Rebecca Beyer – New Plymouth
It is part of the wonder of having an Open Call how artists are encouraged to cross disciplines and try something new as they have a relevant story to tell. One such case is that of Rebecca Beyer whose print practice has been inspirational for many years and who has stepped across the divide into textiles.
Rebecca shares with us some of her artistic journey:
My artist journey began in paint, where I love exploring colour and shape to capture the journeys people take through their environments. With a great interest in story, I approach painting with the idea of character, setting, and plot. My fascination with how people interact with their surroundings inspires me to create pieces that invite viewers to imagine their own stories within the artwork.
A growing interest in print has allowed me to experiment with different methods, materials, and visual approaches. As part of the Aotearoa Print Council, I have continued to learn from fellow practitioners, extending my knowledge and trying new techniques. Currently, I am exploring alternative lithography while continuing my ongoing love of relief printing.
Taking part in the Taranaki Arts Trail and opening my studio for many years has expanded my art journey. The feedback from visitors and connections within the artist community have opened my eyes to new possibilities. This visibility has led to valuable opportunities to exhibit in different galleries and participate in exhibitions. It has also encouraged me to include new materials and disciplines in my practice, such as stitching on paper.
For the past four years, I have been part of the Art Loft Collective, sharing a studio and working with other artists to support and grow our practices. I have discovered that I enjoy and benefit from the communal space, which holds me accountable and motivates me to finish projects. Working alongside other artists at the Art Loft Collective has sparked new ideas and pushed me to experiment with techniques I might not have tried alone.
Rebecca has both a website: www.rebeccabeyerart.nz and an Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccabeyerart/. Please check these out if you would like more about Rebecca’s practice.
Finola Chamberlain – Waikanae
Finola has frequently filled spaces in our gallery with her meticulous works that explode with colours and textures. It is wonderful to have her join us for this Collection as we understand that Ōpunakē Main Beach was one of her childhood haunts.
After discovering the fascinating world of textile mixed media art I spent a number of years experimenting, learning from other artists and the wealth of resources available.
More recently I’ve set myself the goals and discipline of creating only from my stash of collected, gifted and thrifted materials resisting the temptation (mostly!) of acquiring yet more “stuff”. An interesting, at times frustrating, but intriguing challenge.
But if I had to choose just one aspect of art, of creating, as the most powerful and important, it would be colour. As Tricia Guild, the creative force of Designers Guild, says colour can evoke an emotion, it can lift up spirits, it can make life feel just that little bit better even for just a moment. And that surely is what art needs to achieve.
Check out Finola’s Artist page on our website:
Donna Dinsdale – Te Puke
Donna’s work ‘Pakanga II – The Quiet That Followed’ was selected as The Winner of The Judge’s Choice Award for The Taranaki Collection 2026.
We welcome back Donna Dinsdale with another of her Taranaki centred historic creations . These works are unforgettable and it is an honour to be hosting Donna again.
Donna Dinsdale is an educator and practitioner specialising in fashion design. Her visual practice draws on sculptural drape expressed through three-dimensional, one-off custom pieces, and is grounded within the framework of a reflective bi-cultural perspective shaped by personal lived experience. This lens informs her approach to research, experimentation and the transformation of textiles into culturally embedded artefacts.
A commitment to sustainable practice anchors her making philosophy, with a particular emphasis on working with pre-loved vintage New Zealand woollen blankets. Rich with memory and cultural resonance, these textiles hold a deep connection to Aotearoa and embody stories of place, whakapapa and identity. Through her methodology of free-form sculptural drape, she challenges the boundaries of traditional garment structures, embracing a process defined by intuition, innovation and an absence of imposed restrictions. This experimental approach enables new shapes and narratives to emerge organically, transforming familiar domestic materials into contemporary artefacts that honour both sustainability and cultural heritage.
She is currently employed as a Senior Academic staff member at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology teaching on the Bachelor of Creative Industries. Qualifications include a Bachelor of Design (Fashion) from Otago Polytechnic, Master’s in Art and Design through Auckland University of Technology receiving first class honours and a Diploma in Raranga (Maori Weaving) through Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
She has won several national awards including Westfield Style Pasifika, Hokonui Fashion Design Awards, Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, Taranaki National Art Awards and has been a finalist in WOW, World of Wearable Art Awards several times. In 2025 she was a finalist in the National Contemporary Art Awards with her work titled, ‘Te Ara Wāhi – The path through place’.
