrast that scratches my artistic itch.

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Beverly Reid

1 September 2015
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Birdlife, Coloured Pencils, Drawing, Featured Artists, Floral, Pastels, Realism, Still-life, Street Scenes

THE JOURNEY

Californian-born Beverly Reid has had a passion for art since childhood. “When I received my first set of Crayola crayons and a colouring book, I loved the exciting hues of colours I could create with them, which led me to drawing different things on my own. My very first memories of drawing were that of a sailing ship, Black Beauty and a ballerina. I was so excited with all the details I could put into my drawings making them ‘come alive’, I wanted to do more! This began my art journey into enjoying realism which still continues today!” .

Apart from a short college course in 3-Dimensional Art in 1994-5, Beverly is a self-taught artist with no formal training, but dedicated to perfecting her craft, and developing her own unique style. “I love being an artist, because I can communicate a feeling or capture a moment in time through my work, and share it with other people. There’s nothing more gratifying to me, when I receive feedback that my art made someone stop, stare at it and keep looking at it!

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Hamish Oakley-Browne

1 July 2015
Abstract, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Contemporary Art, Featured Artists, Nature, Printing, Still-life

HAMISH OAKLEY-BROWNE

Hamish Oakley-Browne is a passionate artist with printmaking as his chosen medium. Having just completed a degree in fine arts at NorthTec in Whangarei, he is currently doing a six-month residency programme at Te Kowhai Print Trust situated at The Quarry Arts Centre.

Hamish says printmaking reflects a “hands-on tactile backlash to the digital world in which people have lost themselves, their intrinsic senses and richness in their lives.

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Anne Michelle Johal

1 May 2015
Animals, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Coloured Pencils, Drawing, Featured Artists, Figures, Illustration, Ink, Still-life, Watercolour

THE ART OF ILLUSTRATION

My entire family are passionate readers, creatives, entrepreneurs, and story tellers. My father, a farmer, collected humorous books with illustrations full of wonderful little stories that tickled, and he taught us how to draw cartoons as a child. Beatrix Potter’s little handheld books, with her delicious little watercolour paintings, were read to us by our grandmother. Dad’s books included those written and illustrated by A.S. Paterson, the Andy Capp series, and many others. The coloured line illustrations and stories of Asterix and Obelix, the black and white cartoons of Murray Ball, The What a Mess collection by Frank Muir with Joseph Wright’s wonderful illustrations, Quentin Blake’s work, among others, became part of our favourite collections growing up.

A passionate reader, from a very young age, I lived inside these books as movies in my imagination. The narratives of people and places, emotion and experience captured and transported me out into the world of cultural difference and exciting possibilities, such a contrast to the farm life.

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Bruce Mortimer

1 May 2015
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Drawing, Featured Artists, Figures, Landscape, Life Drawing, Nature, Pencil, Photography, Portraits, Realism, Still-life, Street Scenes

GRAPHIC DETAIL

A life-long artist with no formal art training, graphite photo-realist, Bruce Mortimer, whose work has been sold all over the world, describes himself as a ‘self-learner’. He takes his art very seriously, committing himself to learning with a passion and working to a plan. This applies equally from his art and photography, to learning languages or sport. In this article he writes at length about his life as an artist and his quest to find peace and a sense of value in an increasingly frenetic global village.

My interest in art began at school, and I have practiced it in one form or another ever since. Although I enjoyed art at school and was competent even at that stage with pencil drawing, I developed a genuine love of photography in my early teens that I still have. Even then I approached my photography as an artist, in that I photographed subject matter in my own way and which had meaning for me.

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Maxine Waters

1 March 2015
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Ceramics, Contemporary Art, Featured Artists, Figures, Realism, Sculpture, Still-life

CLASS IN CLAY

With nothing more than a deep-seated belief that art would be a major part of her life, internationally-recognised New Zealand ceramicist Maxine Waters decided after attending some night classes at Riccarton High School in Christchurch, that clay was to be her ‘thing’.

“I have had no formal art training, only a passion to learn everything yesterday,” Maxine says emphatically. Formal or not, Maxine says being an active membership of pottery clubs allowed her opportunity to participate in the many workshops from visiting international and local potters, which enhanced her skills and fuelled an inherent passion to create. “I was part of the successful potters co-operative ‘Classy Clay’ in Christchurch for around seven years then continued on my own, making and selling my domestic ware. At one stage employing three sales staff,” Maxine reveals.

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Julia Henderson

1 November 2014
Acrylic, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Featured Artists, Figures, Floral, Kiwiana, Maori, Painting, Realism, Still-life

THE DISTINCTIVE VOICE

Growing up and being schooled in the United Kingdom, Julia Henderson attended a very conservative grammar school, where art was not considered an appropriate career choice. She studied Biological Sciences and went on to do a BSc and PhD in Ecology. She still felt the urge to get involved with the arts though and after immigrating to New Zealand 25 years ago, she obsessively studied art, taking numerous classes and workshops covering all aspects of art – drawing, painting in all media, print-making, colour theory and art history including Maori and Pacific art.

After deciding to take the next step and try to make a career out of art, she began entering competitions, experiencing some success. Finally a friend convinced her to approach a gallery with her work, and to her delight and beyond her wildest dreams, Julia was offered a solo exhibition. The sell-out show, held nearly 20 years ago, cemented Julia’s ambition and she has prospered ever since.

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Mehrdad Tahan

1 July 2014
Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Drawing, Featured Artists, Figures, Hyper Realism, Illustration, Impressionism, Oils, Painting, Still-life, Watercolour

KNOW YOURSELF

From an early age Mehrdad Tahan had an interest in drawing and studied techniques used by the Old Masters. By the age of twenty, he had established his first studio where he taught drawing and calligraphy as well as exhibiting his own works.

In 1990 Mehrdad left Iran for New Zealand, which resulted in a pause in art while he improved his English and learnt about our culture. Family reasons dictated a move to Sweden, and a new culture and language to learn. 1999 saw Mehrdad return to New Zealand and settle in Christchurch.

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Kathryn Millard

1 July 2014
Acrylic, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Birdlife, Expressionism, Featured Artists, Impressionism, Landscape, Nature, Oils, Painting, Pastels, Seascape, Still-life

THE INNER ARTIST

It is an intense and intimate relationship and interaction with the world around her that feeds Kathryn Millard’s artistic soul.

“My life is about energy, rhythm and sensation, and translating that into a piece of art,” she declares. “It is about inventing the perfect technique, my own unique language for my response to nature. It is the experience of what I see happening all around me that stimulates me and gets me going, not the thing itself, that is the underlying subject of my work.”

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Karen Panton

1 July 2014
Abstract, Acrylic, Artists, Australia, New Zealand & Oceania, Birdlife, Expressionism, Featured Artists, Illustration, Nature, Painting, Portraits, Still-life, Surrealism

THE ART OF HUMOUR

Karen Rosaline Panton is one of those exceptional, largely self taught artists who has developed a sense of style and presentation all of her own. Reading her comments in this article and perusing through some of her paintings it is evident that Karen lives her art; each painting has a voice and meaning, each one a soul.

Apart from the odd day class, Karen, who currently hails from Napier, says she has enjoyed several short courses with the likes of Krispin Korschen, Rua Longley, Marianne Muggeridge, Megan Schmidt, among others. “All fabulous artists,” she enthuses, “who have stretched my mind sideways, up and down and inside out, that is when they could catch up with my own train of thoughts.”

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