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When Arie saw his big sister’s portrait with fish he said he wanted to be a ‘fish and bubbles’ painting too. He was a little disappointed when he first saw this portrait. He had been hoping for piranhas and not goldfish. And he wanted to be painted in the water not just standing behind it! But the marbles in the fish tank saved the day and he likes his portrait now!
My granddaughter told me she would love some Siamese Fighting Fish for her birthday. I dutifully did some research but discovered they weren’t the easiest fish in the world to take care of. But I was amazed by their many stunning colour variations and their beautiful fan like tails. I also learned that these fish thrive in rather murky muddy water – not the clear sea water I’ve depicted here. But you can’t let reality get in the way of imagination!
My husband asked if I would paint a portrait of him with our silly little dog Zippy. So here it is! And no portrait of Tim would be complete without his trusted Gandalf incense burner. Tim created this figure in the early 1970’s, and it’s hard to believe now we made a modest living selling reproductions of Gandalf at Cook Street Market. The market is sadly long gone of course- replaced by a car park. Guess I’m showing my age here talking about a bygone era!
Another surprise birthday present! This time commissioned by my son for his partner and her daughter.
My friend commissioned this portrait as a surprise birthday present for Lilly’s grandfather. I was asked to include the little bear and wooden aeroplane which have special significance for the family.
I know very little about Ruby except she’s eight years of age, lives in London and her favourite colour is purple. Her Dad was telling me how bleak and dreary the weather in the UK at that time. That’s maybe why this painting has ended up being so extra bright and sunny.
A friend of our eldest son was staying with us for a few months last year. These are his two gorgeous daughters. I first met them both when they were very little but hadn’t seen them all grown up. I hope Dad and girls enjoy their portrait
Tiago and Juliana live in South America in Uruguay. They are the grandchildren of my close friends Roberto and Ann. My four year old grandson was very intrigued when I was working on this picture. Those kids looked like they were having so much fun. ‘Nana, can you please paint me in the middle?’ he asked. It was only when he realised the kids were in a flower pot in someone’s backyard, and not in a spinning cup in an amusement park that he was okay with not being included in the painting.
This is Jack, big brother of Alice, whose portrait you can also find on this website called Alice’s Birthday.
Khatuna Shavgulidze is married to our friend Ed. When Ed was staying here with us in Auckland a while back, he commissioned this portrait of his wife to take back to England with him. Khatuna, originally from Georgia, is a poet now based in London.
Fiona used to be my neighbour over the back for several years. She’s also the grandmother of Oscar and Violet my previous portrait.. Here’s Fiona with her much loved Musk Lorikeet parrots, Ziggy and Zelda. Ziggy is on Fiona’s shoulder and Zelda is thinking of having a sip of Fiona’s tea. Both birds have since passed away. Rest in Peace Ziggy and Zelda.
When my friends Brett and Fiona were renting the house behind us in Tuarangi Rd, Grey Lynn, our son Justin became close friends with their son Tobin. Then Tobin grew up (sort of) and went to London. There he met, fell in love with and soon after married the lovely Emmeline. Now they have these two gorgeous kids Oscar and Violet.
My grandson Arie aged about 18 months. We live very close to Western Springs Park, a wonderful place to spend time with grandchildren. But Mikki, Arie’s older sister has just informed me that Arie is actually scared of geese. Oops!
When I was growing up in the Christchurch suburb of Hoon Hay, Ann, my best friend from school, lived one street behind us in Mavin Road. This is how I remember her Mum Viola, when I used to go around to Ann’s place after school. Viola was a keen baker and loved to keep those cake tins full. Her hokey pokey biscuits were my favourite..........good old Edmonds Cook Book recipe of course. Oh, and she loved canaries too according to Ann.
My friend Kate’s sister Vivienne. I hope my painting has done justice to her amazing spirit.
My dad Arie was just 20 years old, when he first arrived in NZ, from Holland. The year was 1953 – note wide collar on shirt- the fashion in those days. And that’s Port Chalmers. Dunedin in the background (sort of) based on a very old postcard I found. This painting was quite a challenge, seeing as the only photos I have of my parents from this period, are tiny black and white ones, not much bigger than the old Beehive matchbox. I like to think that Dad would’ve been pleased with the end result. I still miss him. xxx
My son’s friend Alex commissioned this portrait of his goddaughter as a present for her Mum.
My friend Kate’s granddaughter.
They’re not twins but Tayla and Caleb are brother and sister who share the same birthday. Their grandmother and auntie commissioned the portrait as a surprise birthday present for them both. My granddaughter Mikki commented on what a lovely big yard they have -their house backs onto the Orakei Marae
Gary, my friend and uncle of these three children, remarked recently that so many of my paintings have the moon in them. I thought my moon painting phase was well and truly over, but when I was working on this painting something seemed missing, and I couldn’t resist painting a bright full moon glowing behind the flax plants. I worked from three separate photos of the children to create this portrait.
I met my very first friend Ann when I was just 6. I was a new girl at Hoon Hay Primary School in Christchurch. I remember Ann and I were standing next to each other writing on the blackboard at the back of the classroom and Ann asked if I wanted to come and play at her place after school. Of course I said yes, and so began a long friendship that still exists today. Ann now lives in Hamilton where she lectures at Waikato University. Of course when she was little, Ann didn’t have a cat called Sansa. She didn’t have a pink caravan either or sell candyfloss from it with her South American husband Roberto. So this painting blends elements of the present and past together.
Alice’s father Peter put this fabulous website together for me and I’m really thrilled with it. Every portrait has unique challenges. Because the birthday cake was such a big and integral part of the picture, Alice herself is set further back in the composition than I initially would have liked. But now I’m happy with the finished work. I think the overall balance and colours work really well together.
