Barn now art studio for family
A Cambridge woman and her three daughters have opened a new art gallery.
Simply dubbed The Studio, it was converted from an old barn and now houses work from the four artists.
Diana Buchanan paints in watercolour, Chrissy Taylor specialises in inks, Felicity Mehrtens illustrates, and Suzy McMenamin refurbishes old furniture.
The thought of a studio was originally just that - a thought. But after several discussions the family decided to get a quote to transform their barn into an art space.
‘‘It was just perfect because it’s a big enough space. It gets some afternoon sun but it’s not too hot and the lighting is just right,’’ said Chrissy.
‘‘We thought we could possibly do it in a year or so but we phoned for a quote and work began the following week, so we went from no studio to a full working studio in just two weeks.’’
Diana has been painting since the girls were young, but they all agree they inherited her talents but not her teaching.
‘‘But it’s really good because we are all individually self taught, which means our styles are different and there’s no competition because there’s no comparison,’’ said Chrissy.
‘‘None of our work is similar, so if we both paint an owl or a wolf it doesn’t matter, because they look entirely different.
‘‘And we share a lot of information about supplies and other bits and pieces too, like where to go for framing.’’
Diana is a florist by trade, so flowers are her main subject matter.
Suzy has been in business the longest with Finders Keepers Vintage and Design, re-styling and up-cycling old furniture and accessories for about four years.
Her furniture is used in the studio to display her mother and sisters’ paintings on, but things get shuffled around regularly as her cupboards, dressers, and tables sell.
Chrissy started out painting furniture with Suzy, then moved to paper in 2014, and became a full-time artist last year.
Felicity was the ‘‘late bloomer’’ of the family with her art, starting out eight months ago with her illustrations.
She also hosts after-school art classes with children.
The family is looking forward to an upcoming exhibition at The Garden Art Studio on Kaipaki Rd.