Kellie Edwards : Artist Statement

 

                                                 Wellsford-based artist Kellie Edwards paints in both oil and soft pastels, enjoying their lushness                                                        and meatiness to practise her passion for effects of light on colour and subject a focus in her                                                        work.  ‘Creating pictures helps me process things in my life, it is just how my brain works. It’s s                                                            something I have to do.  Art isn’t only a means of expression; it is a means of exploring and                                                              learning.’  Both a figurative and landscape artist, Edwards enjoys painting from life’s special                                                            moments and everyday experiences.  ‘A subject can add to a work’s connectivity with the                                                                audience.  The viewer’s personal experiences relating to a subject can allow the work to resonate                                                  with them, enhancing the depth of feeling.  

                                               

Early in her career Edwards studied Art and Design at Auckland Technical Institute before taking up a scholarship from the       Auckland Society of Arts majoring in painting.  Since then Kellie has exhibited and won awards in national and international     art exhibitions.  Her works are found in private collections in New Zealand, America, Australia and the United Kingdom.

‘Beautiful paintings that get women thinking compassionately about themselves are needed and worthy of creation.  

I need them!’ she says.  ‘My Women Series are personal messages of encouragement and inspiration.  These paintings help me to attend to my own self-care.  We women are strong, and we push ourselves; I hope that these paintings also resonate with other women.  Through beauty and simplicity in my style I paint encouragement and affirmation.  I don’t feel the need to focus on austere or brooding concepts in order for a piece to be taken seriously and to be hard hitting,’ she says of her work with female figures, fabric and light to express abstract concepts.

Hands have been a feature revisited often in Edwards’ work.  Hands are expressive, timeless, and representative of many relationships, connections, and experiences. This makes them an excellent subject to convey a concept that will resonate and connect with many.  

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Donna Dold : Artist Statement

 

Shapes and forms, lights and darks are all around us just waiting to be turned into another piece of art.  Sometimes it can be as simple as putting those shapes on paper and seeing where they take you. Donna has favoured painting and drawing portraits and figures all her life and discovered some time ago that the fabulous colours of soft pastel suited her perfectly.  

 

As a member of PANZ (Pastel Artists of NZ) Donna was recently placed 2nd and received a merit respectively in two competitions published in their bi-monthly journal. She has enjoyed sales over the years from many exhibitions in Auckland, Hamilton and Sydney. 

 

‘We come in all shapes and sizes with our dreams and hopes and our connections with people. I have felt the urge recently to loosen up my figure painting and let the pastel leap about hence my “Sisterhood” and “Full of Promise” series. No one in particular is represented and yet I hope everyone is.’ 

 

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David Poole : Artist Statement

 

An established artist, now residing in the Bay of Plenty, David’s figures offer expressions of elements of life and the life cycle.  His work has been described by others as theatrical and highly symbolic with his use of universal imagery.  These expressive characters formed from found objects enable David’s viewers to resonate with his take on life, on community, on being  human.  Influences on his artistic development include Modigliani, Giacometti, Klimt and Derain.  

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Nell Nutsford : Artist Statement

 

I am always drawn to spontaneous, expressive lines and marks. It’s no different in life drawing. Where contour lines meander, fade out and are found again, where shadows are reduced to loosely brushed areas, we must participate as viewers; line and shape must be filled in mentally.