See more about Donna’s Practice on her artist page which has multiple links to here digital records:
Carol Forsyth – Opua
Carol is new to the gallery as an exhibitor and we welcome her aboard.
Carol Forsyth’s childhood years have led to a lifetime of involvement with the sea. Born and educated on Auckland’s North Shore, Carol studied fine arts and travelled extensively on land and sea in New Zealand.
During this time, Carol developed her skills at sketching and painting the natural world, and attended a variety of professional fine art workshops.
After serving as cook on the Sail Training Ship SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE, Carol’s eyes were opened to the possibility of employment on the sea and in 1983 she gained her Master of Restricted Limit Launch commercial ticket. From that time onwards, she followed a varied maritime career which inspired her art.
Carol was editor for the NZ Women’s Maritime Association and founder & editor of CandleDust, a publication for nomadic travellers.
She is a photographer, journalist and creative artist.
During her time as vessel & volunteer co-ordinator for the NZ National Maritime Museum, Carol frequented their extensive library of nautical books. While there, she was responsible for three in-water heritage vessels (scow, square rigged brigantine & steam tug). Carol works as a maritime consultant and runs small basket workshops at her studio in the Bay of Islands, NZ. This working background and history have inspired her passion for maritime art & nature.
Carol regularly visited Taranaki while her son worked on the offshore supply vessel. She enjoyed Bayly Road, the beaches, and the region’s vibrant art scene. Carol still returns for inspiration, drawn by its historic coastal atmosphere.
Carol has an Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/carol.s.forsyth/
Anne Garvey – Ōpunakē
Artist Statement
For this Collection the work Anne is exploring involves close freeform “drawing” with her sewing machine.
She began using this technique a few years ago “drawing” over her own digital photos printed on to cotton calico,
embellishing and defining the imagery by interpreting colours, shapes and textures with needle and threads. 1000’s of stitches are made with the feed dogs down to replicate what Anne sees, onto fabric to create a piece of textile art work that reflects both her love of this place (Taranaki), and her love of stitch.
This type of work is, despite the detail, quite meditative and while Anne describes how as she stitches she feels transported back to the place and how it becomes easy for her to imagine she is back where she first composed the image.
Anne talks about her artistic journey:
I am more and more drawn to sustainable practices in my approach to textile art and the use of textiles. I always endeavour to use materials I already have, so trawl my extensive collection of gifted, thrifted and saved threads for these kinds of projects.
In my other work I use from my stash, and employ the 3R principle as often as possible: Re Use, Re Make, Repair! Our planet is heavily polluted by the textile industry, in both production of, and discarding of unwanted textiles.
Poorer countries are often the recipients of wealthier nations waste causing irreparable damage to their environments, but more importantly, releasing harmful, toxic chemicals that poison local communities who have no voice or protection. Cheap synthetic garments contribute hugely to short term use, and then wanton discarding. These fabrics do not bio degrade and stay in our soil and float in our oceans for years, endangering wild life and humans alike.
We can do our part by choosing to reduce our purchases of new apparel, unless we plan to wear it for a long time, mend and recycle existing clothing, and pass on what we don’t need. By only selecting natural fibres and ideally ethically sourced threads, fibre and fabric we can start to make a difference.
Anne has an Artist page on the Gallery website:
Her instagram page is: https://www.instagram.com/annegee3/ and her Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/anne.garvey.1
Kathryn George – Auckland
Kathryn George is a new to our gallery artist – exciting. Open Calls are set up in the hope of finding new talent and being able to support the development of that talent. In the case of Kathryn I think we have found an exciting new member of our gallery community. So much of her artistic direction aligns with the ethos of the studio gallery.
When I started my research on earth pigments, I immersed myself in mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and the maramataka (lunar calendar), which reveal the rhythms that connect people, plants, tides, and celestial bodies. That knowledge guided me home – to my hapū (sub-tribe), Ngā Mahanga a Tairi, and our marae, where I began exploring how art might help revitalise our disrupted knowledge systems. Through pūrākau (ancestral stories), I saw how visual storytelling can act as a vessel for memory and continuity.
This research has deepened my understanding of Māori identity and has helped me reconnect with place, whakapapa, and community. Using whenua-based materials, pūrākau, and tikanga-based processes, the work revitalises mātauranga-a-hapū. It embraces Indigenous creative practice as a living space where ancestral knowledge is embodied, sustained, and passed on through paint, paper, and process.
