logo
Inspiration home-grown for award-winning artist

Inspiration home-grown for award-winning artist

Rod Eales shows off her award-winning work at the Dunedin Railway Station on Saturday. Her work will be on display until August 2 as part of the 149th Otago Arts Society annual awards show. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
Flowers from her garden provided the inspiration for Otago Arts Society winner Rod Eales.
The Dunedin artist's piece, a painting of a yellow flower, won the Hughes Family Trust Award at the 149th annual Otago Art Society awards.
Ms Eales was delighted to win the award, not least because it was the first time she had entered this competition.
"I've been really pleased with the response so far."
She had always had an affinity with flowers.
"I've got a huge garden. So I opened my garden now and that's one of my flowers for my garden. It is just a straight flower [in the painting], but it's one of my favourites. You can pick it, it lives forever, and it's just a part of a great, huge body of flowers."
This particular painting took about two months to complete, and she said she was "less distracted" than she had been in the past.
Global warming and regeneration was also a recurring theme in her work, Ms Eales said.
"I paint in fast-drying oils, and so I can get back to painting pretty quickly, and I teach in my spare time in two months.
"Sometimes it's the weather and the light that holds me back. I can't paint on really dull days yet until I've got my light sorted."
Ms Eales said she had previously specialised in landscape painting, but now was "all in" on flowers.
"I plant flowers that I think I will put in my paintings. So the two are very, very much led. You can't separate the two now.
"I'm not going to go back to landscapes or back to anything. There's so much to do with flowers."
More than 180 entrants feature at this year's art society awards. The works will be on display at the Dunedin Railway Station until August 2.
matthew.littlewood@odt.co.nz
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

St Kilda triumphs on national stage
St Kilda triumphs on national stage

Otago Daily Times

time2 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

St Kilda triumphs on national stage

The St Kilda Brass Band have played their purest notes yet and tasted success at the National Brass Band competition. The band played in Christchurch over the weekend, walking away as B-grade champions — their best result since they last won at a national contest in 1992. It has been the culmination of weeks of hard work for the band, which featured several players who had never participated in the competition before. Percussionist Ella George joined the band in the past year, and said everything had gone beyond her expectations. "It's heaps of fun and we've worked really hard. We've done many, many hours in the last couple of weeks, but it all paid off." The performances at the Christchurch Town Hall were "nerve-racking", but entertaining, she said. "I think we all came off the stage knowing that we'd done a good job and that's a really good feeling. "Even before we knew the results, we came off thinking 'Yeah, we played our best'." Trombonist Nikhil Rawat said it was his first time competing at the national contest. "It's quite a difficult instrument to play. "It's not so much the weight, although it is heavy, but the control you need with your breathing." The band had to play three pieces of music at the finals — a set test piece ( Sounds , by John Golland), a sacred item and something of their own choice ( St James , by Phil Harper). They were the top-placed band in the set test and own choice, making them the B-grade champions. Soprano cornetist Jessie Abelia won best soloist in the set test, and principal cornetist Harry Porthouse won best principal cornet in the own choice. Conductor and recently-retired University of Otago music lecturer Prof Peter Adams said the result was "quite a big deal" for the band. "It's a band that is full of students, and so every two or three years we've got this sort of wave of rebuilding. "People come, they study, they leave, they play with us while they're here. "This year we had five new members show up, which was just terrific, and in three years' time they'll have gone and there will be other people coming." Prof Adams described the competition as "intense". "So it was a big deal, particularly for some of the older members, who have been a long time between victories, and also for those young guys. "It's a terrific sort of confidence booster. "I think the repertoire appeals to the players. "There's a lot of percussion and a lot of technical stuff to get their chops around. It's exciting. "Finally, it's quite a social scene, a bit like the pipe bands as well. The pipe bands like to drink their whisky. We just have a few beers afterwards." Next year, the band celebrates its 125th anniversary, he said.

Inspiration home-grown for award-winning artist
Inspiration home-grown for award-winning artist

Otago Daily Times

time2 days ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Inspiration home-grown for award-winning artist

Rod Eales shows off her award-winning work at the Dunedin Railway Station on Saturday. Her work will be on display until August 2 as part of the 149th Otago Arts Society annual awards show. Photo: Stephen Jaquiery Flowers from her garden provided the inspiration for Otago Arts Society winner Rod Eales. The Dunedin artist's piece, a painting of a yellow flower, won the Hughes Family Trust Award at the 149th annual Otago Art Society awards. Ms Eales was delighted to win the award, not least because it was the first time she had entered this competition. "I've been really pleased with the response so far." She had always had an affinity with flowers. "I've got a huge garden. So I opened my garden now and that's one of my flowers for my garden. It is just a straight flower [in the painting], but it's one of my favourites. You can pick it, it lives forever, and it's just a part of a great, huge body of flowers." This particular painting took about two months to complete, and she said she was "less distracted" than she had been in the past. Global warming and regeneration was also a recurring theme in her work, Ms Eales said. "I paint in fast-drying oils, and so I can get back to painting pretty quickly, and I teach in my spare time in two months. "Sometimes it's the weather and the light that holds me back. I can't paint on really dull days yet until I've got my light sorted." Ms Eales said she had previously specialised in landscape painting, but now was "all in" on flowers. "I plant flowers that I think I will put in my paintings. So the two are very, very much led. You can't separate the two now. "I'm not going to go back to landscapes or back to anything. There's so much to do with flowers." More than 180 entrants feature at this year's art society awards. The works will be on display at the Dunedin Railway Station until August 2.

Record-high number of entries
Record-high number of entries

Otago Daily Times

time6 days ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Record-high number of entries

Otago Art Society council member Tash Hurst makes an adjustment to a wall of vibrant art works, part of the society's 149th annual members' exhibition, which will be open to the public from Saturday. PHOTO: BRENDA HARWOOD Otago Art Society members responded with enthusiasm to the society's 149th annual exhibition, submitting a record 180 entries to the showcase, including paintings, ceramics, fabric art and more. Society council members Tash and Peter Hurst are delighted with the efforts of the artists and of curator Jenny Longstaff, who led the team that hung the exhibition last week. "The exhibition is looking fantastic, and takes up all four of the society galleries — it is a really impressive collection of art works. "It is exciting to have such a positive response to the society's longest-running exhibition," Mrs Hurst said. The 180 entries showed that the OAS annual exhibition remained as popular as ever among artists working in a broad range of styles, with seven different awards up for grabs, including a $1500 Youth Award. Other award categories include the Rona Dyer Cup for printmaking ($500), the Roy Dickison Trophy for "Heart of the South" ($500), the Mollie & John Pledger Art Award ($500), the John H Pledger Drawing Award ($500), the Francis Nicholls Landscape Award ($500), and the Hughs Family Trust Award for excellence in any medium ($1000). Last week, the show's judges — printmaker Manu Berry and Dunedin School of Art principal lecturer in sculpture Michele Beevors — made their selections and will announce the category winners at the exhibition opening on Friday. The exhibition will open to the public on Saturday and continue until August 2. Mrs Hurst said the Otago Art Society was having a very busy year, with the national Cleveland Art Awards proving a major attraction as well as ongoing shows and events. "We have a series of winter workshops coming up and lots of activities on-site, which is a great way to bring our artist community together," she said. Alongside its programme, the society also regularly hired out individual galleries for artists wanting to present solo exhibitions. This was proving very popular, and was booked out until June next year, she said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store