​Nicola Bennett loves making food, and it is in the kitchen that she has found the greatest source of inspiration for her art. Working in mixed media with oils, acrylics, spray paint, and pastels, the Bay of Plenty artist aims to capture moments and create a sensory experience for the viewer.

“Looking at an artwork might be an experience of seeing, feeling, smelling even tasting. In a way, the sense of reality and the imagined combine. Could the viewer have a sensual experience through vision by triggering memories or the imagined senses?”

“When I cook I have a sketchbook on my kitchen bench. I record how a certain action, like grating, might translate to a mark on paper. I use those marks in my paintings. I think of colours like flavours, and how they interact, for example, the smoothness or crunchiness of food translated in terms of visual textures and surfaces. When I'm in the kitchen I want to be in the art studio; when I'm in the art studio, I'm thinking about creating in the kitchen. The two processes are connected.”

Bennett holds a Masters of Fine Arts with First Class Honours from Auckland’s Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design and has been working as a full-time artist for just over a year.

“I’d always thought being a full time artist wasn’t financially possible in New Zealand, but I realised that was just a story I’d told myself.”

In her first year, Bennett sold 24 paintings: 21 herself and three through a gallery. She identifies maintaining motivation and sticking to her business plan as her main challenges.

“It’s not enough to just a make the work. You need to sell, whether that’s selling the work yourself or selling yourself to a gallery. It takes consistent, persistent effort. I’ve learnt to have a thick skin and I know my work isn’t for everyone, but the people that love it, love it. That’s enough.”

​In addition selling, Bennett leases her work to businesses in Rotorua and as been running children’s art workshops for the past five years. Previously a secondary school art teacher, Bennett is passionate about children developing what she refers to as their four ‘C’s: creative thinking, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication.

“I’m always blown away with what children can produce when you set them up for success. This also inspires me in my own work. The younger ones especially make confident and interesting marks. Their way of seeing the animals and people is gorgeous. As Picasso said, he spent his whole life trying to draw like a child.”

When it comes to finding inspiration, Bennett suggests not overthinking it.

“I think the key is just to start. Then let each mark dictate the next mark and so on. Like writing a book, you write the first sentence and then the story unfolds. If I ask myself questions like ‘are the colours balancing? is it too busy?’ then the work becomes too contrived somehow. I think it’s better to react to your instinct, which naturally knows the answers to those questions.”

Written by
George Arthur-Amohau

Images courtesy of
Nicola Bennett

​There is nothing quite like the satisfying sight of a newly-opened box of coloured pencils with their colourful tips all standing in a neat little row. Perhaps it is the tangible memory of back-to-school days when a box of new pencils held so much potential for the year ahead, or perhaps it’s the reminder that sometimes having one little thing that is organised and colour coordinated make you feel calm when other things in life feel chaotic and messy.   

At Flora, we understand this desire to have a neat little box of pencils on hand, and have sourced an entire range of shapes and styles to meet your needs. All of the wood found in our pencils are sourced from sustainably managed forest or recycled newspapers, making them an ethical choice. We have little pencils for little hands, bigger pencils for bigger hands, triangle ones, chunky ones, varnished ones, and unvarnished ones. There are plenty of options!

One of the things these coloured pencils are great at is what we call ‘mindfulness nature drawing’. Feeling stressed about your to-do list? Overwhelmed by the clutter in your space? Unsure about how to make that important decision? Take a breath, take your box of coloured pencils and some paper, and head outside into nature (or, if thats too tricky, find a house plant, vase of flowers, or spot by the window where you can see something in nature).

Once you’ve found your spot, notice what you’re drawn to, without judgement. Spend a moment just looking. Then begin to capture it with your coloured pencils. Sometimes it’s helpful to have a prompt or focus point to work with when doing this activity, such as trying to capture only one spectrum of colour, or looking for shadows and light, or focusing on only the straight lines, or curved lines, or highlighting the beauty in imperfections. Whatever it is, spend time mindfully looking at your nature object, without judgement for what you’re seeing or creating. Your coloured pencils are your tools that will help you to stay focused in your mindful state, and help you to capture your experience on the page. Whether you have the ability to dedicate one hour or 10 minutes to this practice, I promise, you’ll feel better afterwards. Nature has a way of nourishing us and helping us to put things in perspective.