The photo of Kathryn George was taken at Te Rangimārie Pā Harakeke at UNITEC’s Te Noho Kotahitanga Marae by Cathy King
Kathryn has an Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/kitty_kat_kath/
Kirsty Glasgow – Paraparaumu
With a family rich in botanical knowledge and creativity, I was unaware of what was buried deep in my soul until I gave myself the power to walk down the beach again.
Having been diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis only 12 years prior then progressing to using crutches and then a wheelchair for two years, I wanted my husband to walk beside me again, not push me during our beach walks. I knew things had to change.
In 2021, I realised my condition was advancing quickly, and my ability to work full-time changed. Around this time, my confidence plummeted and I noticed a shift in my mood. My family also had significant challenges, and I needed to be a supportive mum and wife. Continuing to feel this way was not an option, self-empowerment was. This started the journey where I discovered my strength, became more resilient, and started to be grateful for all that I have in my life.
As I worked on my mindset, I joined an art class, to have a sense of purpose. Encouraged to explore different mediums and materials, creativity helped me drive out negativity, replacing it with a renewed zest for life. Initially I worked in a sustainable way, using recycled materials however, there were new resources about to come my way giving me a different focus.
With a positive mindset, I contacted a nutritionist to help me lose weight gained since my diagnosis, 3 years later I was feeling like a new woman being 24 kgs lighter. The beach was beckoning me to walk its golden sand again.
Albeit slowly, my walking increased and my eyes were drawn to all that the beach held. Twists and curves of natural plant fibres, tree roots, vibrant colours, sculptural pieces of drift wood and bark textures exposed after being rumbled in the waves, are all absorbing. Having discovered these beautiful gifts from the sea, I started to explore the decayed and frostbitten plants in my own garden, as well as those pesky weeds. As I delved deeper my discoveries led me down the inevitable rabbit hole where I found more magical fibres and so many more ways to use them. Here I found that enhancing the natural beauty of these items within my work is restorative to my soul, and something I will always be grateful for.
Find out more about Kirsty on her Artist’s Page:
Kirsty also has an Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/kirsty_glasgow_artist/ and her Facebook page is: https://www.facebook.com/KirstyGlasgowArt/about/
Sandra Hall – Palmerston North
Sandra first exhibited her works in the gallery as part of the energetic Kapiti Extensions Group. Her works draw on personal experiences and are full of intimate detailing. We are pleased to be able to showcase Sandra’s work again.
After my children were born and the need to make their clothes, I learnt to smock, which took me on a 27-year smocking business of making hand smocked clothes and items commercially. A solo exhibition on Waiheke Island in an art gallery with my smocked Christening gowns made me push the boundaries of smocking in textile art and I have pushed myself further since.
I have entered exhibitions for 30 odd years now and love working to a title, expressing my thoughts in that theme/category/title. I love using different materials and found this exhibition very easy to do as I have been going to Hawera for years in my youth for family holidays and been amazed with the dense boxthorn hedges…a lot different from the wire fences in the Rangitikei where I grew up. In the 70s I ran with the Marton Harrier Club and competed constantly in Stratford, so I was very aware of the very thorny boxthorn as we ran through the paddocks lined in these hedges. We ran to compete for our club and ourselves always wishing for 1st place. I was going to make this a flat piece that stood, but in today’s world no-one must come first as we are all equals, I have done it in a circle with no winner, just competitors racing, passing and trying their best… but I do love coming first all the same. Political correctness has a lot to answer for. My recent works have been controversial, to make either a personal statement or a political statement without politics being too noticeably to the fore. I use my family in a lot of my works from eras gone by. My next works will be 20 metres long. As I stated above, I love using materials not always associated with embroidery. I will patina copper and manipulate it and then use stitch on it, I will embroider onto paper and present 9-metre-long embroidered paper rolls, I have embroidered onto aluminium and other metals to give alternate base structures to my stitching. I love taking a very traditional embroidery technique and extending the boundaries to go into other dimensions. Although beads can be found on my work, the best embellishment I have used to date has been real diamonds added to a smocked copper (metal) dress I made.
