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PAKU VIEWS
ISSUE 4 AUTUMN/WINTER 2012
Tairua
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workshop with Tim Wilson a few years ago inspired Airdrie
to change from acrylic to oils which enabled her to capture
those elusive dapples and mists of light on the landscape,
and the captivating play of light on moving water.
“From Wilson on, it has been about the challenge to
capture light and atmosphere”, shares Airdrie. “I consider
mist as an aspect of water study, but also, when combined
with native forest, a defining aspect of New Zealand”.
The shapeshifting illusions of her waterfall painting, Ford
Slash, fools the eye by seeming a small rapid, then a
massive waterfall or even cliffs plunging into the surf.
Airdrie also brings her brush to more intimate subjects like
the glowing petals of a dew tipped rose in Imperfect Rose,
the infinite possiblities of a strand of rusty fence wire with
Glorious number 8, and the stop-motion action of New
Zealand’s birds like the comical toes-to-the breeze aerial
stunt of Tumbling Kaka.
“One of the greatest rewards of painting, and I see it as an
artist’s job, is to help people see things they haven’t
noticed and to make them look again”.
With over 20 years of experience, has Airdrie considered
teaching? “Although asked, I honestly don’t think I could
verbalise or even identify a lot of what is going on when I
paint. I somehow just know how to mix a colour, and this
comes from years of observing, of noticing. It is challenging
to explain the unexplainable”!
Most of Airdrie’s work is sold directly from her studio
during the annual Mercury Bay Art Escape (a collective of
29 artists featuring a tour of their studios). Her painting
Water Under the Bridge won the “Peoples Choice Award”
last year. See an exhibition of participating artists this year
at Hot Waves Cafe through April 10. (For more information
visi
View Airdrie’s paintings at The Little Gallery of Fine Arts
(Tairua), Inspirit Studio and Gallery (Tamahere), Pollok
Cooperative Art Gallery (Awhitu), and Heritage Gallery
(Cambridge).
Contact Airdrie at
or
07 8663705. Visit her website to view an image
gallery that includes the paintings mentioned
above
F
rom her country homestead studio in nearby
Whenuakite, Airdrie Hamilton has been
painting for over two decades. Farming on the
Coromandel provides an excellent environment
for her subject matter, like the stunning fantail
image on the cover.
“Living here, we sometimes take the Fantail for granted”,
says Airdrie. “You almost need to leave the country and
come back to appreciate them”.
Airdrie saw it through new eyes as she watched her 6 year-
old niece Chelsea respond to this chipper little bird on a
visit from the UK. “She was so taken,” says Airdrie, “it was
like it was not even a bird—it was a special and unusual
creature. Chelsea was so intrigued and fascinated by its
friendliness, the non-stop dancing, and the tail”.
“What the fantail brings to a still life is like what they bring
to the forest—a non-stop moment in time, a moving
moment”.
Airdrie’s diverse works include water studies, both river
and sea, bird studies and contemporary landscapes
especially native forest, hills and skies. Drawing inspiration
from the natural environment, she often features the
dramatic landscapes of the Coromandel, capturing the
essence of a place such that viewers immediately
recognise its location.
The interplay of light with the subject matter is one of the
factors that makes Airdrie’s paintings special. Taking a
Our Cover Artist
Airdrie Hamilton
Fantail on a Fanta Bottle
Mahatma Gandhi, as you
know, walked barefoot most
of the time, which produced
an impressive set of calluses
on his feet. He also ate very
little, which made him rather
frail and with his odd diet,
he suffered from bad breath.
This made him (oh man, this is so bad, it’s good) a
super callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.