Part of your journey as an artist will involve dealing with rejection. Rejection will come in multiple forms from slow sales or being denied entry in competitions to being turned down from galleries and group exhibitions.

No one likes being rejected, and it happens to everyone, including galleries. Even artists we consider grand masters like Van Gogh and Monet faced rejection: Van Gogh only sold one work in his lifetime and Monet faced decades of rejection until he found a patron.

While rejection is never easy, it can provide the opportunity to grow as an artist and open new doors.


It’s not personal

Rejections are never personal. Most galleries get several submissions a week and no gallery has the wall space to accept every artist. Your work may be too large for the gallery space, or a different style than their aesthetic or they may only represent select regions. The reason behind a gallery accepting or rejecting an artist are complex and varied. Researching the gallery before you approach it will help to reduce the chances of being rejected but sometimes it is out of your hands.


It takes courage

When first rejected, it is natural to feel upset or angry. Allow yourself to feel this way and move forward. Although it may be easier to focus on negative responses, remember it takes courage to approach an unknown gallery. Just reaching out can be an achievement by itself.


Learn from the experience

Take the time to read gallery rejections and what their responses are. Some galleries write standard rejections but others take the opportunity to give feedback. If they take the time to do so consider their opinion and how you could apply their advice while maintaining your own voice and style; it may be they just aren’t the right fit for your work.

If a gallery replies they are fully booked, don’t automatically assume they are trying to let you down gently. A gallery has limited space and will do their best to showcase each artist to their best ability. Consider re-approaching them in six months or when they indicate they are booked till. While this may not immediately result in representation it will make the gallery aware you are serious about your craft.


Don’t stop creating

Don’t allow a rejection to stop you creating and honing your craft. Keep in mind the Robert Wade quote: “Constant acceptance breeds complacency and mediocrity. Rejection breeds determination and ultimate success.” Use the opportunity to take a second look at your work and improve. Could you present a more cohesive portfolio? Do your photos do the work justice? Are there small tweaks that could be made to the work?

Use rejection to fuel your determination.
​

Don’t let it weigh you down

Chances are you started practicing your art for enjoyment. Don’t let a rejection take away your enjoyment or alter your work so much that it is no longer recognisably yours.

As difficult as rejection may be, it can be a positive experience if you use it to narrow your search for the right galleries and hone your craft from the feedback you receive. Use it to fuel your creativity and you will bounce back stronger and more determined to get your work into the right places and grow your art career.

As humans, we have forever been making our mark and telling our stories through pigments. From the early days of mud on walls, to our current era of chemically produced and refined shiny liquids, paints have always played a part in the creative development of humans. In light of current environmental crises, many people are now seeking natural and ethically sourced alternatives to everyday products and it is pleasing that there have been developments in the world of art materials too. There are makers out there who are going back to the basics of foraging for natural pigments and creating art materials that are gentle to our planet. 

Introducing Purely Natural Kids Paint Pigments. Open the box and you will likely produce a little sound of delight as you spy a range of safe, non-toxic pigments lined up with little biodegradable pots and a paintbrush. The colours inside the little packets are made entirely from organic ingredients, foraged from the earth and plants. Kept simple, the pigments can be mixed with water at a 1:1 consistency, or with natural oils such as linseed.

If you want to get even more fancy with these pigments you can have a go at creating your own eco-paint using the recipe below. If mixing your own paint sounds like too much work, ökoNORM have produced their own little pots of natural paints, which you can find here.

Gentle to the earth and to your skin, what’s not to love about these paints?

Written by
Naomi Pears-Scown

Images courtesy of
Naomi Pears-Scown

Looking for gallery representation can be a difficult first step; not every gallery will take on unknown artists. However, with the right approach and the right attitude you can increase the chances of having your work shown.

As part of an ongoing series, Gallery Owner Vicki Fox explains some of the most important things to consider when approaching galleries for representation.


Find the right gallery for you

Before approaching a gallery, have a look at their web presence or visit in person. If you do choose to visit the gallery in person, remember your gallery etiquette: this is an opportunity for you to learn more about the gallery and to understand the type of work they show, but not to ask them to show your work or pretend you are interested in buying a piece when you have no intention to do so.


