Rotorua Art Awards 2019

A Living Tree, Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Canvas, W 71cm x H 56cm.

Artist - Tania Akehurst.

Standing proudly by my painting on finals night.

This was my first experience at making the finals of an art award - wow such a cool and uplifting experience too.

The painting I entered was titled “A Living Tree”, which is my take on the tree of life. The tree of life has got to be one of the best symbols around, so much meaning around it.

Creating is always exciting but for this piece I pushed the boundaries and became totally engrossed in my happy place. The challenge was to see if I could create a harmonious artwork inspired by several different artists. The subject just a plain old poplar tree on our farm. I was fascinated by the fluffy seeds that lay below it.

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist who works with repetitive patterns, especially circles. The fluffy seeds that lie below the tree are depicted in the white circles; circles that suggest a life cycle with no beginning or end.

The Leaves I took from David Hockney’s statement “it’s all about the mark making” and the background trees are inspired by Dick Frizzell’s effective simple shapes.

I am a lover of colour and pattern in art and the trunk of the tree has been inspired by both Gustav Klimt and Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

Being able to display your work next so many wonderful and very capable artists is such an encouraging feeling as an artist. Following the awards ceremony all of those present were let into the finalists exhibition at once, this is an experience I will never forget, one of great anticipation.

Miles Art Awards 2020

Who Says So, Black Indian Ink on Watercolour Paper Framed under Glass. Artist - Tania Akehurst

On Awards night next to my painting, which is taking the limelight literally. It was so difficult to get a good photo and not stand in front of the painting.

Who Says So was created using 4 randomly selected magazine pictures. A person, a building, an object and an animal.

The process for the painting was done using a wash method, not unlike a water colour method, to build up the layers. I built up the layers until I was satisfied that the dark’s were dark enough.

Such an honor to be able to have my work on display in such a beautiful gallery as the Tauranga City Gallery.

The Iconic Whakatane Collaborative Multi Canvas Project.

38 adjoining canvases painted by 16 artists each with a style of their own.

This is digital rendition of all the canvases.

This collaborative multi canvas iconic Whakatane scene is brought to you by 16 artists on 38 adjoining canvases. “ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts” - Aristotle.

Each Artist was invited to paint a portion of the photograph as seen on the above page, without knowing what the overall photograph looked like and without knowing clearly what others were painting. Between 1 and 4 canvases were completed by each artist in their own unique painting style using either acrylic or oil paint. The resulting collaborative painting shows a diversity of personalities, interests, viewpoints and painting styles . Each painted canvas stands out as a painting in its own right and yet once all the panels are joined together they represent an image full of rich differences, connected in creative harmony.

The IWCMCP was kindly funded by Creative Communities Whakatane and has been a great boost to local artists, bringing them together and pushing them to work often outside of their comfort zone.

This has been a wonderful opportunity for me to manage such a project and to see my vision come to life. The project took 18 months to complete, from funding application through to the display of the final artwork.

However without my fellow artists this project would not have been possible. The artists enthusiasm during this project was infectious, their painting superb and their support overwhelming.

Collaborative Project Artists:-

Corrie Overdevest, Gerda Corporaal, Joanne Black, Laurie Tapsell, Malcolm Akehurst, Margaret Bowmar, Mary Duggan, Mary Sax, Maureen Gibbs, Robyn Watchorn, Sue Selwyn, Tania Akehurst, Tania Mischefski, Tracey Lee Cassin, and Yvonne Elliot. With special thanks to Adrienne Ranson.