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    • A creative outlet: Serra Clark
      • Serra is a Social Worker by qualification and teaches in the Psych Med dept running an education team. She travels the country talking about baby loss, postnatal distress and perinatal health, as a lived experience educator. We chatted with Serra about her time at the Learning Connexion. Kia ora Serra. Can you tell us why you enrolled at the Learning Connexion. I had always enjoyed doing art, and used to work in a mental health creative space as a social worker and I had clients who came to TLC. After I had my first daughter I couldn’t focus on work or study so decided to go and do something for myself, as I was isolated at home with a baby and no confidence. I was talked into coming here by other students and I enrolled part-time in Level 4 as a distance student initially as I was too shy, and then discovered the Jewellery dept during a Block week course so I applied for a scholarship to study Level 5. Studying at TLC has given me back a lot of what I lost during my post-partum distress after the birth of my first daughter and the grief I experienced when I lost my second baby. It helped regain my confidence, and provided a focus and creative outlet for me outside of home. I was halfway through my Masters in Social Work, but put it on hold during pregnancy and transferred it to another university. I needed to be doing something outside of home but I didn't want to go back to academia. My husband was really supportive and encouraging of my study so I continued into Level 6 part-time in 2022, studying onsite. It sounds like creativity has helped you through grief and lifechanging events. Where do you draw your creative inspiration from? I enjoy hiking and get my inspiration from the natural world, the sky, from what I see around me, and from my journeys with my children and honouring them. At TLC I enjoy the focus on creating rather than academia, and the freedom to choose our own style and direction rather than being told what to create, and being around other artists. I have enjoyed the variety of tutors I have had in my years, and the flexibility to fit my creativity in with life. Do you have a project you are currently working on? I have been working on some large enamel pieces representing my children. As a class we created a themed body of work for a potential exhibition, with a nature theme. I enjoy the colours I use with enamelling, and working with bright colours. I’m not a painter but enamelling is like painting with jewellery. Growing up as the daughter of a photographer, I have spent the last two years taking opportunities to travel and photograph the night sky. With photography I am able to go on adventures with other photographers and learn from them. The last two jewellery pieces I finished are modular so I can mix and match them. Fire has also been a big influence in my work and now in my photography with fire shoots. I’ve been doing fire dance for nearly six years, after I had my first daughter around the same time I started at TLC, and recently I joined a Wellington night shooters photography page where we go to the Bunkers to photograph and also do fire dance performances at Frank Kitts park. What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Explore everything that is on offer at TLC, try everything! I wasn’t interested in creating with jewellery initially. I thought I would do 2D and ceramics, then took a jewellery Block week class and found that jewellery was all I wanted to do. Photography has always been there on the sidelines. Have an open mind about everything. I would never have put myself with the Mentors I have but it’s worked out and their creative advice has been invaluable. TLC has given me a good outlet and given me back things I have lost. It changed my direction. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in 5 years? I would like to still be learning, and to keep using creativity as a way of maintaining my wellbeing. I am not looking for a career out of it, and prefer to keep it separate from my job life. I would like to be creating jewellery that is meaningful for other people around loss and grief. I enjoy creating memorial jewellery for other people, to enable them to carry ashes in their jewellery. To follow Serra's creative journey visit her Instagram. To find out more about studying onsite at our Hutt Campus or through Distance Learning visit our website.

    • First Kumera Planting / Kia Kitea Te Waewae Tangata (1962)
      • E. Mervyn Taylor Reproduced mural of First Kumera Planting / Kia Kitea Te Waewae Tangata (1962) On Tuesday 19th September we celebrated a very special occasion with our students, honoured guests and TLC staff; the unveiling of a reproduced mural ‘First Kumera Planting / Kia Kitea Te Waewae Tangata (1962)’ by acclaimed NZ artist E. Mervyn Taylor. The original mural once welcomed all who arrived at the entrance foyer of the Taylor building at The Learning Connexion, at what was at the time, the New Zealand Soil Bureau. When Te Papa conservators assessed the original artwork as unable to be recovered, we set the goal to create a reproduction of the mural to be installed in its original location, so that the memory of this work may continue to be held by all who visit our campus and this was unveiled by E. Mervyn Taylor’s grandchildren Sarah Taylor and Nicholas Taylor, and great grandson Otto. Guest speakers included Sarah Taylor, TLC founder Jonathan Milne, Dr. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith (editor of Wanted: The search for the modernist murals of E. Mervyn Taylor (Massey Press: 2018) and co-Director of Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand). A karakia was led by Cameron Kapua-Morrella who also blessed the mural. This was a very special occasion that honours the artwork of E. Mervyn Taylor and recognises the special history of our campus, and our sense of space and place as TLC. Our staff exhibition Groundworks that was held last year as a fundraiser towards the cost of the reproduction. We would like to acknowledge the work completed by Sarah Graham to support this, and all of our staff who took part in the show. Our Te Ao Māori Development Roopu are also pleased to be supporting this event. This is a very special occasion that honours the artwork of E. Mervyn Taylor and recognises the special history of our campus, and our sense of space and place as TLC. If you would like to learn more about the mural, below are some excellent references that we’d highly recommend checking out: Read: https://publicart.nz/artworks/e-mervyn-taylor-1962-02 Watch: https://youtu.be/OP56sQm4Cfw?feature=shared Listen: https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201820133 Selected works of E. Mervyn Taylor will be available to view in our Gallery at The Learning Connexion until Thursday 28th September. >>> TLC Gallery, 182 Eastern Hutt Road, Taita – Open Mon – Fri (until Thurs 28th Sept), 9.30am – 2pm Image 1: E. Mervyn Taylor's descendants Otto, Sarah Taylor and Nicholas Taylor. Image 2: Deputy Mayor Tui Lewis, Dr. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith & Sarah Taylor Image 3: A karakia was led by Cameron Kapua-Morrella Image 4: Sarah Taylor Image 5: TLC Founder Jonathan Milne Selected works of E. Mervyn Taylor's are on display in the TLC Gallery 19 - 28 September Monday - Friday, 9:30am - 2pm