Sandra is on both Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sandrahall424/ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sandrahall424
Karen Johnston – Raglan
There are a stable of artists who regularly contribute to ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’ and Karen is one of these. We enjoyed her politically aware solo exhibition based on the poetry of e.e.cummings which showed the relevance of his writings from America before the 1960’s to today’s chaotic world. Now Karen is back with works reflecting her experiences exploring Taranaki. Karen has spent time here as our Artist in Residence.
I was born in Auckland and learned to hand-stitch and knit at about 10 years of age. Since then, I have always played around with fibre and fabric.
I’ve lived, studied and worked in the mid-west of the USA, Israel, New York and the Caribbean and travelled to Central and South America, Europe and the UK.
I completed floristry training in 2006 before we moved to Grand Cayman in the Caribbean. During our time in Cayman, I studied textile art and design, completing an on-line City and Guilds qualification. I also qualified as a yoga teacher and Master Scuba diver and took up open water swimming. I still continue to practise yoga and walk or swim most days.
The experiences in all these diverse environments continue to inform my work. I like to look beyond the obvious, delve into history, play with words, find alternative meanings and then express my thoughts and feelings with textiles and thread. The City and Guilds qualification was the catalyst for breaking the rules of traditional quilt making and getting ‘permission’ to just do my own thing.
One of my sources of inspiration is the underwater world including the creatures who live there and the beautiful and unique seascapes. I’m currently working towards my second exhibition at ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’ opening in 2027. Entitled ‘Dive Buddies’ it will be showcasing underwater photographs taken by my husband during our hundreds of scuba dives together and my work inspired by these images.
I have exhibited locally, nationally and overseas. I am very happy to have the opportunity to once more show some of my work at From Out of the Blue Studio.
I have a blog which is updated only now and again because it’s way more fun creating in my studio! https://orangefloortextilestudio.wordpress.com/
Karen has a gallery Artist Page which includes her personal digital handles:
Donna Kennedy – Paraparaumu
Donna Kennedy has been one of the driving forces behind the Kapiti Extensions Group, bringing them together to create their group exhibition – ‘Journeys – Our Way’.
I love embroidery, any type of stitched art and have experimented with many of its forms.
The craft has been a lifelong part of my life and over many years have made my own original work with an addictive need to keep my hands and head busy. There is no end to inspiration.
Belonging to a group of ‘like minds’ is essential for me to keep up the energy and cross reference our processes and learn new techniques.
I invariably begin with a collage type background that can be any textile, but prefer naturals like linen and wool.
I rarely purchase coloured fabric but paint or dye my own and a lot of time is spent exploring this part of my work.
Using reclaimed materials that provide me with an abundant collection of supplies that are always on hand for when the challenge to make something arises.
For this exhibition I have used a plant dyed selection of materials made on site, here in Ōpunakē.
Rose Lee – Auckland
We welcome Rose to our family of artists as this is her first time exhibiting at ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’
Rose comes from a long line of crafty women and her practice is grounded in a lifelong love of hands-on making, shaped by experiences that disrupted and eventually deepened her relationship with the arts. As a child she approached creativity with enthusiasm and curiosity, until a high school art teacher dismissed her work and eventually failed her, which led Rose to lose confidence and step away from making art for many years.
Although she did not pursue an active arts practice, Rose continued to gravitate toward creative environments. She worked across fashion, costume, design, publishing and place activation, often in roles that required imagination, non-linear approaches and close collaboration with arts practitioners. This journey through adjacent creative industries expanded her understanding of material culture, narrative building and the social dimensions of creativity.
Her return to art came about as a result of going through the profound alchemical experience of surgical menopause in her early forties, which prompted a need for new forms of ritual, meaning and making to emerge in Rose’s life. It also marked a shift from facilitating others’ art practices to engaging with her own creativity as a method of inquiry, healing and reconstruction.
Rose’s work often explores the interconnected threads of nature, place, gender, liminality, lineage and the body. She gravitates towards repurposed textiles, stitched forms and woven narratives that explore the borderland between her personal experiences and broader social and environmental forces. Her practice positions art as a way of listening to and connecting with the body, place, consciousness and those subtle stories that run beneath dominant social and cultural narratives.
In 2025, Rose was awarded second place in the Estuary Art and Ecology Awards with Art New Zealand calling her entry “exuberant, heartbreaking and a call to action”. She is currently working towards a Master of Creative Arts Therapy at Whitecliffe, where her studio work intersects with psychological theories, therapeutic practices and joyful revelatory creative processes.