When my nephew Ezra was very young he lived with his family in a tepee at Karekare on the West Coast of Auckland. I think that his Mum may have got the instructions on how to make a tepee from the Whole Earth Catalogue. Those were the days! Later on his Dad built a lovely family home on the same piece of land and Ezra still lives there today with his partner and two young sons.
I didn’t know Clara at all when I was commissioned to paint this portrait. Before I started I asked Clara’s grandmother to tell me something about her granddaughter. She told me that Clara was a typical Gemini, loved animals, climbing trees and baking cupcakes. I can’t explain why I wanted to include rabbits, but I was totally surprised when I showed the completed portrait to Clara’s grandmother. She said ‘Clara used to have two white rabbits that looked just like that.
The children’s Mum Kristen, told me that the family trip to Disneyland had been a special event in their lives. The reference photo I used was taken in the daytime but I changed the scene to a night one. I thought Mickey’s Fun wheel looked more exciting lit up with all its coloured lights. And I love painting the moon!
Sometimes getting just the right photos to work from can be a challenging part of my portrait painting process. In this case I was very lucky. The girls’ mother Sarah took a fabulous photo of her two daughters. I think her lively and original composition translated very well into the finished painting.
I loved painting Amelia’s big smile and the wacky leopard skin ears. I feel the portrait has a slightly surreal Mad Hatter’s Tea Party quality. I asked Amelia’s grandmother what Amelia thought of the painting and she said she got a bit upset when she first saw it, because she realised she had lost her leopard skin ears.
Lovely Natasha is the child and grandchild of some very old friends. I got to know her when she came over to play with my granddaughter Mikki. Natasha’s grandmother has an amazing collection of Clarice Cliff ceramics which inspired the bowl. And it was Mikki’s idea to paint bubbles floating in amongst the butterflies.
Bruno’s Mum Elles is a close friend and I also painted her portrait some years ago –see Elles and Jack. It was interesting as an artist observing the similar features of mother and son.
My lovely granddaughter Mikki.. She recently asked me ‘Nana, was I really covered in parrots when I was two years old?’
The children’s father Murray and I were close friends when we were teenagers in Christchurch. We gradually lost touch, but I often thought about Murray and how he was getting on. Many years later we unexpectedly met up again through a mutual friend when I was visiting Christchurch. It was wonderful seeing him after all those years and meeting his family. Murray said how much he would like it if I could paint his three children Megan, Caitlin and Finlay. But all too soon Murray became unwell and when I finally made the trip down to Christchurch to deliver the finished portrait to him he couldn’t communicate with words any more. So sad!
This is my niece Lily with the puppy we later inherited from her family.
Martha was a legend for the many years she worked at our Grey Lynn supermarket. She had a fabulous smile and lovely words for everybody, and your day always felt just that little bit better for having had contact with her.
A Swiss student at the language school where I was teaching, commissioned this portrait to take back home to his girlfriend in Switzerland.
Of all my paintings this is the one that seems to make people laugh. In case you don’t recognise her, here is her Majesty the Queen, ‘corgi spotting’ in Milford Sound, NZ.
My nephew Sammy aged three years old sitting on the back porch of his family’s home at Karekare. A 21st birthday present.
Amy’s Mum commissioned this for Amy’s twenty first. Here she is moonbathing in all her splendour.
My friend Elles commissioned this portrait when her cat Jack suddenly died not long after they had moved house.
My sister and I when we were little. That’s me on the left. We grew up in Christchurch and the reference I used was a black and white photo taken by a professional photographer in the Christchurch Square in front of the cathedral. Sadly now, the cathedral is in a very sorry state after the 2011 earthquakes, and the debate still continues to whether it should be rebuilt or demolished. I would personally love to see it rebuilt. The cathedral is an iconic symbol of my childhood.
I worked with Hyeran for many years at Crown English School. I was an English teacher and Hyeran was the Korean students’ counsellor.
Mika was an up and coming star when I painted this portrait of him, performing at the Temple Cafe which was then at the top of Queen Street.
Gerhard’s Cafe was an extremely popular haunt in Surrey Crescent in the 1990’s. A very eclectic bunch of people from far and wide enjoyed Gerhard’s unique style of hospitality, coffee, and delicious German cuisine. There is currently a Mexican cafe operating from these same premises.
My beautiful mother was seventeen years old. I painted this from an old black and white photo. I knew what colour the satin dress was because Mum kept it in her wardrobe and I remember my sister and me dressing up in it.
I got to know Eric well when I was a member of the Auckland Film Society committee. We had meetings at the Civic Showcase cinema where Eric was the manager. And what a lovely manager he was too. My grown up sons have fond memories of being allowed to watch any movies they wanted for free, not to mention free ice creams and popcorn.
Like the portrait of his brother, this one of my younger son also seems very flat and two dimensional when I look at it now.. I can remember taking this portrait to Bayfield Primary for morning ‘show and tell.’
It’s interesting how your work develops and changes over the years. Looking back at this portrait of my oldest son I realise how flat and two dimensional my work was then. But I feel I have captured his likeness and his cheeky grin.
I painted quite a few life size cut outs around this time. They weren’t a very practical way to paint someone’s portrait. They were heavy and rather unstable, prone to falling over on small animals and children that came to visit. I realised people preferred more convenient smaller images that you could hang on the wall. This cut out of Amokura is still my very favourite.
One of my very first portraits! I was thrilled when another student in the screen printing class I was working in recognised my friend Suzy. I realised I could capture a likeness.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
