Jasmine Kroeze is big into her art
A Papamoa artist has discovered that when it comes to paint – bigger is better.
Six years ago, Jasmine Kroeze’s creative brand Pinch & Punch was an ethical fashion label. However, when fashion success resulted in more admin and less hands-on work – Jasmine’s bread and butter – she made the difficult decision to close the label. “I have no regrets about starting the label and zero regrets about closing it,” she says. “Definitely not a failure, just another learning experience.”
But the closure didn’t mark the end of Pinch & Punch, rather it led to Jasmine putting on other creative hats – textile design, art, illustration, branding and typography – although, it’s her paint work that has become the poster child for the brand. Her application of abstract shapes and bold hues on large (sometimes, extremely large) canvases are instantly recognisable, and undeniably popular.
You’ll find Jasmine’s work on plywood panels and canvas, on the sides of buildings, and – if you were lucky enough to find one – on little wooden boards hidden around the streets of Papamoa during the Easter Art Hunt.
When did you start painting? My husband bought me a huge panel of plywood and encouraged me to “paint my heart out” after I’d mused a few too many times that I’d like try painting. In hindsight, what I painted was actually really awful. I ended up painting the other side of the panel last year, so my first painting is still hiding in the back of our lounge. One of our movers asked if Ivy [Jasmine’s two-year-old daughter] had painted it! But I am so glad to have a reminder of how I started my painting journey.
When did you paint your first big mural? After painting the big piece of ply my husband bought me, I found the confidence to pitch a concept to Creative Bay of Plenty, who were looking for a local artist to paint a mural. They loved it, which led to painting my first mural in September 2018 in Tauranga. This project changed everything for me. It made me realise I could apply my textile design methods on a larger scale – and it blew my mind. I’ll never forget the feeling of standing in front of 15 square metres feeling overwhelmed and not quite sure where to begin.
How do you plan out a mural that big? I use the same technique that I do for my textile designs. I use paper collage and hand-drawn elements. Most of the time I create them around A4 size, then I digitise them. Next, I play around with scale, composition and colour in Adobe Illustrator. I also Photoshop my design on the wall to get a feel for the design and help the client visualise the end product.
What other murals have you done since then?
I have a few under my belt now. My most popular one is in Mt Maunganui, which I did for the Street Prints Mauao festival 2020. It took over a week and was twice the size of the first mural I did. This design led me to my signature style and favourite colour palette.
Talk us through the different techniques and applications you use for your art/prints. For original art, I start with a texture medium on the base and then work flat, pouring on a few colours and
“I’ll never forget the feeling of standing in front of 15 square metres feeling overwhelmed and not quite sure where to begin.”
JASMINE KROEZE