Rose has an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/vesselcreativewellbeing/
Lois McCormick – Waikanae
We are delighted to be meeting another new artist Lois McCormick to our artist family here at ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’. Her connection to Taranaki will resonate with many of us. Welcome Lois.
Artists Statement
The Taranaki 2021 Arts Trail is where my journey of creative discovery began. Meeting so many wonderful makers of art, generously explaining their creations, inspired me to start my own creative process. I began playing, experimenting, enjoying creating and getting messy.
As a child and teen, I was taught to create with purpose – following patterns and doing things the “proper” way. That provided satisfaction and pride, but the real enjoyment came many, many decades later. As a Desktop Publisher I discovered pure joy from the seemingly unlimited freedom to cut and paste, move, to do then undo, and repeat, and was in my element with tools that allowed me to change, improve, edit, manipulate text and images to create cohesive pages. So satisfying, and involving no unpicking of seams, no picking up dropped stitches – heady stuff indeed!
Preferring the freedom to create intuitively and instinctively, I avoid patterns, rules, and traditional thinking. I love the challenge to alter, to transform, to make change. Not content to accept an item at its face value, I see opportunity and explore possibilities of what it might become.
Currently I am discovering how to create pages but with cloth, lace, paper, trims and fibre, embellishing with stitching, marking, acrylic paints and inks, and much more. I began with collage, and making journals, now progressing to making little mixed media “pages” that are able to respectfully stand alone.
My results are usually tactile, containing a variety of layers of mixed media, and appear imperfectly grungy, earthy, unconventional, deliciously dark and intriguingly moody … wrinkled, aged, rusted, torn, ragged and frayed … some of the characteristics of WABI SABI that appeal to me.
Anything is possible, and deserves respect… nothing needs to remain as it first appears. From my various collections (hoardings) of art supplies, textiles and haberdashery, the random, the previously loved or unloved and unappreciated can be reformed, transformed, given new life.
I am ever grateful for the road that I took, from my times in the Taranaki region, which has led me here to my present life, to creating from my soul.
Antonia O’Mahony – New Plymouth
Antonia talks here about her journey.
I’m a New Plymouth based artist who works mainly in etching and printing from metal. I love to experiment with other media regularly and often my pieces are an assemblage of more than one craft, such as the jewellery I have been making from my printing plates. I learnt to etch when I was a member of Cork Printmakers in Ireland. Ireland was also where I first attended art school and in my twenty years there I was greatly influenced by Irish art and artists. We were taught a lot of very fundamental skills like drawing and painting from life and I still think these gave me a solid grounding from which to experiment creatively.
I’ve had a life long love of art history, very much fostered by a teacher in the subject at Spotswood College in the 1980s, sparking my curiosity about world cultures and history. It was partly this that led me off backpacking on a shoestring at twenty not to return till well into my forties and with four children. Now they are grown and I’m in my studio at home more than ever. Adding to that, a recent residency in India at a traditional block printing textile studio has encouraged me to look forward to many new adventures in making.
Antonia Has a digital presence on her own website at:http://www.antoniaomahony.weebly.com
She also keeps and Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/metaletcher/
Marion Manson – Hamilton
What a delight to add Marion to our family of contributing artists. A frequent visitor to the gallery when she is on her travels it is a thrill to have a work created by Marion selected for this collection.
Marion Manson is a multidisciplinary artist working across paper sculpture, bookmaking, textiles and botanical inks. Since 2020 she has explored the piano-hinge form in depth, culminating in winning the 2025 Small Sculpture Award, with the work entering the Waikato Museum collection. This recognition fuelled her recent What If? exhibition in Hamilton, where she pushed the boundaries of the piano-hinge structure using upcycled books, altered papers, and inventive binding techniques.
Marion is an active contributor to the creative community: she has long been involved with Mercury Bay Art Escape, manages social media for both Waiclay and Mercury Bay Art Escape, and serves as a Fibre Arts Australia team member and coordinator for David Lloyd Gallery.
Marion’s Instagram page is : @marionmanson her Facebook page is: http://facebook.com/marion.manson1
Jules Millar – New Plymouth
It has been amazing how many people have their family roots deep in the history of Taranaki – including Jules Millar, another new to the gallery exhibiting artist. The stories of these families is so rich and fascinating. Welcome to our family of artists Jules.