    • International student: Sakjith Weeratunge
      • Kia ora Sakjith. Let’s get to know you, describe yourself as an artist. I am from the island nation Sri Lanka. I come from a long line of people with a creative gene and that’s where my innate capabilities stem from. I see myself as more of a hands-on creative person who likes to bring in the best of all worlds when creating art. For example, I have a passion to design and create medieval weapons, armour and knives by using different materials. At first, I consolidate my thoughts and ideas on paper by sketching and gradually transforming that raw work to CGI and 3D models to perfect it, visually to get it right from all perspectives. Finally, I would play with different materials such as brass, iron, wood, and leather to bring my idea to life. This is the kind of artist I am. Do you have a project you are currently working on? I am currently working on my portfolio because this is the last leg of my Level 6 Diploma program. So yes, I do have a couple of projects going on simultaneously. I came to NZ to expand my horizon in the creative field; therefore, I have selected classes to learn and to be that much smarter in many different mediums. Hot Arts is my favourite and I am currently completing a knife series both digitally and transforming some of it into physical products, whilst experimenting with different materials such as mixing leather to handle to compliment the original concept. In printmaking, I have a Hoodie series which I am working on. What are some of the things you enjoyed most about studying at TLC? In a nutshell, TLC was the best thing that happened to me! TLC taught me to embrace creativity, not just but in leaps and bounds, something that was not evident previously in my creative self. This emergent phenomenon happened all thanks to my TLC art mentor Dennis Poole undoubtedly. Just before Covid I was in a very stagnant place without being able to go forward. I knew I could do more but I just didn’t know how and I was getting really frustrated. So my parents decided to send me to NZ because they knew this was the best hub to learn creativity. Unfortunately for me the pandemic happened. The best option at the time was to focus on studying online, so I joined TLC to follow NZ Diploma in Creativity Level 05 online as a distance learner. It all happened just by chance because TLC was the only institution delivering the NZ diploma in Creativity as an online program with the full NZQF qualification. Never looked back since! The autonomous learning, having my very own designated art mentor, steering my creative journey - guiding but without too much influence, pushing but without too much pressure was an unparalleled experience. I was amazed at some of the creative work Dennis very cleverly drew out of me. He guided me to create a series of vehicle body designs inspired by the movement and shapes of different animals on digital media. This collection really amazed me, he knew exactly how to bring out my hidden talents, which I even didn’t know I had in me. With the completion of Level 5 online studies, I came to New Zealand last year to complete my Level 6 on campus as a full-time student. This is a different experience altogether. TLC is an Artist’s Paradise; that is what I like to call this. Starting with the very hospitable faculty I feel at home again. The freedom to explore all aspects of creativity until you know what you’re really good at, without forcing us to run behind a pre designed syllabus. Made it known that I have come to the perfect learning spot; my wings aren’t clipped anymore. How do you sustain your creative practice, where do you draw inspiration from? It all began by trying to wear my brother’s shoes. Although creativity came naturally to me I always wanted to do everything my brother was doing. Growing up he was in to origami and video games and then I wanted to do the same, I became a pro and gradually transformed those skills to making props as seen in video games such as ancient survival gear and mediaeval style weaponry (child friendly of course) built out of paper mâché, bamboo, recycled paper, cardboard, and PVC pipes. Today I design similar concepts on digital media using Blender 3D modelling software. Secondly, my parents' are my biggest strength, they keep encouraging me, especially my father, he always says to push boundaries fearlessly. Thirdly, I am a gaming addict, a fitness freak and a conversationalist, these 3 vices are also very things that inspire me to be the best version of myself, yes so you could say that video games, physical fitness and friends also inspire me to sustain my creativity and a balance in life. Are your skills and approach to creativity transferable into ‘other’ fields in your life? Yes, for sure undoubtedly. Today design thinking has taken the front seat in many other disciplines. I feel a creative person has the skill set to look at a problem, visualise it and come up with a holistic solution. It happens with our training, being able to draw ideas having different perspectives and ability to combine multiple mediums to come up with a great product-the end game. My Level 06 programme is also about concept design development, the process where the idea or the products are innovative, marketable, and how much they cost to manufacture. So it's just not one aspect as people would think. We embrace a problem-solving mind-set, team building through collaborative work, because of the freedom we are encouraged to express through art our communication abilities become great. Patience, emotional intelligence, and time management are also skills that are part and parcel of creativity. Most importantly we value others’ creative ideas therefore, we learn to respect other views. Describe a