Saturday, December 29, 2007
merry christmas
Well, Christmas has struck already and before we know it, the New Year will have begun. I have to admit that I was very spoiled by my friends and family. Of note, I recieved 'Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand' by Audrey Eagle, published by Te Papa Press. The range of plant species is phenomenal and illustrations superb. Eagle has wonderful perceptual ability and an excellent eye for detail. Having borrowed her books from the library previously, I have learned much from observing her images. I am sooo happy to now have a set of my own, thanks Mum! xx
Thursday, December 6, 2007
puawananga tui
Puawananga is a native clematis, the blooms are absolutely gorgeous. Here I experimented with combining the creamy, white flowers and our delightful tui on a mild green background. A vintage wallpaper pattern features in the background, it was reworked back into with hues reminiscent of retro decor. I was thrilled with how this tryptich turned out. In my opinion it is very visually pleasing.
pohutukawa tieke
While on Tiritiri Matangi, I was amazed at how plentiful the tieke (saddle backs) were. Having never seen one before in my entire life, it was such a treat to see one, let alone in the wild. They would hang out in little whanau clusters, cheeky and nosy, chattering like Woody Wood pecker. It was interesting to find out that tieke mate for life, you usually don't associate that with birds.
fantails and roses
I have been remiss in the upkeep of this blog. Since getting back from Tiri I have frantically been trying to get caught up with work etc; and got out of the habit. The background of this work was an experiment with overlapping fragments of vintage lace and doileys. I think that there is more to explore in the idea of playing with 'fan'tails and lace. Something that could be experimented with further next year. Because the painting had a vintage feel with the doilies I decided to go with it. The roses worked wonderfully, one of my favourite ones happened to be flowering so I used that to base the painted ones on. The exaggeration of the serpentine nature of the stems added interest to the composition and linked all three panels together beautifully.
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About Me
- ella thomas
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Ella Thomas is a contemporary artist who lives in Auckland, Aotearoa. She is of Ngapuhi descent and has a passion for the beauty of the whenua (land), the sea and for the unique flora and fauna of New Zealand. The concepts that are explored within Ella's work are based upon notions of conservation, ecological balance and extinction. Her paintings often feature nostalgic patterns reminiscent of the mid to late 1800's, the era when European colonization occurred. It was during this time that many unique species of birds became extinct. The rarer a bird became, the more prized a specimen of it became. Alive or dead. Much of Ella's paintings are celebrations of the unique character of our surviving taonga (treasures). Ella has a Bachelor of Visual Arts and has been working within arts related industries for many years. She has paintings in collections nationwide, Australia, England and the USA. Finally the plunge has been taken and Ella has committed herself to fulfilling a dream, that of becoming a full-time artist.