I can’t wait to create in 2024!

As I’m getting back into the studio to start a new year, I’m thinking with gratitude about all the interesting people and cool opportunities I experienced in 2023 and setting my intentions for what I want to create in 2024. 

I’m super excited to announce I’ll be kicking the year off doing a collaboration with Walker & Hall.  My painting ‘Sunrise’ will feature on the front of Walker & Hall gift cards this year. Keep an eye on my socials for the launch of this project!

"‘Sunrise’

One of the highlights of 2023 was being selected for inclusion in the Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Awards exhibition.  I had the pleasure of attending the gala night at Cable Bay Vineyard on Waiheke which was lots of fun and a great celebration of all the artists involved. 

Walker & Hall Waiheke Art Gallery Catalogue 2023

Towards the end of last year, I had started to experiment with some new brighter colour palettes, no doubt inspired by the longer, sunnier (thankfully!) days that were starting to appear.  In particular I’ve been interested to explore blues and greens in my paintings.  These are colours that used to feature heavily in my botanical work but hadn’t really made an appearance in my ‘black florals’. 

‘Starlight’

These colours have made my work feel more abstracted somehow and have released me from the binds of realism that I was still tenuously clinging to.  I’m excited to see where this development will lead. 

As I review my body of work for the year, I’m reminded that all I can hope for is progression and this is where my motivation to keep painting lies.  I want to be able to convey more, free myself more, and express more harmony and beauty in my work.  I’ve come to think of this as closing the gap!  The gap between my abilities and my sensibilities.  It often occurs to me that this might be an impossible task, and I kind of hope it is, or one day there will be no point in continuing to paint. 

So long as I see my work developing, and that gap closing up even the tiniest bit I’m a happy camper.  The journey really is where it’s at for me these days!

In other news, I am preparing for my first foray into the NZ Art Show in Wellington this year. This event showcases hundreds of selected artists with all work being for sale.  If you’re in Wellington over Kings Birthday weekend (May 31st to June 2nd) it will be well worth a visit!  I’ll be talking more about this as I prepare work for it over the next few months.

NZ Art Show - Wellington

On that note, I’ll leave you with this lovely and somewhat humorous piece of feedback I recently received from a collector regarding my work.

“Thank you Rebecca for creating Sky Bloom.  We chose very neutral colours in our home so we could bring it to life with pieces of art we love.  I LOVE Sky Bloom. I love the blue of the sky and the pop of pink flowers against the luscious green leaves. It reminds me of a place we visit in summer that is very important to me. Every time I look at it, it makes me smile. Thank you.”

I thought I would share my father-in-law’s feedback too. In a very matter of fact way, he said “it makes a very drab room look a million times better!” – M Thorn

‘Sky Bloom’

I’m off to dive into my paints to see where inspiration takes me…..

Wishing you a great start to 2024!

A little bit about my process....

I had the great pleasure of having Kirsten Granich from Studio Door visit my studio a little while ago to help me record aspects of my process and inspiration.

As you may already know, I swapped a career in the fashion industry to begin painting full time in 2018.  When I first started painting, I always felt the need to distance myself from my design roots, weirdly believing that my design background was somehow in opposition to my fine art aspirations.

Now when I look at the history of my work I can see that I am hugely influenced by my love of interiors and fashion and that is part of what makes my work uniquely mine.

Video by Studio Door Photography

The way an artist works is such a deeply personal thing, and one that develops over time.

Recently I have been diving deeply into florals.  I’ve always loved flowers and nature and am always amazed at all the incredible colours and shapes nature has to offer us. My floral paintings are created using a process driven method which begins with me creating bright and stylistic floral images.  In the initial stages my brush strokes are loose and free and I take lots of time to play and experiment with colour as I build up the layers of paint. 

Video by Studio Door Photography

I use a combination of moulding paste and heavy body acrylic paint so that my brush strokes are retained as the paint is applied, waiting patiently for each layer to dry before adding another.  I’m interested in the way each layer builds to create delicate criss-crossing petal shapes and a richly textured surface.  Often, I apply paint directly with palette knives or other tools to provide a notion of leaves and foliage.

Once I have achieved the desired texture and depth, I start to apply thin washes of black or white paint.  These layers are wiped back while still wet, or sanded back with fine grit sandpaper, to reveal the coloured petals beneath.  This process exposes interesting and surprising shapes and colour combinations which I then edit to bring about the final outcome. 

Video by Studio Door Photography

This is a process that to some degree removes my ‘hand’, as I’m never quite sure what pleasing combinations with be exposed to demand accentuation, and what aspects will fade back or remain hidden. It can feel like an archaeological dig for flowers, and for me, holds the wonder of a treasure hunt.  I am always delighted with the unpredictability this way of working allows. The final process is one of creative editing, what to expose and what to keep submerged in the depths, a push and pull that results in the final painting. 

