ARTISTS Anne de Nooijer and Brad Collins were part of the Hastings Arts Trail with their exhibition at Home @ Roto House on Saturday and Sunday, 6 and 7 June.
The trail encouraged people to meet the artists, see behind the scenes and discover local art work.
Chatting with Ms de Nooijer and Mr Collins, while surrounded by their work, gave visitors an insight into their process.
Mr Collins uses birds with a human quality in much of his work.
”The images are more about the bird than the person,” said Mr Collins.
“You’re looking at a picture of a seagull that happens to have a human body, presenting the bird in a more relatable way rather than seeing them as people.
“The pelican was a big turning point in my painting style, after doing illustration for a long time.
“The pelican became a recurring cartoon character and then I started doing more traditional oil portraits.
”I thought I was going to have two different creative identities, one being a cartoonist, the other a painter and this one was my decision to combine the two styles.”
Ms de Nooijer starts with drawing something she is feeling or dealing with and then starts working with colours.
“My newer drawings are very detailed because I really enjoy the drawing part,” said Ms de Nooijer.
“All of the textiles you see are mostly dyed with nature, boiling the dye pot down and making the inks to create the tattoos, shading and details.
“The skin colour is made with avocado pits.
“I don’t want to create waste – everything that I do – I can bury it and it will compost.”
By Pauline CAIN
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