Pattern animals fascinate
Looking at Bonnie Coad’s work, she reveals a vision that keeps on giving. Coad’s animal pattern series is set to take up wall space in the Arty Nelson gallery and it promises to leave visitors staring at each piece for some time.
Coad says she has come up with something ‘‘quite original’’.
‘‘I’ve looked and looked to see if anyone else is doing what I’m doing and I can’t find anyone else who’s doing it, which is rare these days.’’
The inspiration came from her method of creating texture in her artwork.
‘‘I was really interested in texture effects with paint layers so you had all the texture making the paint behave in different ways with the different layers of the surface,’’ says Coad. ‘‘I was using sewing patterns to paint over to get the texture effect and the words were coming through. It was just really interesting, especially with all the languages. I was just really
A common response to Bonnie Coad’s quirky artwork is that it keeps revealing new secrets over a long time, reports Carly Gooch.
searching for a way to use that.’’
Incorporating the sewing pattern and making it more of a feature, Coad completed two human figure pieces which were well received before moving to animals.
She saw the scope of using something there’s thousands of.
‘‘I never run out of animals to do,’’ says Coad. ‘‘If I can’t find something realistic, I can just make something crazy up. It’s great, I love it.’’
Now six years on, pattern animals is a style Coad has made her own. Using mixed media and texture in her art, there’s quite a process to producing the pieces. The small canvases can be done in a couple of days while the big ones can take months.
Exhibiting and selling her art since 2000, Coad took her natural talent and developed it by completing a diploma with honours in Arts and Creativity in 2013.
Coad is achieving great things, being selected for exhibitions all over the country and having pieces hanging in cafes and galleries in the region including Mapua’s, The Cool Store, The Framing Room in Nelson and The Argosy Cafe in Renwick.
‘‘It’s something I really enjoy ‘cos I’m lucky enough to have a wee studio at home on the farm,’’ says Coad.
Coad says being an artist isn’t always conducive to paying the bills so she works three days a week at Wither Hills in viticulture where she’s been for 12 years.
Coad lives with her family in rural Marlborough’s Onamalutu, tending to a range of farmlet animals full of as much colour as her art, including Peanut, a mischievous goat and two breeding pigs, Minty and Sid. When she feels like she needs a distraction from her art she can ‘‘check the animals, do some gardening and have a break’’.
‘‘I’ve arrived where I’ve always wanted to be.’’
Group show of mixed works by various local and national artists including Robin Slow, August.
Nice Painting and Nelson Archive, Errol Shaw, to September 10, floortalk September 3, 1pm. This is a Test, David Carson, to September 17. Spring, vases and jugs by Sue Newitt, August.
Cell Culture, Billy Apple and Dr Craig Hilton, Saturday to September 4. Nelson Suter Art Society: On The Bright Side, works by Maureen Batt, to August 29. Cretaceous, works by Nerys Baker.