highlight, a wow moment of a recent work or creative experience? While working on my hoodie print series I accidentally printed the same design on the old print. That was a wow moment, a happy accident because the old image acts as a shadow of the new print which is a marvel to me. I did not think that was even possible. Why did you decide to enrol at The Learning Connexion and was it a good decision? This is also another happy accident, Covid lockdown and border closure made my parents look for other options for my higher studies. That is when we discovered TLC, the only place offering NZ Diploma in creativity Level 05 to distant learners at the time. Best decision my parents ever made for me. To explain this better: The very first day I came to TLC to meet (TLC’s International Student Advisor) Maggie, my brother accompanied me, being a multimedia specialist naturally he just could not stop going from studio to studio taking pictures and admiring the facilities offered at TLC. Guess what he told my parents when we went home? “Ammi (meaning mother) now I wish I was a student at TLC”. I don’t want to elaborate too much on this, but he’s got a master’s degree from a renowned design school in Wellington.. I think you get my point. What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? I think people who have a creative bone and want to pursue a career in art /design or any creative field, must start their journey with TLC. Their foundation must be built by the atmosphere within TLC, meaning TLC is what it is not because of the buildings and studios. It's about the people, the teachers, mentors, the support staff who care for each student’s well-being and growth whilst their students kick start a journey in the creative field. I am talking through personal experience because I unexpectedly felt really sick 5 days after landing in NZ If not for the caring staff, especially Maggie, I would have not achieved any of this. For students who have already made the decision to join, please communicate, do not be scared or shy to express yourself. No one is judging here at TLC, quite the opposite. Go to different labs and studios during your free time to watch creativity unfold, even if it's not what you enrolled for. Use the opportunity, not all design schools offer this freedom we are privileged to have at TLC. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in 5 years? To be employed as a CGI Artist - designing vehicles and armour for the entertainment industry whilst managing my own small business in a print series for Hoodies. How have you transformed during your time at The Learning Connexion? TLC encourages diversity hence, influenced me to listen patiently to ideas, different perspectives and opposing views of students who come from different backgrounds pursuing different areas of study in the creative industry. I am happy to say that TLC has shaped me to become a very confident individual. We welcome students from all over the world! We teach NZQA-approved programmes across many of the popular visual arts and welcome students from all over the world. We offer the option to study as an International Student from our Campus in Wellington, New Zealand, or from your own home through our distance delivery programme. If you are interested in finding out more about studying at The Learning Connexion as an International Student, you can visit our International Student information page here or contact our International Student Advisor, Margaret Mundell, by email m.mundell@tlc.ac.nz or phone +64 (0)4 568 0320 or 0800 278 769. You can also contact our Admissions team by emailing admissions@tlc.ac.nz..

    • Jade Valour - From the world of Myth to the soulful sea
      • From an innovative career spanning decades in the Arts, Level 5 student Jade Valour has always been nurturing her creative journey. We spoke to Jade about her time so far at The Learning Connexion. “Creativity has been the motivating force in my life, and my saving grace in difficult times. Drama classes and theatre performances in my teens; musical training and professional life as a young opera singer; retraining my voice as a solo performance artist, jazz vocalist and beginning to teach voice in the 90s. Some of my most profound creative experiences and works have grown out of deep childhood trauma, and I quite literally would not have survived without being able to be creative.” The Learning Connexion’s diverse range of courses have drawn Jade on a new path into working with jewellery. “My first term at TLC Level 4 with [tutor] Karla was so much fun, doing a bit of everything from painting and drawing to creating zines and cartoons, a mask based on a cast of my face, and a vessel for a travelling egg! The diversity of challenges kept me on my toes creatively and was enjoyable, stimulating, and ultimately very satisfying. We had a great and very diverse group of people with whom it was fun to collaborate. I had originally come to TLC with the thought of focusing on ceramics, but then along came the jewellery Block Week course with cuttlefish and sand-casting – and I was hooked! Since then my focus – at least in terms of the classes I’ve taken – shifted to jewellery. As I already had a certain skill set in ceramics, but virtually none in jewellery, I felt it would be worth my while to develop a skill set that would begin to match my pottery skills. For this I’ve had wonderful tutors who have guided and helped me to grow and develop my skills and my imagination in creating works using a diversity of techniques and mediums – Keri-Mei, Rani and Bill. I’ve enjoyed the classes, seeing the other students make beautiful and interesting things, and the focused and sharing atmosphere. Though my focus shifted from ceramics to jewellery, I very much enjoyed Mel’s advanced ceramics and her ability to look at a piece of work and not only see what might enhance it, but also how that might be achieved. Her thoughts and suggestions were a great help in pulling my exhibition pieces together.” Jade has always drawn inspiration from the sea and the world of Myth, and is now incorporating that into her jewellery. “The project that has been my focus for quite some time now involves creating pieces of jewellery and ceramics with a sea theme. Some of that work was exhibited at the Walrus Gallery and I just completed a sterling silver collier based on a fascinating piece of coral that I found in Vanuatu. Much of my recent inspiration has come from nature, especially the sea – the colours and forms, the textures and ever-changing light. I grew up by the ocean in Brooklyn, New