Artist Models
Combining a love of nature with a keen eye for interior design has made Angie Dennis one of our most popular artists. Fresh, bold and vibrant, her native flora designs are both detailed and contemporary. Angie studied environmental science which perhaps explains her love for preserving flora and fauna in her artworks. Angie is continually inspired by the unique landscape of New Zealand and is constantly pushing boundaries on how she sees life in her new found land.
"The inter-connectivity of the natural world is what captivates me. I do not paint actual scenes or situations as a photographic camera would capture, rather, I paint an exploration of metaphysical realism from my perspective, as an observer of energy and light, where I attempt to transmute the energy of a situation or experience and invite the light out of the darkness. I play with portraiture, placing New Zealand’s native birds upon pedestals; I admire their wisdom and integrity through the legends which have been told. The birds in my work become personifications of the soul and my paintings manifest into expressions of the human condition, a reflection of the world that surrounds me and an interpretation of the way through.” – Jane Crisp
Craig’s background was in the Graphic Design Industry where he specialised in illustration and packaging for 25 years. This is where he developed his skill of precision and detail, his love of colour and ability to portray a subject using realism. From a young age he raised and rescued birds. Sparrows that had fallen from a nest, blackbirds, thrushes, and many other species spent time in his parents hot water cupboard. He moved on to raise and breed budgies for many years and began to draw birds as a youngster. Craig’s strong interest in the New Zealand outdoors through his love of surfing took him all over the country. It is from these years of observing the natural surroundings and gathering reference that he now draws on to develop his ideas to create his work. Some of these observations now take him to remote areas where he can sit and study subjects for hours in their natural environment. It is here, without distraction he gains an insight into the subtleties of a subjects behaviour. He also finds material in watching birds and how they interact with man made objects in their everyday life and how they inhabit our environment. The importance of our native birds in mythology is becoming more representative in Craig’s work and the sophisticated structure of beliefs and customs involving the birds of this land.
After all the research Craig works on a composition that resembles the vision of a painting he started with. The process begins with sketching and a colour study to see if all the elements in his mind will work. As an illustrator it is his love of colour and detail he looks for when studying a chosen subject and completing a finished piece. Craig uses oils on canvas or panel to produce the final work. The blocking in of the composition begins with broad brush strokes to fill the canvas until satisfied that it is what he wants as a base for the painting. Then building up the painting using finer and finer brushes to achieve the detail. At the end of the painting process he is almost sketching again but with fine brushes instead of pencil right down to the finest detail on a blade of grass or birds eye.
Born and raised in Auckland, Binney was educated in Parnell, Auckland. Binney is most renowned for his paintings of iconic and often stylised native birds set against dramatic cliffs, hills, and oceanic landscapes
Natasha Shackleton is a full time artist who has been passionate about art and creativity her entire life. Coming from an artistic family she was almost born to create. The thing she loves about art is being able to use imagination and creativity and bring into existence a new creation. She likes to dream and imagine and this has become an integral part of her creative process and the theme of many of her artworks, dissolving the lines between fiction and reality. She likes to portray mood, character and emotion strongly in her works, making them moving and inspiring. Her artworks can usually be distinguished by her use of dynamic tones and lighting. Natasha is passionate about design and this shows in a lot of her artworks where compositions and colour choice are well executed.
Art has been a lifetime journey for me: my hobby, passion, escape, source of happiness and now it is my profession that I thoroughly enjoy. I paint every day, what can be better! My painting process is simple: I spend time at the beach, in the forest, in the garden, admiring the beauty and taking a lot of photos of the same place from different angles. I save the photos in my computer and start working on composition and colour palette. The goal is to create the image that looks like a work of art, not like a photograph. The subject itself doesn’t matter. As long as I can play with colour and light, I am happy. My art is known for its distinctive style and vibrant colours. My favourite colours are red, orange and yellow, hues of sunshine and fire, warm, passionate and expressive. As a painter, I consider myself influenced by Paul Gauguin, Maryanne North and Russian traditional decorative art.
As an Aerosol and stencil artist with a fine arts degree, Flox has been making her mark on the inner city scape of Auckland since 2003. Her trademark native birds, ferns and flowers are a celebration of Aotearoa’s environmental taonga. Using distinctly vibrant and confident colour on a scale combined with delicacy they have magically transformed grey walls into vibrant depictions of the natural world.
From her studio in Auckland, New Zealand, Sofia Minson paints bold, soulful, finely detailed portraits, landscapes and surreal oil works. She is inspired by the land, myths and people of Aotearoa (NZ) as well as the unity she sees amongst richly diverse cultures from around the world. The artist is inspired by her mixed Ngati Porou Maori, Swedish, English and Irish heritage as well as the taonga (treasure) that are Aotearoa’s people, land, forests and birds.
Robin Slow is a New Zealand artist who is well-known for his intricate and lifelike depictions of birds. Slow's work with birds is particularly notable for its attention to detail, and his ability to capture the essence of each species in his artwork.
Rachel Walker (AKA Walkerillo) is renowned for watercolour, spray paint, pen and ink artworks that draw on her awe of the natural world. Her drippy, energetic style is both loose in form and precisely detailed — capturing the attitude and beauty of birds, sea creatures, reptiles and wild animals.
Born and raised in the beautiful seaside town of Napier, New Zealand, Rachel trained at Massey University in Wellington where, since travelling, she has returned to live and paint.
Rachel’s creative work has seen her involved in a range of projects, from commissioned pieces to painting for film and stage sets. Her career to date has included a number of solo gallery exhibitions, creating cover art for magazines, school journals and albums, and a stint living and painting in rural France. Rachels original and printed works can be viewed in galleries around New Zealand, as well as the walls of many wonderful homes.
When she works, Rachel likes listening to music, podcasts, and the dialogue from old movies she has already seen.
Hannah Shand is passionate about New Zealand’s native flora and fauna, and she specialises in realistic pen drawings of our native birds. Using her photography and art skills to capture and showcase the beauty of nature, Hannah hopes to inspire others to care about our wildlife.
She actively works with conservation groups and bird sanctuaries to fundraise and spread awareness about their crucial work. These include Zealandia Ecosanctuary, Forest & Bird and Sanctuary Mountain.
NON NZ ARTISTS
She is an well-renowned Australian artist known for her paintings created with bright colors and bold strokes. Her paintings primarily depict female figures, animal portraits and geometric patterns on an abstract background.
Luis Martins aka L7M is a Brazilian street artist who merges strong, bold and striking geometric shapes with natural elements to create his beautiful works. He captures both the elegance and graceful movement of birds by combining realistic and abstract elements. With eyes that often appear to look straight at the viewer, heads of owls, ducks, sparrows and similar species are surrounded by wild gestures and abstraction
French-American self-trained artist, naturalist, and ornithologist. His combined interests in art and ornithology turned into a plan to make a complete pictorial record of all the bird species of North America. He was notable for his extensive studies documenting all types of American birds and for his detailed illustrations, which depicted the birds in their natural habitats. His major work, a color-plate book titled The Birds of America (1827–1839), is considered one of the finest ornithological works ever completed. Audubon is also known for identifying 25 new species
was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. He is best known for the woodblock print series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji, which includes the iconic print The Great Wave off Kanagawa. Hokusai was instrumental in developing ukiyo-e from a style of portraiture largely focused on courtesans and actors into a much broader style of art that focused on landscapes, plants, and animals. His works are thought to have had a significant influence on Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet during the wave of Japonisme, that spread across Europe in the late 19th century.
