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Credit: Gaby Reade
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Thursday, 26 February 2009 |
 [Local Heathcote artist, Gaby Reade, has an exhibition opening at the Silvan Cafe & Gallery on Selwyn Street from 3 March 2009. We asked her all about her art and what it's like to be an artist in Heathcote.]
I have always loved the Port Hills. We lived in Lyttelton for five years and now we have been in Heathcote since 1993. Gardening is one of my passions and moving from a steep hill section in Lyttelton to a warm, sunny spot in Heathcote was bliss.
Being by the sea and being able to go for a swim, walk and do some kayaking without having to fight the traffic of Christchurch first is great. I also love the small community feeling Heathcote has (a little bit rural and not too far from the city). It's ideal really.
Painting has taken over more and more of my time now. I have always painted in oil, I like the slow process of building up a painting, it gives me time to reflect on each step I am taking. Some of my paintings develop over a period of a month. Sometimes I have two or three paintings on the go at one time.
It's hard to pin my style down. I feel I am still developing and will probably never stop to do so. If you ask me what type of paintings I particularly like the answer would be: the Renaissance and German Expressionism at the beginning of the twentieth century. I am also fond of the Pre–Raphaelites.
Having said this, Fiona Hall’s exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery blew me away! The care she put into each individual detail was something I could relate to, although her style differs hugely from mine.
 The sea and the hills around Heathcote are a big influence for me. I don’t paint people, I try to paint the atmosphere and feelings I get from certain places. Castle Rock is a constant presence, the changing weather patterns and the birds of course (at the moment we can hear a bellbird everyday in one of the gardens around us). The place one chooses to live is influential to any creative work one does.
I started exhibiting in 2005, at first in group shows with other artists, but last year I had my first solo show at the Lyttelton Art Gallery. Of course, exhibiting is always a bit nerve wrecking because you expose yourself to all sorts of opinions, tastes can vary. It is a good feeling if someone takes pleasure in a piece of work I created. It is good for my own development to hear how people react to the work.
If you produce work, at some stage it needs to go in order to make room for the next. People who purchase the work will develop their own thoughts and relationship with it. I am happy if someone likes it, but also know that tastes differ. Pieces I don’t sell I pack away, because once I have finished a painting they became pieces in their own right, standing alone.
 I would however never try and paint to satisfy a market. My favourite work always seems to be the one I am just working on. Each process of creativity seems to lead to a next one: always movement. Bluntly put however, some financial reward is necessary in order to continue moving on.
My current exhibition of recent works is called "Memory". It's inspired by impressions gathered and matured over the past years. The prints and paintings are free interpretations of South Island coast and bush, exploring the memory of experiences and feelings after returning to a particular place.
Gaby's co-exhibitor is Judy Rogers. Her part of the show is called "Enfolding" and is mostly in oils. The newer of the works are derived from the rose - the wrapped aroundness, its enfolding nature, the richness, mysteriousness and sensuality. There are also paintings on the themes of forest and sea. They share some of the same ideas: enfolding and enclosing, openings into and through, dark mysterious depths.
Some of Gaby's original drypoint prints can be seen and purchased at our local Blackbird Gift Shop on Station Road.
The opening of the exhibition will be on 3 March 2009, from 6 to 8.30pm. It will continue until 29 March during the cafe's opening hours of 7.30 am to 4 pm Monday to Saturday. The Silvan Cafe & Gallery is located at 320 Selwyn St, Christchurch (ph: 377 7586).
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