You're invited to the opening of my exhibition at Kumeu Arts Centre on the 10th June!

Where has the first half of this year gone? It’s been a busy and environmentally bumpy start to the year here in Auckland.

I’ve been beavering away in my studio, preparing for an exhibition in Kumeu with two of my Wayfind peers, Iulia and Linley. Iulia is a ceramicist, and Linley works with textiles and together the three of us are presenting an exhibition exploring themes around feminine traditions in a modern world. I’m so excited to share a body of my work all in one place!

I’d love for you to join us at the opening on Saturday the 10th June from 2pm to 4pm. Please come along, and feel free to invite anyone else who may be interested.

There’s some great spots to have lunch out that way beforehand Hallertau Brewery being one of my favorites!

In other news, I’m in the final week of a three month art course that I’ve been taking on-line. It’s called the Creative Visionary Program and it’s the second time I’ve taken it. It’s been so inspiring and overwhelmingly information laden at times, I feel very grateful to have had the opportunity to take it again. It’s amazing how different my approach has been this time. I’ve been able to go so much deeper into the information, having had the opportunity to put into practice all the things I learnt the first time. I also knew that I could expect to feel overwhelmed with the sheer volume of knowledge being shared, so I’ve been able to observe the feeling without making up all the self-doubting stories I indulged in the first-time round!

I’m reminded that there will always be more to learn and part of the pleasure of creating art is the constant desire to improve and evolve your work.

Here’s a little peek at one of my new paintings that will be going into the exhibition at Kumeu.

I’m also delighted to be in the company of some amazing New Zealand artists at the Lysaght Watt Trust Art Award in Hawera at the moment. This exhibition runs until the 17th of June and would be well worth checking out if you happen to be in the Taranaki area. This little painting of mine, ‘Float’ is on display there.

Float, 500mm round, mixed media on cradled wood panel

On that cheerful note, remember I’m always happy to have a visitor to my studio if anyone’s interested in viewing my work in person or just popping in for a cup of tea and a chat. Send me an email and we can arrange it.

I hope the first half of 2023 has been kind to you!

Time to head back into the studio....

After a very relaxing and long summer break, it’s time to head back into the studio!

I’ve spent a lot of time at the beach this summer and a lot of time in reflection on the wins and learnings (ok, so they felt like losses at the time!) of last year. I’m not going to lie, the start of 2022 was a struggle, post lockdown I had totally lost my mojo, and felt very isolated in my studio. The creative solitude that I usually crave, had turned my studio into an echo chamber. Come April, I needed a plan to get me out of my slump and that plan came in the form of Wayfind Creative and Te Tuhis' Interior Design Today course.

When in doubt - get amongst other creative people and learn something new (or in the case of the Interior Design Today course - have some incredible experiences and be reminded of how much you already know about something, which was also good for my soul).

As a consequence, the last half of 2022 was a massive improvement on the first - I met a great bunch of creative people and got some insight into the struggles and triumphs of other artists (turns out we’re all very similar - imposter syndrome anyone?). I had an exhibition at Easel Gallery - gratitude for that experience. I was selected for the Kumeu Arts Awards - I’ve been trying to get into that show for years! I started collaborating on exhibition proposals with two other artists - we have secured our first exhibition together in June 2023. And I had a very satisfactory leap in my creative language, which I can’t wait to build on in 2023.

Of course, there were also shows I didn’t get in to, proposals that didn’t get accepted and days spent in the studio without much progress, I’m choosing not to dwell on these experiences and instead see them as opportunities to grow a thicker skin, exercise my tenacity, and have another go.

Here are my learnings from 2022

• Purpose and structure are really important to me; my creativity needs these grounding principals to flourish.

• Sometimes it’s good to have company when you’re doing the stuff that scares you, rejection in particular is so much easier to shrug off as a group!

• Community and feedback are crucial for progress, this one I need to keep reminding myself of, because I’m introverted and happy being a lone wolf.

• When I get stuck in the studio, I need to stay and push through (usually I can get a resolution within 30 mins, but I’m always tempted to leave). It’s better to build the habit of solving, rather than leaving!

My intention for this year is clear; Expansion. That’s my word for 2023 (and I mean it deeply, not in a ‘take over the world’ kind of way). Expand my knowledge, my capacity to think creatively, my sense of authenticity, my skills, my reach and my creative community.

I’ve got lots of great plans and exciting things happening at the beginning of this year; a new gallery in the pipeline, an amazing course starting in February, plus an exhibition to work towards in June. With all this energy and momentum building in my practice, I can’t wait to see what the second half of 2023 will bring!

So, on that note I’ll leave you with one of my favorite paintings of 2022, reminding me that good things can come out of crappy beginnings.

Wishing you a very happy new year!