Be selective

Look at the quality and type of works the gallery represent. If a gallery has a focus on pop-surrealism and your work is mainly photo-realism, you will be more successful if you approach a gallery specialising in photo-realism. 


Be honest

Be honest about the calibre of your work. Look at the art in the gallery and your own art objectively and decide if they are of similar quality. Not all artists are gallery ready and not all galleries are suitable for certain works.

Look at the artists they represent and how long they have represented those artists for. While galleries will always be introducing fresh works and artists, a gallery that has artists that they’ve worked with for some time can indicate they’re a good gallery to work with. On the other hand, a very quick turnover of work or artists that never return is something to consider.


Approach carefully

Once you have determined the gallery as a possible fit for your work, contact them via email. Emailing creates a better first impression than approaching in person, and approaching uninvited can lower your chance of representation.


Address the right person

If possible, find out the name of the owner or curator and address the appropriate person in your email. This may seem a small thing, but it will show you have done some research, are invested in being part of the gallery and not just doing a mass email to every gallery you stumbled on during a quick web search. 

Your email should:

• be brief and to the point,
  
• act similar to a CV or cover letter,
  
• be professional,
  
• be free of spelling errors,
  
• outline who you are,
  
• state what medium(s) you work in,
  
• mention where you are currently represented, 
  
• explain what you would like from the gallery such as representation or the opportunity to take part in exhibitions.

Galleries and artists require a good relationship and good communication is vital. This email will play a factor in whether a gallery feels you will be good to work with or not.


Attach samples of your work

Attach three to five images of your current work. Choose works that reflect your current body of work and show cohesion. If a gallery takes you on they will be expecting work that has consistent style and quality.


First impressions count

Make sure you have everything you need to make a good first impression in your initial email. Include links to your social media accounts and website for reference so the galleries have the option to visit them if they want to find out more about you. Don’t rely on using the links as an alternative to attaching images to the email but have the information there and easily accessible.


Think about your timing

Timing is everything. You will be able to tell from a gallery’s social media presence if they have a new exhibition or event opening coming up. Galleries are often extremely busy in the time leading up to an exhibition and your email may be overlooked.


Thank the gallery

As a courtesy, don’t forget to thank the gallery for taking the time to look at your work.

How do people react to your work?

People have said it lifts up their spirits. Usually they talk about joy and happiness.

Someone once said, “you must have had a wonderful childhood experience to create such joyful work.” They were comparing me with a friend who was painting very dark works, and they said, “he looks like he might have experienced some trauma.” Actually it was the other way around!

I don’t have to try to find that sense of joy in my work. It’s who I am. It’s really what attracts and grabs me. I want to create art that is uplifting when you look at it.

Is it easy to tap into that emotion when you’re painting?

I think that sometimes the faster you work, the more emotion there is. You could describe so much with very few brush strokes and for me, that’s where true art comes. Of course, you can spend hours and weeks and months on a painting. It’s the same with words. You can say something with few words, or you could say the same thing with thousands of words. What’s more powerful?

That’s why it’s hard. Sometimes people ask me, “how long did it take you to create that?” Well the thing is, the quicker I create it, the more powerful it is. When it takes longer, it weakens.

I wouldn’t say I’m creating art. I think the art happens in the reaction of the person who views it. Someone might look at it and experience nothing, and someone else might start to cry.

Does inspiration come easily to you?

I never have to try to find inspiration. It’s always there.

For me, the challenge has always been wanting to paint but struggling to find the time. It’s never the other way around.

As a professional artist you make the time. You start painting and while you’re doing it you get into the mood and the space. If inspiration isn’t coming, simply don’t sit and wait: just start doing it and while you are you’ll get into the zone.

The more you do, the better you get, and the more enjoyment you get out of it. It’s addictive.

You don’t always get the feeling you want. Quite often, when I’m painting, I look at it and I think, “that’s terrible”, but then you walk away and think wow! Of course, other times you think, “wow, it’s so cool, I’m enjoying it”, and then you walk away and look and it’s awful!

It’s important to know when to stop. If it doesn’t feel good, leave it. I only have energy to paint for about four hours a day - sometimes only two - before I feel like I’m running out of that good energy. Then I know I’m not actually making it better: I’m fiddling, but it’s going downhill. That’s when I walk away. Sometimes I might leave it for a long time.