York and for me, living near the sea is the best balm for my soul, as well as the place where I find my greatest creative inspiration. So it was only natural that so much of my work at TLC has reflected that love.” “Having a Jewish background, my first experience of the spiritual world was through a deep connection to Old Testament mythology. As a child, my mother’s Bible story books with their beautiful illustrations could fascinate me for hours. Greek and Roman mythology, Grimm’s Fairy Tales – they were all an integral part of my inner life growing up. Sometimes it’s the actual material that inspires me – the colour and movement of a glaze combination, the texture of a clay, the shimmer of velvet, the iridescence of a stone, a feather, a butterfly wing; the reaction of a metal with fire; the shape of a piece of driftwood, the beautiful pattern on a Japanese kimono. Sometimes inspiration comes seemingly out of nowhere – a leaf with raindrops on the street, a mushroom on the path near TLC, something someone says in passing, an errant thought during a walk on the beach. At Wellington Potters Jade spoke to several women who had been taking courses at The Learning Connexion and they spoke in glowing terms about The Learning Connexion and the courses they were taking. They suggested that I check out the possibility of applying for a scholarship. I decided to give it a go, and I was very fortunate to receive a full scholarship for Level 4. I continued to Level 5 and I will always be glad that I did. It has been a wonderful experience that I would not want to have missed for the world. Jade is ready with advice for those wanting to pursue a creative pathway at The Learning Connexion. “There are so many possible paths you can take starting out at TLC, depending on where you’re at in your life and what you’ve previously done. But whether you come to TLC with a definite idea of the direction you want to take, or whether you have no concrete idea at all, my advice would simply be to keep an open mind and follow your instincts and inclinations. You may end up going in a direction that you never would have expected, or discovering a talent and love that you never knew you had. This is what makes TLC so exciting. Jade says her creative journey has been transformed during her time at The Learning Connexion. “Discovering new ways of expressing my creativity has been a joy, a blessing and, in some ways, a surprise! I’ve discovered that I have abilities in areas that I never thought I had any talent at all – painting and drawing, for example. Though I haven’t pursued these areas in actual classes, the knowledge that I can experiment with a bit more confidence in these various mediums has given me confidence to expand my creative horizons.” Find out how you can apply for one of our scholarships to study at The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity.

    • Graduation Speech: Alina Gane-Hurcomb
      • Graduation Speech by student speaker Alina Gane-Hurcomb Friday 31 March, 2023 Everyone graduating today is receiving a qualification in Art and Creativity. But what does that mean? In its simplest form I feel like Art is the by-product of Creativity – the inevitable and often accidental result of exploration by a Creative. Which makes the larger and possibly more important question: what is art and creativity to you? I posed this question to myself and found that when I really thought about it, only one word came to mind – Essential. Absolutely, completely and utterly essential. This didn’t feel like a particularly qualified response, so I decided to trawl the internet looking at other people, to see what their thoughts were on the matter. I think Ai Weiwei said it best when he stated, “Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.” This totally resonated with me. As we progress further into our journey as art practitioners, the line between ourselves; our core beings and what we create, becomes almost void. We become our art and our art becomes us. I see creativity as being essential to our very existence. Oxygen feeds our lungs, food feeds our bodies, but creativity? Well, that feeds our souls. And to me, that’s much more important. It is my understanding that this is our first proper graduation ceremony, where we can unite and celebrate each other’s successes, as artists, since the pandemic. When the world went into lockdown, among the first things to run out, was art supplies. What does that say about the importance of creativity? When we remove all of the pretence, societal norms and pressures of everyday life, our natural default setting as human beings, is to create. Just look at children. Most kids prefer dancing to walking and singing to talking. But at some point, the construct that we call ‘life’, stifles that. Freedom is replaced with expectation and happiness with discontentment. I have to say, that what makes me most proud, when I look around this room, is that we have each made the conscious decision to embrace what is innate within us; nurture and develop our souls and simultaneously gain qualifications that can potentially provide practical applications for sustainable creativity and at the very least, create a strong basis for internal stability, which, again, is fundamentally, more important. There is no ‘one size fits all’ trajectory for artists. Each journey is unique to the individual experiencing it. I have been studying at The Learning Connexion off and on for seven and a half years now and in that time I have seen a lot of different people, different approaches and different outcomes. I think I’m most jealous of the students who always knew they were artists; studied art all the way through school and came straight to TLC from college. That was definitely not my experience. I was raised to be an academic; but as is so often the case, it took me a ridiculously long time to realise that the goals I had been striving for, were not my own. I was trying to please people and could never be happy constantly seeking approval from others. Unfortunately, we live in a society that has a tendency towards attaching a fairly negative stigma to being an artist; inferring that we are only artists because we failed at some other aspect of life, but as Charles Horton Cooley pointed out, “An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one.” The problem with negative social views – no matter how inaccurate they are – is they become a breeding ground for self-doubt. As Sylvia Plath surmised, “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” I’ve seen so many amazing creatives crumble under