It’s about painting for joy, not for money
Matamata artist Barbie Brown loves to paint.
But it’s not revenue that drives her passion, it’s to bring other people joy.
The Matamata Society of Art member has a collection of her work on display at Westpac this month.
Her works are heavily inspired by the sea and architecture.
One of her featured paintings is called ‘‘free spirit’’. It’s a young girl running along the black sand of a West Coast beach.
‘‘I used to spend hours running along the beach as a child.
‘‘It’s what drives my inspiration to paint coast lines.’’
She paints by order, but they are given away to family and friends.
It’s the ability to pass her work along that brings her joy, especially to her children.
‘‘They tell me what they like and they all have ideas of what they want. I don’t have any at home now, the kids and friends take them home.
‘‘Giving my paintings away is a pleasure. And I don’t mind at my age, it’s a hobby now that I am retired.’’
Brown has always loved art. As a nursing student in Palmerston North, she would paint the windows of the wards at Christmas time.
But a voucher from one of her sons and his wife for Pumpkin Heads Art Studio, with local artist Roxanne Hanson really got her passion flowing.
‘‘She was wonderful,’’ she says of her early teacher. ‘‘Pumpkin Heads really got me going.’’
Brown now takes classes with Wayne Sinclair, part owner of Sinclair Barclay Gallery in Cambridge.
But despite learning from an expert, Brown says she likes to paint her own way.
‘‘I just sit down and potter at the kitchen bench and sketch it on a pad.
‘‘As I go I make a lot up and I think about things. I am not conventional, there are no rules in art,’’ she laughed.
‘‘Thats what I love about oils, if you mess it up you can fix it. It doesn’t dry quickly, so you can scrape it off or push them around.’’
Brown has now been a member of the society for three years.
‘‘I have met so many talented lovely, lovely people. It’s quite special’’