I am inspired by other artists. I discover beautiful artwork every day on Instagram.

Some artists worry that if they watch and study other artists too closely, that they may end up in a place where they’re copying. What are your thoughts about that?

I think that if you’re learning, that’s good. In art school we were copying old masters. Even if you try to be like someone, in time you will develop your own style.

Of course, there are just so many styles and ways of working which means it’s very hard to create something totally new. For example, I discovered a technique in watercolour that took me a couple of years to develop. Then, afterwards I discovered someone else who was using exactly the same technique! I’d never seen that artist’s work.

You tend to be influenced, perhaps by someone who’s class you’ve taken, and that’s okay. You can learn so many things from other artists, but I think we are all so unique. Now matter how much you try to be like someone else, in the end the world will be your own. It’s like your handwriting.

I really value skill. Good art is the combination of so many things. There are a lot of good ideas, but if the skill isn’t there it doesn’t work. It’s not often the other way around. It takes years and years to develop skill, and once it’s there the ideas will come.

​You’ve run art workshops and also one-on-one tuition. How did you get started teaching?

Put Some Colour in your Life gave me a lot of exposure. They filmed me for four hours, and then put it across in 20 minutes, and for some reason he put me across as a teacher, which I wasn’t at the time.

People started enquiring about tuition and workshops, and I wasn’t sure about it.

I thought, “what would be a price that I would be happy to do this for?” Organising group workshops is not me. I don’t like administration and stuff like that. But if someone organises a group of ten people and pays me $800 a day, I’ll come. It doesn’t happen often, which is the way I like it. I do maybe two workshops a year, and maybe ten weeks a year where people come to the house. But that’s it.

It’s not that I don’t like it, but I need to find a way of teaching where I don’t get drained.

So it sort of happened by accident?

For many years, I never thought I could be a teacher. I think you can be a good artist but not a god teacher, or the other way around. To begin with I found it hard because I thought painting was all about intuition, and I didn’t know how to articulate it. But, I went to America and did a few workshops and found the words.

Art is a learnable thing. Pretty much anyone could learn to paint or draw.

Do you think everyone would agree with that?

No. But what I’m saying is true… if you put enough time into it.

What I’ve started understanding, and I wish I was taught it at art school, is that everything in art is logical. If it’s logical, it’s learnable. You just have to take the time and work step-by-step to learn it. 

Everyone can become an artist. That doesn’t mean everyone will be exceptional; but they can learn it.

So, for you, it’s about the art. Teaching is not what you love, but you still think it’s important to share what you know?

Oh, yes! There’s so much joy that I have from my art, and I want to share that with others. People have done that for me in the past. Nancy Tichborne was one of them. She introduced me to a layering technique which opened new horizons for me!

In the Ukraine I had no-one to look up to as an artist. I had no-one to inspire me. As a child, I was in an institution, which was a horrible place, and I went to art school as a way to escape. But even at art school we never saw the teachers painting. And under communism, you only saw work in museums.

Now, in New Zealand and with the internet, it has been so amazing to discover other artists.

How many people do you follow on Instagram?

Probably 100 or 200.

I probably spend half an hour a day browsing instagram to look at other artists’ work. But what fascinates me is the marketing thing. Not how to paint, but how to present yourself and how to explain what you’re doing. Sometimes you don’t even need to post a finished painting, you can share your process.

For me, social media isn’t about what I’m putting into it, it’s about what I’m getting out of it. Sometimes people say, “thank you for sharing, it’s so good to see your process”, and It’s encouraging. To be honest, I think, “who would give a damn what I’m doing”.

The internet has turned every artist into a business person. There’s a pressure to have a website, and be on instagram, and market your work. What is your experience of this?

Three years ago I didn’t even have a Facebook page, and I knew that I was one of the last artists to do that.

I’ve had varied experiences with galleries, and I think it’s important for artists to develop confidence about the value of their work and how it should be priced. Some work is over-priced and some work is under-priced; I see it all the time.

Social media is a good thing because it means you’re in charge of your own promotion.
​
How do you decide on your prices?