the pressure of (1) external influences; typically in the form of disapproval from loved ones. (2) Inflated levels of importance being placed on making money from your art and (3), internal influences like constant beratement from our inner critics. Like most of you I have certainly had experience with all of these. So how do we get past them? I’ve found a couple of things helpful when dealing with negative influences. Firstly, when in doubt, create! We have the enormous advantage of a career path which doubles as a healthy coping mechanism. Of all the coping strategies I’ve tried over the years, art has been the least destructive… and probably, the most expensive. Whoever said ‘art is cheaper than therapy’ has clearly never walked into Gordon Harris on pay day, while there’s a sale on. Just saying. Dealing with judgement from others in relation to our art, is sadly, unavoidable. However, I have found that Andy Warhol’s strategy works quite well. “Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.” I feel like this attitude prevents us from becoming stuck; keeps us creating and therefore, ensures that we are constantly moving forward. Another quote that I find helpful, and if I’m honest, confronting, when it comes to questioning my own worth as a creative and as a person is: “No-one can make you feel inferior without your permission.” In this quote, I feel that Eleanor Roosevelt is reminding us that, ultimately, it doesn’t matter what anybody else says about us, our lives or our work. If we take their negativity on board, that’s a choice that we have made, and thankfully, is something we can choose not to do again. We have the power to decide what criticism is constructive and what criticism is destructive. If it’s constructive, embrace it, analyse it and grow from it. But if it’s destructive, ignore it. You do not need it. And when you’re having one of those days where you just feel like a failure, remember that Albert Einstein, one of the greatest minds to ever grace this planet, believed that “Failure is success in progress.” Without perceived failure, there would be no perceived success. I use the word “perceived” because there is actually no definitive example of either. What is success? What is failure? If you ask ten different people these questions, you will get ten different answers. They’re subjective notions. Much like heaven and hell, one can only exist if you believe in the other. But again, throughout our lives, the idea of success versus failure is held over us; for some, this provides direction, for others, intimidation. But I think that what Einstein meant was, that if you feel like you are failing at your interpretation of success, know that it is only temporary and that you’re on the right track. So where do we start? According to Austin Kleon, “Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use – do the work you want to see done.” I think this is fantastic advice. If you love it, others will too. I have heard so many students say that they don’t think anyone else will like their work. Several years back, I spent a soul destroying six months studying statistics, and although I hated every second of it, it taught me a very valuable lesson: There are 7 billion people on this planet; it is a statistical impossibility that no-one will like your work. Numbers don’t lie. If you haven’t found your ideal audience yet (and I do put emphasis on the “yet”) it is because of two things: geography and marketing. When you promote your work in the right place you will find your people. So, create what you love. Someone else will love it too. One of the most important aspects of being an artist is to keep working. Keep creating. Keep experimenting. Keep growing. Austrian artist Voka stated, “I’ve had a lot of luck in my life, but I worked for it.” This resonated a lot with me. I have been blessed with a lot of opportunities, for which I am eternally grateful, but I feel like they might not have come about, had I not been working and taking calculated risks. Jack White said, “Deadlines and things make you creative.” A lot of people believe that deadlines stifle creativity, but what I think he meant by this was, that deadlines force us into action. If you’re like me and prone to procrastination, deadlines can be a really helpful tool to keeping yourself on track. Najwa Zebia summed it up nicely when they said, “Whatever you do, do it with purpose. Being focused is not something to be ashamed of. It is something to be proud of. When you know what you are doing and have a clear vision of where you are going, you will not need to chase opportunities. Opportunities will seek you. Happiness will chase you. And, instead of being a choice, you will be the one choosing.” The biggest advantage that we have as artists and creatives is ourselves. Neil Gaiman said, “The one thing that you have that nobody else has, is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” There will never be another you and that is what makes you great. Over the years, I have seen a lot of people arrive at The Learning Connexion following a major change in their life. I have heard many describe themselves as broken and have had the absolute privilege of watching these people rebuild themselves with a combination of their own strength, fortitude and creativity. In Japan there is a centuries-old pottery technique called “Kintsugi” which poetically translates to mean “golden joinery”. They take broken pieces of ceramic, use tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver or platinum and repair each piece. What makes this technique so special, is the beautiful way in which it celebrates and emphasises the fractures, creating seams of gold which glint within the ceramic wares. To those of you who came to TLC feeling broken, I want you to know that you have become the personification of Kintsugi. You’ve picked the creativity route for healing, and any cracks you may have had, now glisten. You are perfectly imperfect, and I stand before you, to celebrate you. I agree with Keith Haring when he said, “Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination and encourages people to go further.” As my speech comes to a close, I encourage you to go further; further in your journey into yourselves, further out into the world. Further in your creative exploration. Just. Further. Lastly, I leave you with this quote from Emile Zola, “If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” Congratulations to every single person graduating today. May you all continue to choose creativity, and, in so doing, choose to live out loud.  

