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COROMANDEL LIFE
SUMMER 2014
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Swiss born VERENA TAGMANN moved to Whitianga in
2003 where she has pursued her love for painting inspired
by her new environment – perpetually exploring new directions
and mediums, discovering intricate relationships, reflecting her
thought and emotions. Verena works in acrylic and mixed media,
in figurative, expressionist and abstract styles.
Our
Cover Artists
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Artist
TINA CAREY
’s working background
was in advertising and textiles, thus has been
working with design and colour for years. After
moving to Pauanui 11 years ago, her artistic urges
were channeled into painting. She is a member of
the Hikuai Art Group and The Little Gallery in Tairua.
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JOANNE MAHONEY
began painting with water-
colours after taking Chinese brush painting lessons in
Singapore. Her works often feature items collected on her
beach walks. “The coastal environment has been a huge
influence in my life.” she shares.
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“I work in most media,” says Tairua artist
LIZ HART
,
“watercolour, print, etchings, acrylics and
water-based oils. I begin by painting very loosely, focus
on pushing lights and darks. I love the explosion of
watercolour on wet paper, and the unexpected results
which occur.”
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SOUZIE SPEESTRA’s
paintings reflect a lifelong love
affair with the sea and the Hahei area which she now calls
home. Souzie entered Auckland’s School of the Arts at age
11, and trips to Europe’s museums endeared her to the artists
of the ‘Blue Rider’ school. Her use of lustrous bright colors
captures the essence of New Zealand.
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Popular Tairua artist
PAULA McNEILL
works in a variety
of mediums, surprising the viewer with her diverse use
of colour and subject matter. There is a familiar sort of
abstraction in colour, line, and form – yet one discovers
detailed works of intrigue and intimacy.
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KATE HILL
lives in a hilltop house and studio overlooking
Tairua Harbour. She is interested in issues of discovery
and reconnection which occur when it’s no longer possible
to ‘walk on the bones of ancestors’. She works in a range of
media – print, collage, stitch, paint, digitally – and also makes
jewellery and hand printed silk scarves.
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SUSAN DUNSTER
, a practicing psychotherapist,
trained as a painter in London and Melbourne. These
two interests lead her to seek meaning behind the surface
– partially abstracted, spontaneous and intense. Susan has
exhibited regularly in New Zealand for the last 10 years.
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All cover artists will be featured in the
Mercury
Bay Art Escape
Exhibit at Hot Waves Café in
March or can be seen any time at
The Little
Gallery of Fine Arts
in Tairua. Artists with MBAE
logo on photo will have their studios open for
the Art Escape Tours (see page 8-10).
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RACHEL OLSEN
shares, “My paintings often depict
NZ summers and the beautiful coastlines, but whatever
I choose to paint has to be uplifting. I ‘feel’ it as I paint it”.
Seaside baches and cavarans have been a theme running
through her work for years. “These remnants of the past, are fast
disappearing and this is my way of recording a few for history.”
MB
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Milly’s on Main
078647464
236 Main Road in Tairua
______
KAYLA
078689063
522 Pollen Street in Thames