It’s very hard. You have to look at other work that is selling and you have to have a feel for the market. Pricing is pure business. Sometimes you might choose prices and not sell, and then you have to meet the market. Unfortunately there’s no consistency.

Ten years ago I struggled to put an exhibition together because it was selling so fast, and at the moment it’s building up a bit.

I will still paint, whether I sell or not. When I sell, it’s such a bonus but it’s not the main reason I paint.

What would you say to people who aspire to be a professional artist?

It’s not that glorious. It’s so much hard work. Being an Artist can also be a very lonely occupation. If you prepared to spend hours and hours by yourself in the studio then it’s for you.

You have to be prepared to work really really hard. I don’t have any magic talents. Everything I can do I’ve developed over a long time. It’s all learnable.

When I look at my work, I see what I want to keep learning.

Written by
George Arthur-Amohau

Images of artwork courtesy of
Svetlana Orinko

Photography by
​George Arthur-Amohau

At art school in the early 90s, Mark Soltero considered himself to be a painter. He thought of printmaking and photography as being “really flat” and could not have imagined how much he would be drawn to these mediums in his future work.

Originally from San Fransisco, Soltero now lives in Governor’s Bay, near Christchurch, and works across all three of these fields. His work, which draws on the nature of cinema and also personal experience, incorporates a unique stencilling process in which almost all parts of the stencils, including the reverse sides and the stencils themselves, are used.

“I think of all three fields as extensions of drawing. For me, they’re all manifestations of visual thinking; ways of making images,” Soltero explains.

“A lot of my work starts off with an image that begins in my mind or is triggered by some fragment of an image I’ve seen. I might take a drawing from a sketch book and put it together with a digital image so I can see what the two suggest together, or I might begin with a digital drawing and print it out before beginning to cut into it. Considering the relationship I had with printmaking and photography, it’s pretty funny that my work has come to focus so much on filmic and commercial image making processes.”

In a recent series, titled ‘History is Cinematic’, Soltero focused on the interiors of cinemas as “containers of images, history and memory”. The completed body of work produced large-scale images, some up to six metres wide, and provided a starting point for his current series, ‘Fragments of Memory’.

In this body of work, paintings and monoprints are created on a variety of substrates including wool blankets, which are chosen for their histories of care and protection and the concept of family. The works, which incorporate actual fragments of the previous series, reflect a turbulent period of Soltero’s life arising from the disintegration of his family and other tumultuous events in the late 1970s.

“In the 24-month period that began with the summer of 1977, my parents began an eight year divorce, we moved several times, the mayor and now-famous city counsellor Harvey Milk were assassinated, and the Jonestown Massacre took place. All of these events were in very close view, and, for me, this period is when image became synonymous with projection. Coincidentally, at the beginning of that summer, I had just become aware that I wanted to be an artist, even although I had no idea what that meant.”

Counterbalancing the seemingly endless options provided from working across three artistic fields, Soltero limits himself to a colour palette that is almost exclusively black and white.

“Both black and white have a long and rich history across many cultures and in Western Art in general,” says Soltero.

A common practice throughout the history of art across all mediums, a restricted colour palette provides artists with the opportunity to reduce visual noise and focus on the development of particular ideas and procedures. 

“You can look back through the history of a given artists’ work and see periods where artists have reduced what they were doing before springing into a new body of work. The Cubists initially limited their colour palette. Pollock limited his colour palette at the beginning of his drip series. Later, after he’d reached a zenith, he again went back to black and white to try and work out where he was going next. You can look at more contemporary examples and see the same thing."

The work of Kara Walker, who initially became known for large black paper silhouettes installed on the walls of galleries and museums, is a major inspiration for Soltero.

“She’s such a power-house of talent. I love the fact that there’s this power in the scale of what she’s doing while at the same time there’s a delicateness and fragility in the medium.”

Alongside a restricted palette, the process of stencilling is in itself restrictive but also highly rewarding.

“The reveal, when you lift a stencil after having painted over it, is probably the moment of greatest joy - or total frustration - in my process.”

“The individual random shapes that make up a given stencil make me think of molecules or particles in space. They’re very simple and mundane but together they form a relationship and make an image. There’s a curiosity. I have to find different relationships between them by taking those small cut outs and rearranging them.”

