KATHY E WATSON - NEW ZEALAND ARTIST
  • Kathy E Watson - New Zealand Artist
  • The Waikato Landscape
  • Waikato Gardens
  • Marine
  • Narrative
  • Sketches
  • New Work - Tondos
  • Blog
  • Contact

KATHY E WATSON   
​Painting is a Hard Wired BLOG

RETURN TO HOME PAGE

August 23rd, 2022

23/8/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture
'Two Trees and a Shed' - a recent large painting from a fleeting view I love on the Ohaupo Road, while travelling to Hamilton.  So peaceful and typical of rural lifestyle!
1 Comment

Matariki

23/6/2022

2 Comments

 
Picture
'New Beginnings' - the title of this 700mm diameter tondo painting.  It will be shown in an exhibition to celebrate the Maori New Year at the new Te Toi Whakaahu gallery in Cambridge, NZ.
​
The inspiration for this work came from the Parapara garden (in the wonderful Hamilton Gardens) which took my breath away when I visited the first time.  It drew me in spiritually and visually.  The pataka and the pattern of kumera planting told of the long history of cultivation in Kirikiriroa - images I have attempted to capture in this mixed media tondo work - together with the Matariki star cluster.  

'New Beginnings' (the title) uses acrylic media in many forms, ti kouka (cabbage tree) leaves used in depicting  the pataka, Japanese gampi paper and gold leaf on stretched canvas.  
​
2 Comments

aRT COMBINES WITH cRAFT

15/4/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture
A knitting project - a Hundertwasser style blanket for a new babe!
The fleece was given to me by family members from their small flock.  It was dyed and carded, so all I had to do is spin it  and design and knit this blanket.  It's  still to be sewn up and edged but am hoping the finished result will be original and warm if not a perfect example of the craft of knitting.

Picture
The new Hundertwasser museum in Whangarei.   Amazing!

1 Comment

It's summer - it's christmas!

29/12/2021

2 Comments

 
Picture
2 Comments

WINTER IS UPON US

10/6/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
'Winter in the Waikato' uses mixed media on canvas to convey the cool tones and bare branches in the Waikato landscape.
The falling leaves, with frost still on them was an idea that emerged from the photos I took in my dressing gown early one frosty morning, of the fallen leaves still with their Autumnal colours and a coating of white 'icing'.
​The latter was depicted using a heavy acrylic medium with salt!



Picture
A frosty oak leaf
Picture
Lemons and lavender
0 Comments

America's Cup 2020 and Memories of AC 2000

19/1/2021

1 Comment

 
Well the racing yachts this time round are so very different to those in 2000, when I was fortunate to be employed at the Auckland viaduct in the Stars and Stripes base gallery.  A memorable time with invitation to the Louis Vuitton Ball at the newly decorated Civic theatre, meeting many AC sailors from many countries, a day out on the harbour watching the racing and the excitement of sending the boats off every morning and welcoming them back at night time.  These paintings were completed after I got home at night, often very late, and when the event had finished.  Several were sold to syndicates.
​I watch the races on TV this time round - an amazing spectacle of speed and sailing ability!
1 Comment

The difference between a photograph and a painting.

22/8/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
I was asked to give a talk at the local Photographic Society on the subject "the difference between a photograph and a painting".   This was my attempt at answering!
​
If we take the subject of landscape, before the making of the image can begin – be it by clicking the shutter or stretching the canvas and wielding the paintbrush – one has to SEE THE POTENTIAL OF THE SUBJECT.  I think ones eye becomes trained to do this.  I remember when I first started sketching I used a piece of card with a square cut out to focus on an area of landscape the total scene before me was just to overwhelming.  The viewfinder on a camera also does this of course.
While the image is being captured on a camera or sketchbook, all the aspects of mood, weather etc  have gone into ones brain with the image.  This is so different to using an image from a postcard or one taken off the computer screen which you haven’t EXPERIENCED. 
A painting then allows the artist to retain all the essential features of the subject and leave out the rest, in order to create a UNIQUE VISION!
0 Comments

'Decorated' Cabbage as an Artwork

2/7/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Waking up the other morning to a heavy frost (it's winter here in New Zealand), I couldn't resist nipping out into the garden in my pjs to take this image.  Nature is amazing!
Later that day I decided to send it to the national TV station as a possibility for their daily 'weather pic of the day'.  It would make a change from the landscape with clouds or sunset ones I thought!
Imagine my surprise when it popped up on the screen that night.  They had spelt my name wrong - but you can't win them all!  The weather 'girl' even had a matching dress on!!
Picture
0 Comments

