Bay artist is going solo
King a man of many talents
Jason King is showing off his talents in two distinct areas at an exhibition at Bay Gallery this month.
The Pukerua Bay artist has about 20 works on display, covering his love of both abstract and pastel painting.
The pastels are largely of local scenes and from the Marlborough Sounds.
‘‘ I’ve called the exhibition Crossover because many of the landscapes are based on one trip I took across Cook Strait in 2013, and because there is abstract work as well as realism,’’ he said.
‘‘There will be some of my older work on show, but new paintings and prints as well.’’
King, who is self-taught, has been painting seriously since he moved to Pukerua Bay 15 years ago.
He dabbled in art many years ago but takes it seriously now – around his day job as a fire engineer, designing fire safety features in buildings. This is his first solo exhibition and he hopes it will be well received as he tries to increase exposure as an artist.
He won the award for emerging artist in the acrylic section of the Atrium Gallery Awards in 2012 and has twice earned the people’s choice award for Mana Arts Society exhibitions in recent years.
‘‘Art is quite a recent passion for me. I used to look at nice pictures and think ‘I wish I could do that’ and never thought I could.
‘‘ I got to a point where I thought, ‘If I don’t try I’ll never know’. I tried watercolours, but when I picked up pastels I knew that was it for me.
‘‘I paint what I like and hope people like it, just like any other
artist out there.’’ King said.
Crossover,