"Expressions of Colour" by Catherine Mitchell and Diane Tay

Capturing the colours of life can lead to many different expressions and feelings. Colour can be bright, invigorating and uplifting, or it can be subdued, quiet and relaxed. Depending on how we feel, can relate to the colours we like to surround ourselves with.

Colour has traditional definitions, White for purity, black for darkness, red being fiery, green being clean and eco-friendly. Blue can be cool and fresh like the sea and yellow, warm like the sun.
We have created a mixture of feelings and expressions with this collection.

Catherine Mitchell
Having lived and painted on the Hibiscus Coast for over 30 years, I am never short of inspiration to get my creative juices going. I am a self-taught Artist using mainly acrylics but love to try anything that catches my attention. My early focus was mainly on detailed realism but I am now discovering the visual language of colour and shape in an abstract form and am drawn to the beauty’s I find in my own garden. I am happy to pass on my knowledge to students and have taught at a number of venues including Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa.

Diane Taylor
I am an acrylics artist based in Redvale and this year I am enjoying allowing my creative energies to magnify the small visual details I observe in nature so they coalesce on the canvas in a new and interesting way. Current works have focussed on the way light plays on water and have become increasingly interpretive and abstract.

In previous years I have concentrated on detailed realistic painting of wildlife, mainly NZ birds and plants, and have undertaken several commissions and sold work at Orewa’s Boulevard Art Festivals, Estuary Arts Centre and overseas. In 2019 was awarded Estuary Art Centre’s Student Merit Award for my detailed painting of a field hare entitled ‘Nibble.

This year I have 2 Exhibitions planned: ‘Expressions of Colour’ at Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa, in March and ‘Wild About Colour’ at Lake House Arts Centre, Takapuna, in April where I explore the power and vibrancy of colour and shape in nature.