A  Monarch Butterfly got me back into the Studio

5/3/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
The hot days go on though we are now into the first days of March.  Looking through the window trying to summon up enthusiasm to go into the studio and paint today, I spotted this scene just in front of the studio door so naturally grabbed my camera and captured this shot - a beautiful monarch butterfly on the geranium - which led me on to a painting session....
0 Comments

A Turner Sky Christmas Card

23/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
This was the amazing sunset last night - a real bonus with so much rain lately and same forcast for Christmas Day. 
0 Comments

Summer Colour in the Garden

18/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Nature is so great at colour combinations!!  This broccoflower (broccoli with cauliflower)  really is this brilliant green, and right next to it the marigolds and chives are complementary hues that form a natural canvas.  The veggie garden gives me so much pleasure and inspiration as I enter my studio each morning - yes, I feel a series on these edible wonders coming on in 2019!!ery Happy Christmas.
0 Comments

A Pukeko with Attitude! (and others sharing the lake).

6/11/2018

0 Comments

 
A walk around Lake Te Koutu today.  Moorhens and ducks feeding their young and a pukeko who clearly had attitude!

0 Comments

Raglan - West Coast Jewel

15/10/2018

0 Comments

 
The sun shone all day.  A short drive brought us to the wonderful small Waikato coastal town of Raglan.  Not so many surfies there today as in the summer months, but plenty to see including the art on the beach.  (See one of my paintings of this area below)
Picture
​
​'Foothills with Bush West Waikato' Oil on Wood Panel 300mmx250mm, Framed

0 Comments

Yes, Spring IS here!

30/9/2018

0 Comments

 
Scenes from around this area of the Waikato today, including Te Koutu lake in Cambridge.  The sun warm and the tuis in the Kowhai tree, almond blossom and a freshly ploughed paddock - convincing me that Spring is here at last.  
The small painting below was inspired by the amazing displays of blossom around this area, in gardens, lining the roads, in orchards and parks.
Picture
'Farm Orchard in Spring', Oil on Wood Panel, 15cmx15cm, Framed
0 Comments

Freezing Cold but Very Beautiful!

22/6/2018

0 Comments

 
These are a few pics I took yesterday from the shore of Lake Taupo.  A freezing cold wind was blowing from the South, but I couldn't resist experimenting with lenses and apertures to capture the distant snow covered mountains. 
Picture
The snowy peaks in the background (bringing joy to all the skiers!) and low hung cloud making this a wintery view.
Picture
Too chilly for a sight seeing flight and even the gulls weren't getting their feet wet, but I see a small launch had braved the weather probably on a fishing trip!
Picture
Evening Falls
0 Comments

Everyone is an artist!

3/6/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
A blustery winter's day in Cambridge (NZ) was brightened by these wonderful creations done by the Creative Fibre group in the town.  They were advertising the annual show (26th to 30th June 2018), which features rugs, mats, shawls, blankets, socks, jerseys even pom poms, indeed anything which can be knitted, crotcheted or stitched, together with a day when all the trades people come from far and wide to sell all types of goods from hand dyed fleece to fashion garments.  I am always amazed how this relatively small town puts this huge event on.  This year they will be celebrating the 50th anniversary.
0 Comments

Learning to LOOK - I think it starts early in life

23/2/2018

1 Comment

 
I was recently trying to make sense of all the memorabilia stored away and came across an old black covered scrapbook cantaining drawings my Father sent to my brother and me when he was serving as a despatch rider for the British Army in Europe in WW11.  They were carefully glued into a scrap book for us by our diligent Mother, so we could look at them often – it formed a bond with him that proved beneficial when he returned home in 1945.  These are just a few of many. I guess these may have been the catalyst for my interest in art!
Picture
Picture
​My first sketch done when I was 11 years old on a camping trip to the Peak District in England.  No cell phones in those days!
1 Comment

The many forms that art takes!

9/1/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
I was reminded today of how, as humans, we are surrounded by visual expressions in so many ways.  After a few days of severe storms here in New Zealand, summer has returned, the gardens have 'greened up', and the ice blocks kept in our freezer for visiting grandkids have become very popular again!
Glancing over at the two youngest girls sitting in the shade of the oak tree, deep in conversation today, I took a quick pic.  The colours of the T shirts (one tie-dyed with Mum today) against the blues of the hydrangas are a pleasing combination I thought.  Nature has such a naturally brilliant colour sense anyway - without the T shirts!  Then I noticed the painted black and white fake tattoo on the leg. Isn't the visual world wonderful?  
1 Comment

How they grow!