Stencilling also brings about opportunities for chance and accident. 

“When I lay the stencils out for a painting. I can cut as accurately as a machine and I can map out the placement of each section but ultimately they migrate and do their own thing.”

“The concept of control is somewhat contradictory just like black and white appear to provide clarity and a kind of fixed assurance but also together they make grey, which is like the perfect analogy to imprecision.”

Soltero intends to continue working at a large scale and is interested in exploring what can be achieved with instillations.

“I think about paintings that hang in the space rather than on the wall. I’m interested in what experiences might occur between the image in the painting and the physicality of the image as a material object located in space. In this way there might be an interaction between the visual referents to space and time in the image, and the referents manifested by physical experience of the material in its location.”

“In my work I think about the way we see objects and events in our immediate surroundings, and how we think about these objects and events. For example we might reflect on where we just were an hour ago, and we’re able to project ourselves mentally to another space and time. We can see this space and time and think of the sounds and visual experiences we had there and then while we’re here and now. Our minds are always processing in this manner. I try to deal with an experience of space that takes into account this wide range of things we probably all think about but perhaps don’t often have the opportunity to reflect on.”

You can see more of Solteros work on his website, marksoltero.com.

Written by
George Arthur-Amohau

Images courtesy of
Mark Soltero

With an increasingly vast range of social media platforms and the affordability of ecommerce websites allowing artists to directly connect with potential collectors, it is natural to question the value of art galleries to artists.

Here, as part of an ongoing series, Gallery Owner Vicki Fox discusses six ways galleries play a vital role in any successful artist's career.

Focus on what’s important

As an artist, your primary focus should be on creating your art and galleries help artists to have the time to to do this. Marketing yourself, doing markets, dealing with enquiries, arranging postage quotes, invoicing customers, and packaging and posting works all take time and can limit your income. A gallery's job is to do all of the above as well as dealing with returns, missing parcels and following up with the client. This leaves you with time to focus on your creative work.


Let collectors eyeball your work

While we all look at and admire work on social media, there is something to be said about seeing a piece ‘in the flesh’.

Galleries allow us to view the colours as they are, rather than through the skewed settings of a screen; to see the scale, brush strokes and textures; to admire the way a work casts shadows and reflections; to observe the piece from different angles; to touch and hold small sculptural pieces; to feel the weight of a pendant around your neck; or to appreciate the texture of an unglazed vessel. Small interactions like these are meaningful experiences for potential buyers and can’t be achieved via social media.


Increase your reach

Representation in a gallery increases your potential audience. Galleries allow you to show your work in multiple locations and to be seen by potential buyers that may never discover you online. They act as advocates for your work and good galleries will communicate to customers the story behind you and your art when appropriate.

Most galleries can tap into their own database and find potential buyers for your work, sometimes without the work even going on show. A gallery increases the visibility of your work through exposure both online and in store and they access customers that may not have the time or inclination to search through the Internet to find a work they admire.

As a gallery owner, there have been several occasions where I have made note of a client looking for a specific style or type of work and sold a piece without it ever going on display.


Be represented by professionals 

Part of an art gallery's job is to promote the artists they represent. Many artists find it challenging to promote their own work. It is the role of gallery professionals to promote the work of the artists they represent, and they do this in a way that is educational and insightful. 

Where sometimes self-promotion can feel difficult, a gallery is able to promote an artist and their success in an informed and professional way. A gallery employee voicing that they think the artist's work is likely to increase in value comes across entirely differently to an artist claiming this themselves.

If you’re feeling nervous about promoting your work, it’s likely that you won’t do it in the best way. Approaching a gallery ensures you have a team of professionals on your side to help.


Feel supported

Being an artist can be a lonely and isolating career. A good gallery should be a source of support, feedback and advice to their artists. They can advise artists on pricing and discuss what customers are responding to or looking for whilst encouraging the artist to retain their unique style.

Galleries should also help to motivate and boost their artists when sales drop or enthusiasm is lacking and can give critiques that help further the artist's practice.

Through exhibition opportunities, galleries provide the motivation to produce a cohesive body of work within a set time period. This can be a challenge to achieve on your own without a deadline.