    • Graduation 2023: Student speaker Alina Gane-Hurcomb
      • When Alina Gane-Hurcomb addressed the crowd at TLC's 2023 Graduation, she reflected on the woman who arrived there in 2017 on a mission. Battling anxiety, and a nagging feeling she had been chasing the wrong goals for too long, Alina left her full time job and took a leap of faith, enrolling in the certificate programme at the little art school in Taita, Lower Hutt. “My two main challenges before TLC were generalised anxiety and the realisation that the goals I had spent my life trying to achieve, were not my own,” says Alina. “TLC provided me with a safe space to learn how to use creativity to manage my anxiety and navigate assessing my own needs, with a view to create and achieve new goals.” Alina will be student speaker at TLC’s 2023 graduation on Friday 31 March at Taita College – which neighbours TLC. The ceremony will recognise the artistic achievements of 178 graduates – but also what it means to pursue a creativity qualification in a society that undervalues the role of art. “From the age of about five I knew that I was supposed to be a barrister,” says Alina. “I didn’t actually understand what being a barrister entailed until I was much older. All I knew was that my parents, who loved me and wanted what was best for me, decided that was what I should do.” She says this focus on pleasing her parents meant she spent a lot of years adrift, unable to commit to their wishes – but also too afraid to follow her own. Alina, who is now in the final stages of TLC’s Diploma of Art and Creativity (Advanced), says the school has been life changing for her, and led to experiences she had only dreamed about. “A career highlight was a trip to Paris last year to collect my first international art award, reunite with a collaborative partner and participate in a group exhibition at Carrousel du Louvre. It will never make sense to me that my first trip to the Louvre was to see my own work.” Alina says TLC helped to chip away the self-doubt she had about seeing herself as an artist – and making the leap from Taita to the Louvre seem an achievable goal. “I have gone from not being sure that I could be an artist to knowing that is exactly what I was supposed to be.” With a long interest in the European masters and the architecture of the continent, Alina says she is now trying to break into the European art market. “I’ve been fortunate enough to participate in group exhibitions in Venice, Milan, Florence, Fuerte Ventura and have another booked for Paris later this year.” She has also been offered artist residencies in a gallery in the South of France and her “absolute dream residency” in Tuscany, Italy. Alina says that her time at TLC has changed the way she sees herself. “The biggest change is that I am now comfortable with referring to myself as an artist. I have reached the point where creativity has become so intertwined with my own identity that I can no longer see myself having any other career.”

    • A long-held ambition: Peter Coolbear
      • At 71, Peter Coolbear is part of a growing community at The Learning Connexion (TLC) reconnecting with their creativity after long careers in other industries. We had a chat with the former plant scientist who has discovered a new love for painting.   Hi Peter. You’ve had a long journey to get to TLC. Tell us a bit about your background. Born in London, raised in Yorkshire, I emigrated to New Zealand from the UK in 1985 and am married to Kay who’s from Gisborne. We’ve lived in Porirua since 2008. Porirua is definitely home. Our daughter and son-in-law and their five children now live 10 minutes down the road since they came back from the UK in 2014. I was originally a plant scientist/biochemist and came to New Zealand to lecture at Massey University in Palmerston North. In the mid-nineties I moved into tertiary education management and have worked in various management and governance roles since. I am now semi- (well, mainly) retired, although I still jointly own a consultancy business for tertiary education and records management with Kay.   So how did you end up at The Learning Connexion?  I’ve always been interested in art, although at the school I went to in England we had to give it up if we wanted to do the second foreign language required by some universities at the time. All the more galling because that second language was Latin. I’d always said (mainly jokingly) I would go to art school by the time I was 40, but I’m a late developer and other things got in the way. So I was 66 when I enrolled at TLC to do the Certificate as a distance student. The programme was really engaging, but even better was the flexibility TLC offered when I had to defer my studies when consultancy work in Fiji became much more of a commitment than I had originally expected. Being able to take time out and then come back once I’d had that other adventure meant an enormous amount to me. I remain very grateful indeed. I completed the Certificate in 2018 and then, last year (2022), decided to carry on with the Level 5 Diploma as a part-time student, mainly because I want to continue to develop my painting and also because doing the programme formally gives me some much-needed discipline to keep working on my art practice. It is surprising how busy you become when you stop working full-time: there are so many distractions! I am definitely still learning to paint. I now know how to move the paint around, but I am still a ‘tentative marker’. I am trying to loosen up, but keep ending up more precise than I expect – this is a constant challenge. So painting is your preferred method of creative expression? Painting and drawing are my thing. I have always been keenly interested in photography and over the years have accumulated a very considerable archive of subjects to paint and draw. Even when I wasn’t actively painting, I was always thinking “I could paint that someday”. Now is someday. I am interested in landscape and history and gardens: all these influence my choice of subject. My style is quite realistic and I choose subjects with which I have an emotional connection. I often use more than one reference photo to create