14/12/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
One of the joys of painting is because it's an activity that can be absorbing at any age.  A recent reminder of this was the image sent to me recently by one of my Granddaughters - work for a school exam.  The pic above shows how much she loved it back then, and the one below shows the progress in her artwork 15 years later.  Amazing Zoe!
All the Grandkids have enjoyed my studio - see earlier blog - and each paints and draws so differently.  It's a real 'window' on their personalities.  They all seem to go for different types of media too and I really try hard not to make suggestions but let them experiment and find their own genre.  Maybe show relevant well known artists' work in books or on the web when appropriate and demo materials, but otherwise - Gran! keep your hands off!
PS  She achieved merit accreditation in all her NCEA art assignments when the results came out just recently!!  WELL DONE.
0 Comments

A view to consider?

5/11/2017

0 Comments

 
PictureAn autobiographic collage started years ago

​Robert Henri says 'After all, the goal is not making art.  It is living a life.  Those who live their lives will leave stuff that is really art.  Art is a result.  It is a trace of those who have led their lives.'
We can only keep trying!!
Shortly after writing this I came across a newspaper cutting from over 20 years ago, with the same image shown - in it's first stage!!  Yes, we can only keep trying!!

Picture
0 Comments

A Cheshire Cat invades the Studio

11/10/2017

0 Comments

 
The flow of work on the new series has been slightly interrupted recently by a request to help with painting props for the local Talos production at the Woolshed Theatre.  Alice in Wonderland needed a Cheshire Cat in three pieces (the middle one being the body had to twirl round for use in 'going down the tunnel simulation!)
Once the initial charcoal drawing had been done - making sure the animal didn't look too scary or dozy - the colours tended to be dependent on the paint available in suitable quantities!
Picture
Early days - getting to grips with the face!
The finished result has been approved by the stage manager I'm pleased to say - so now I can get on with other stuff and enjoy watching the play in the fullness of time (particularly as my Granddaughter is playing Alice!).
Picture
Finished!
0 Comments

Will it ever stop raining?

26/9/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture



This is a pic of the board walk at Pirongia - flooded! Needing some exercise after days in the studio I was hoping for better conditions with the sun out - no such luck - the Waikato is saturated but with the warmer days at least everything is growing fast.



Picture


​The time is coming up for the local children's production at the Woolshed Theatre.  A version of Alice in Wonderland this year - with Granddaughter in leading role and her Mum as wardrobe mistress. Apparently they need help with the 'cats' costumes - face painting on masks!  Below is some scenery  painted for last years production.

0 Comments

August 24th, 2017

24/8/2017

0 Comments

 

Spring is on the way!

It seems to have been a long wet, cold winter this year, but these flowers bravely popping their heads up in the garden give one a real sense that the warmer weather is on the way.  The citrus have survived some pretty heavy frosts too.  I can feel the annual marmalade making event coming on.
​It's been good weather for making progress in the studio though!!

0 Comments

A Short Trip to L.A., Santa Monica and The Getty Center

5/8/2017

0 Comments

 
Visits in the past to these colourful cities around the world has certainly given me a new perspective on life and contributed to the imagery in my head which feeds my artwork.  The Getty was such an amazing experience, the selected paintings being so wonderfully presented and each a great example of that famous artist. One could savour each one and not get mental indigestion as often at public galleries.
0 Comments

Musing on Visual Art and Music

22/7/2017

1 Comment

 
Picture
A trip to Auckland this week for a concert in the Town Hall by the Auckland Philharmonia, with the amazing guest violinist Alina Ibragimova playing Bartok's Violin Comcerto No. 2 was a wonderful experience on a stormy Thursday night.  Her performance was truly superhuman I thought.  Not being a musician myself I was in total awe of how she played this complex music without the score!
But as I sat there, it so reminded me of the creation of abstract paintings - the amount of  energy and 'soul', the interpretation of the music created that excitement so like the feelings generated by pure creative happenings in abstract work.
A visit to a major Auckland gallery the next day was interesting too.  The gallery had downsized to a busier part of town, and chatting to the owner reinforced the news one reads every day of bricks and mortar galleries closing.  I know that the internet, and in particular the social media sites, are becoming more and more important in the art world (she said also how expensive art fairs had become).  I am constantly amazed at how many 'hits' my web site gets, despite my not making any effort to market it.  Promoting my site has to go on my priority list I can see - as I'm sure it's the only way to go these days.  I've made several studio sales via the web since I set up my site and would like to get on an art trail etc.  Another one for my list! 
1 Comment
<<Previous

    KATHY E WATSON NEW ZEALAND ARTIST


    Picture
    "Colour is the influence of the soul: colour is a keyboard, the eyes are the hammers and the soul is the piano with many strings.  The artists the hand that plays, touching one key or another purpose fully, to create vibrations of the soul".
    Wassily
    Kandinsky

  • Kathy E Watson - New Zealand Artist
  • The Waikato Landscape
  • Waikato Gardens
  • Marine
  • Narrative
  • Sketches
  • New Work - Tondos
  • Blog
  • Contact