Country move agrees with artist
Moving from the city to the country has meant artist Anna Nikolajenko has been able to step away from her nine-to-five job and give more time to what she loves to do – painting.
A collection of her paintings is on show at the Feilding and District Art Centre. She said she has felt really welcomed by the Feilding community since moving to Cheltenham.
‘‘The move has been the best thing and having my paintings find a space here has been great because it frees up space for me to paint more. I am getting so much inspiration from waking up to birds rather than neighbours. It’s awesome.’’
Nikolajenko paints in abstract and she said she found her style after she had studied art at Massey University, had her son, and then began to explore things for herself ‘‘away from being confined by assignments’’.
‘‘I just love it. For me it’s a way of expressing yourself with freedom. I use lots of layers and it just builds up. I get really involved with it. It’s how I feel.’’
Nikolajenko teaches workshops on abstract painting and said she loves to show people they can create something unique all by themselves.
‘‘Abstract is the ideal opportunity not to follow the traditional and accepted, but instead to strike out on a path entirely of your own and to develop your own style.’’
Nikolajenko’s paintings can all hang from four different orientations and she said there were no rules about what they were ‘‘supposed to be’’.
‘‘I love it when people see something in them that I haven’t seen.’’
A Jenko Painting Exhibition runs at the Feilding and District Art Centre until August 26. 6. 7.