the final work so that my painting is often deliberately about a sense of place, rather than a straight-forward representation. I participated in two New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts shows in 2022. One of my paintings actually sold. OK, it was for their fundraiser and the $300 didn’t come to me, but it still counts! Do you have a project you are currently working on? I tend to have several things on the go at once. Currently, I have been exploring representation of flowers in different cultures and have just started on a set of small flower paintings that I hope will reflect different art traditions (including loosening up a bit!) – early days on this. Also, I have a two-thirds finished painting of Port O’Warren Bay in Galloway, Scotland – a place where we used to go often when we were kids and where I was lucky enough to revisit over 50 years later in 2019. The view I am trying to paint is an amalgam of two views, you can’t actually see both sides of the bay at once. Also – and hugely ambitious – I am halfway through a drawing my Dad’s platoon in the desert during World War 2 – way out of my depth on this one, but that, for me, is what doing a programme like this is all about. What are some of the things you enjoy most about studying at TLC? Although nominally a distance student, I do try and attend at least one mains or block class a term. TLC is about half an hours’ drive from where I live (although it’s a much longer journey back with the commuter traffic at the end of the day). So, technically, I am studying by ‘blended delivery’. While I relish the flexibility of distance study, coming onsite energises me. The quality of the teaching I’ve encountered has been brilliant and really helped me explore different aspects of my practice. I also very much enjoy the regular contact with my mentor, Dennis Poole. I like to think of myself as pretty self-directed, but he keeps sending me down unexpected pathways which have proved to be challenging and very rewarding. At the moment, half-way through the Level 5 Diploma, the impetus is definitely provided by being on the programme itself. I am quite disciplined about putting in the hours. Ideas are always bubbling away and you need to make room for the unpredictable.  Have you had any recent highlights or 'wow' moments with your art? After a session on underpainting by Marc Hill, realising that using a smoky red ground would be an ideal way of progressing the Galloway picture which had been sitting around in my studio for a while. Another was realising that I could, after all, with a few nudges from Alan Poole, draw a reasonable likeness of one of my grandchildren! What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? I think it’s different for everyone. I’ve been involved, one way or another, with vocational education all my career. The great feature of TLC is that its approach to education is the most student-centred, I have ever come across. It’s also highly practically focussed. So, my best advice is to actively lever off that. TLC gives you huge freedom to explore, but once you have some ideas of what you want to do, explore with staff about how you might develop those ideas. This doesn’t mean being closed to other approaches or foregoing the opportunity to explore other media, but, within the broad constraints of the qualifications offered, TLC gives you the chance to set your own agenda about how to meet the required outcomes. This is a rare gift and opportunity. How have you transformed during your time at The Learning Connexion? The ageing educationalist in me thinks ‘transformed’ is an overused word. So much of education is about fostering the skills and confidence to explore and understand. My TLC experience has been one of exploring a long-held ambition. It is exciting, it’s fulfilling, it’s often quite challenging, but that’s good too.  

    • The Learning Connexion News Straight to Your Inbox
      • The Learning Connexion School of Creativity and Art (TLC) is refreshing the way it communicates by launching a new monthly e-newsletter in April. The newsletter – which can be subscribed to here – will better keep The Learning Connexion’s audience up to date with the school’s exciting learning and events programme, regular student exhibitions at the TLC Gallery, student and Alumni stories, and relevant creative sector news. “We already have a growing database of over 5000 people who receive our news – and it’s been a great way to meaningfully connect with our community,” says Sarah Macdonald, TLC’s Marketing and Design Coordinator. “We wanted a refreshed look for the newsletter, and to give it a monthly focus – so as not to bombard people with news in their inboxes! The focus is really on quality, informative content – from our stories to programmes on offer.” All current subscribers will be automatically transferred to the new newsletter, but Sarah says TLC is committed to extending its reach. “TLC plays a big part in the Hutt Valley and New Zealand creative scene. We’ve been around for over 30 years – and thanks to our distance delivery programmes – we have a strong Alumni community throughout New Zealand. We would love more people to discover what we have to offer and the benefits of exploring your creativity. Our motto is ‘find your place, create your world’ and I think that really encapsulates what TLC is about. We provide a supportive and inclusive community environment for all creative people.” TLC designer Paige Collinson says the new design is “bold, user friendly and structured, while also maintaining TLC's creative essence." The newsletter will be launched in April around the time of our graduation. “It’s a really great time to launch the new newsletter,” says Sarah. “Graduation is the time we celebrate the best of what TLC has to offer, and we’ve had so much to celebrate in recent times, including national awards, students achieving their dream jobs and a brand new gallery. This newsletter will help to ensure all our great news is captured in one place.” If you’re part of a creative group or gallery - both locally and throughout New Zealand - please share with us your newsworthy updates for us to share.

