Studio Insights - April 2025
CREATE: What I’ve created/done & what I’m working on.
INSPIRE: What art has inspired me.
LEARN: What I’m learning to develop my practice.
PLAN: What I’m planning next.
“Artists don’t get down to work until the pain of working is exceeded by the pain of not working”
It’s been super hectic and all over the place lately for me. I finished my paintings for the Christchurch show and then immediately had to switch into working on stuff for the NZ Art Show while still prepping for Christchurch - not ideal and quite scrambling on the brain. I’m pretty much all sorted now, though and excited to show the Wellington crowd all the work I’ve been creating!
And yes, I’m aware its over half way through May now… oops. Maybe I need to start posting deadlines for these entries too. (See Learn section)
Table of Contents:
CREATE: Utopia ‘Blue’ & Christchurch Art Show
INSPIRE: Disney: The Magic of Animation
LEARN: Instagram accountability
PLAN: Christchurch Art Show, Painting Giveaway
CREATE: Utopia ‘Blue’ & Christchurch Art Show
At the start of the month, I went up to Utopia gallery in Whanagnui to join their group show ‘Blue’. There was a brilliant diversity of works on display, and the owner Angela was a pleasure to work with. This is still running until the end of the month if you want to check it out!
Later in the month, I made my way down south for the Christchurch Art Show - my fourth year attending. After lower sales last time, I had intended to give it a miss this year, but they reeled me back in with an award that granted me free entry. Unfortunately, the trend continued (no surprises given the economic state), but I had a great time regardless. Plenty of prints made their way to new homes, though. No matter the sales, I always receive an overwhelming appreciation for my work. New connections are made and plenty of conversations which leave me feeling inspired. A huge thank you to everyone who came by and gave their support, as well as those online.
This year, I tried something a bit different with a unique collection of work, based on scenes of the Red Zone in Christchurch titled ‘Urban Solitude’. I’ve talked more about this series in other posts, and will be making a separate entry later on once I’ve released the Wellington version as well. As part of this, I also tried doing a live painting demonstration - creating a 7x9” study of another Christchurch scene from start to finish in one sitting. I’ve never done this before, and it was lots of fun! Bit strange having people watch me paint, but it created great engagement. I also ran a giveaway for the piece (another first) - congratulations to Francesca, who won this painting!
INSPIRE: Disney: The Magic of Animation
Another big hit for Takina with this incredible look into the process of animation at Disney over the years. I was so impressed with the effort and thought that went into the layout. With each section tailored to the movie branding, it was like 20 exhibitions in one!
My favourite part was seeing all the sketches, layouts and paintings displayed, often with notes and folds throughout. Having these raw artefacts on display was so immersive and really gave the feeling that I was looking right into a part of the process. I was definitely much more impressed and fascinated with the older hand-drawn animation techniques of all the old classics.
I left feeling inspired to try some animation… something I’ve not done really since I was a kid. I also noticed a lot of gouache painting, which is a medium I’ve never tried but have always wanted to.
Also, I wrote this down in a moment of feverish inspiration after visiting the Sarjeant Gallery (Whanganui) again, and reading it back made me laugh so much:
“New life goal - I really want to frame one of my paintings in a super thick juicy and sexy ornate old style frame with gold leaf, and this is important - a plaque!”
LEARN: Instagram accountability
Something I’ve always struggled with as a self-employed artist is setting deadlines and actually sticking to them. When it’s all up to me, it’s so easy to just put stuff off and not follow through with my intentions. Having big shows to work towards helps a lot, but there are months in between that need to be managed.
I felt I needed something of an accountability partner. So I asked myself, how could I leverage the power of Instagram for this? I’ve always resisted social media at my core. I hate it. But I need it. If it’s inevitable, I may as well use it to help me, rather than it just being an obligation.
I decided on a rough schedule where I would post stories of my intention for the day on arrival, and updates at set times twice a day. I would tell all my followers my deadlines instead of just keeping it to myself. Knowing that people were watching and expecting work to be done raised the stakes and motivated me to work more consistently.
This new system has had varied success, and I haven’t stuck to it fully - but there is definitely something there that I’ve found incredibly helpful. It works better when I’m just painting - not so much in the lead-up to these shows where I’m all over the place doing lots of little prep things. I plan to keep experimenting with this system and hopefully get into more of a routine after the NZ Art Show is done.
PLAN: NZ Art Show
At the end of this month, I’ll be attending the NZ Art Show (30th May - 1st June, TSB Arena Wellington) and unveiling another set of 4 paintings as part of my Urban Solitude series - this time with Wellington scenes. I’m also probably going to do some more live painting at the show because I quite enjoyed it at Christchurch. Still deciding on the details on that, though. Mark it in your calendars, it's an unbelievable art event with hundreds of artists on display!