Develop an art community

Having a good relationship with a gallery can help grow the art community as a whole. Galleries take on both emerging and established artists and while the established artists may be the drawcard for visitors, often they will discover artists they’ve never heard of on display in the same space. These discoveries are vital for emerging artists and can lead to purchases and new followers.

If you look at the online profiles of some of your favourite established artists, chances are they are represented by at least one gallery. This is in part because of the many benefits a gallery offers and also because there can be a certain amount of prestige associated with being represented by an art gallery.

​A trained archaeologist, Danny Rae Dyer has always been fascinated with clay and being creative with her hands. After exploring alternatives to natural clay, Dyer has developed a way of using with polymer clay to create uniquely sculptural wall art with a distinctly kiwi flair.

Dyer grew up in Whangarei Heads and had two loves: art and nature. After qualifying as an archeologist she turned to a career in marketing and sales and began to dabble in art and graphic design.

Dyer experienced a strong urge to work with clay, but wanted to find a way to mould and set it in her own home home with the equipment she already had. Polymer clay, an oven bake clay that can be “fired” in your kitchen, was the obvious choice.

"Working with polymer clay meant I had the freedom to let my own creativity come through rather than be restricted by others' expectations of clay."

Dyer’s hobby quickly attracted the attention of her friends and family who encouraged her to begin selling her work and taking on commissions.

Developing her unique style has taken a great deal of time and experimentation.

“Initially I created flatter pieces that would bake better, and started adding slightly more of a 3D aspect to my work once I knew the clay’s limitations.”

Inspired by the colours and textures of the natural world, Dyer aims to capture these characteristics in her work and can sometimes spend a full day mixing clay to achieve the precise colours she is looking for.

Dyer’s works, which range in size, can take anywhere from a day to over 70 hours.

“They’re very time consuming, but thankfully I have the patience for it!”

After her work began to sell, Dyer realised that she was in a position where she could give up her full-time job to allow more time for her art. Now living in London, part-way through a two-year overseas experience, Dyer works from home creating New Zealand and European inspired scenes from the other side of the world.

“My partner and I went travelling for 6 months in the prime time my art started becoming successful, now I feel I may have to build a following from scratch. I hope to be able to develop my art career while I'm here, then when I head back to New Zealand, fingers crossed, I’ll have international recognition.”

Dyer’s long-term dream is to create enough work to show in a gallery. As for what this work might look like, she’s going to see where her inspiration takes her.

“I feel as though my ideas are as malleable as the clay I work with.”

If you’d like to follow Dyer’s journey, search for Danny Rae Design on Instagram or Facebook.

No Shame, No Silence is an exhibition consisting of over 20 New Zealand artists united by a shared perspective on family violence. Aiming to shine a light, cultivate conversation and inspire and press for change, the group show has been open to the public since 2 November at the Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom in Foxton.

Through their works, each contributing artist has shared their own perspective or experience with family violence and the family court system.

The event’s organiser, Sarah-Jayne Shine, is a survivor of family violence and is passionate about art as an opportunity to engage local communities in issues that can be otherwise overlooked.

“The concept of No Shame No Silence came to light after I participated in a march to parliament with a group of women in August last year,” Shine explains.

“It was a highly emotional day, we marched in the wind and rain to deliver a petition for a royal commission of inquiry into the family court. When nothing had happened six months later, I decided we needed to put more pressure on the government.”

With a background in art and design, Shine saw an exhibition as a platform for other creatives to comment on the situation.

The exhibition launched with a special opening event on 1 November that included talks from Women’s Refuge, Backbone Collective, Jackie Blue from the Human Rights Commission, and personal stories from two of the artists.

An auction held on opening night raised over $1,800, and the organisers have been pleased with feedback received from visitors so far.

“The flow of the exhibition is about taking the viewer on a journey. As you walk into the exhibition you are immediately confronted with people from all over New Zealand’s trauma at the hands of the family court through the piece ‘Untitled Woman and Children’. You turn right to walk around the room and it takes you through feelings of grief and trauma, to healing and survival, ending with a celebration of a survivors endurance.”

You can visit the No Shame, No Silence exhibition until December 15. It is free to view, and artwork purchased will fund donations to Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom, Backbone Collective and Women’s Refuge.

For more information about the exhibition, visit noshamenosilence.co.nz.