A lifetime of curiosity and exploration has provided me with countless opportunities to create. From clothing, spinning and lace-making to resin and whittling, I have, and will always, try new materials and methods. Making modern pieces using historical techniques is always a favourite. And now, with an undercurrent of repurposing and recycling, various techniques and materials come together within a theme. One of my greatest memories of this latest piece is the support and contribution of materials from so many people, you have all played a pivotal part!
Making visual representation of the journey of others, especially those I can connect with, deepens understanding of their life. I don’t always agree with their destruction and intrusion, but it was the norm for them and of the time. It is a privilege to have this opportunity to remember the journey, struggles and resilience of my ancestors.
Jules has an instgram account: https://www.instagram.com/millarjules
Billee Mutton
Billee has been an exhibitor in the gallery in 2025 as one of the fabulous Kapiti Extensions Group. We are excited to have her work back on our walls with her meticulous attention to details once again on display.
Billee talks about this work:
My current work focuses on transforming unwanted materials through embroidery, felting and other textile techniques. I use reused fabrics, offcuts, locally sourced materials and donated and reused beads and sequins to create tactile, layered surfaces.
Using slow, labour intensive processes I explore ideas of conservation, identity and value, highlighting ecological issues and questioning how we value the earth and its inhabitants.
Ruth Nicholas – Upper Hutt
Ruth will be our next solo exhibiting artist after The Taranaki Collection and it is lovely to have work about her deep Taranaki connection as part of this Colection
Ruth Nicholas creates textile art pieces that make a statement about the world around her. She is inspired by the shapes, colours, landscapes and languages of Aotearoa.
Ruth grew up on a dairy farm in Tikorangi, In North Taranaki. She lived in Taranaki for many years before moving to Upper Hutt. Ruth and her family return to Taranaki very regularly as it is still home to them.
Ruth’s work has been included in local, national and international exhibitions, participating with others and exhibiting by herself. She is looking forward to exhibiting her ‘Earthwise’ textile art pieces from 26 February here at ‘from out of the blue studio gallery’.
We have created an Artist Page for the gallery website so we can get to know Ruth before her Solo Exhibition:
Ruth has an Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/ruthnicholastextileartist/ and a Facebook page if you would like to see more about Ruth. https://www.facebook.com/p/Ruth-Nicholas-Textile-Artist-100089267883144/
Liz Sinclair – Ōpunakē
Liz has not only been an exhibitor in the gallery but she has been one of our most diligent promoters and voluntary PR guru for us from our inception. It is an honour to host Liz’s creative output again in the gallery.
Liz was born in and raised in Auckland. Her early education included no formal art training as she intended to study sciences at university. She was not formally trained in art until later in life in The Netherlands where she undertook art classes in painting and drawing and also sculpting classes. Her time in The Netherlands and other world travel has influenced her artwork. Her painted pieces often use the concepts of light and shade she learned from her studies there. Her imagery is usually traditional although she would like to develop more abstract practices.
I returned to live in Taranaki 12 years ago. In that time I have collected items, created items,foraged for items and been a magpie of items. Liz’s work for The Taranaki Collection reflects these experiences as a part of her time in Taranaki.
Check out Liz’s gallery Artist Page:
Liz has an Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/kiwi1056/?hl=en
Jeanette Verster – Lower Hutt
We have been fortunate enough to retain a work created by Jeanette that is very Taranaki specific and that was first exhibited in her recent solo show ‘cut/uncut’. Because this is not a new work it is not included in in the jurying process.
Jeanette Verster is a Wellington-based artist with a diverse background in music, teaching and design. She was raised in Namibia in a community where art and music were part of everyday life. Her lifelong fascination with typography, visual language and the power of narrative informs he multi-disciplinary practice which spans book arts, mixed media and origami-based work. Through her exploration of form and transformation she has established a distinctive artistic voice. In addition to creating work for exhibition purposes or for pure pleasure of the process, she enjoys teaching and have considerable experience as workshop tutor.
Jeanette has received numerous accolades including the Changing Threads Bernina Award (2022), The Taranaki National Arts Awards, twice winning the textile division (2020 & 2023), the Supreme Award of the Lysaght Watt Art Awards (2021) and the Supreme Award at the biannual Wellington Arts Review (2024). She has exhibited widely participating in many group shows as well as presenting solo exhibitions.
Jeanette has a gallery Artist Page:
On this page you will find her digital links to her website, Instagram account and Facebook. Please enjoy checking them out.