    • Day and Night: James Price
      • James Price joined The Learning Connexion in 2021, completing a Certificate in Creativity (Level 4). Since then his photography skills have flourished – he is now producing stunning images of the New Zealand countryside. We had a chat with the Whanganui-based photographer, who studies at TLC via distance delivery.  Hi James. Let’s get to know you – how would you describe yourself as an artist? I love our rural community and agriculture and am pursuing my career in documentary photography with a focus on agriculture in Aotearoa and abroad. I was the kid running around wanting to try everything and at 51 I am no different. It’s truly exciting to get to photograph anything and everything, and I change my website and branding a bit like I change my clothes, so it’s incredibly freeing to be able to try new things and realise it’s all progression in your craft. I started having hearing issues in 2020 and it has had a big impact on my life, personally, and professionally. (expand on this point - story could also go to Arts Access) Where do you draw inspiration from? Everything is inspiration. World events, the empty paddocks down the road, music, the shadows of trees. I love looking at what other artists are doing and achieving, and how they change the landscape of art. Do you have a project you are currently working on? Yes, I am in the initial stages of planning a series of portraits, but not your usual portraits, I like art and photography that makes you think, good or bad. It's thought-provoking. Why did you decide to enrol at The Learning Connexion, and was it a good decision? I had seen some of the work coming out of students who studied with TLC, and I wanted to be one of them. One of the best decisions of my life. It’s changed my photography, and it's changed the work I do in web design and social media management. What are some of the things you enjoyed most about studying at TLC? I have enjoyed working with my mentor Leigh, he has been amazing and so supportive. The team in general at TLC are supportive and through Covid were amazing. The TLC alumni are inspiring. Seeing the work produced by current and past students, you feel inspired when you think that they were once where you are. How have you transformed during your time at TLC? I can quite honestly say that my study with TLC has changed my life. From being more open-minded about creativity to new abilities to problem solve using creative processes. My biggest wow moment was when I looked at photographs I took during Level 4, and then looking at my photographs at the end of Level 5 and realising just how much I had grown and how my skills had developed. Day and night really. Has this new approach to creativity been transferable into other areas of your life? Creative thinking isn’t just about art, it has its influence on problem-solving and many other parts of my life. I think I listen, watch, and read, all with an even more open mind. You can’t allow yourself to think creatively and it not have a positive impact on your life. What advice would you give people starting out at TLC and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Don’t give up! Don’t let doubt influence you, know your worth and keep going! If it makes you nervous to push boundaries, enjoy the feeling and trust you are growing because of it. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in five years? In five years I hope to have completed my Level 7 Advanced Diploma, and that I will be a successful photographer. View more of James' work at his website, on Facebook or Instagram    

    • Sleep Creatures: Tui McInnes
      • Tui McInnes is an artist using colour to create creatures that belong in the sleep paralysis dimension. We had a chat with the non-binary artist, who recently completed a New Zealand Certificate in Creativity (Level 4). Kia ora Tui. Let’s get to know you, describe yourself as an artist. Tui McInnes, 21, non-binary person, studied at The Learning Connexion in terms 3 and 4 2022. Tangata whenua whapapa to Nagti maniapoto and nga puhi. I am an artist with an interest in painting, photography and garmentry. I really enjoy playing with colour and creating creatures that belong in the sleep paralysis dimension. Do you have a project you are currently working on? At the moment I am working on creating designs and samples for a recycled clothing brand. What are some of the things you enjoyed most about studying at TLC? The best thing that came from studying at TLC for me, was meeting other people with creative interests and being in such a supportive environment which really cemented the idea of art being a feasible career path for me. How do you sustain your creative practice and where do you draw inspiration from? I quite literally find inspiration in everything. I've been creative since I was very young and it has become a ritual for me to process my experiences through artistic expression. An endless source of inspiration is other artists and authors. Nature is another one. Why did you decide to enrol at TLC? I enrolled at TLC as I had heard really positive things about the school from friends. It was a great decision to enrol, as I feel very supported in my artistic endeavors and it is always inspirational to be around other creatives. What advice would you give people starting out at TLC and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? The advice I would give to people wanting to pursue a creative pathway is #YOLO, you quite literally only live once and you might as well spend it doing what you love. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in 5 years? My ambitions for the future are to be able to run workshops on upcycling and recycling materials into unique pieces of clothing, art and furniture. And having a shared studio space with other creatives. Ready to create your own creatures? Enrol today at The Learning Connexion - study onsite or from home.  

    • Matthew Kooistra: Stories of the Sun
      • Matthew Kooistra has found the perfect way to express his love for patterns – printmaking. It’s an artform that will be showcased in many of its fascinating possibilities when his first solo exhibition Stories of the Sun opens at the TLC Gallery in March.  From six woodcuts (and a small number of screenprints of similar patterns) 40 unique works have been made by Matthew, a student at The Learning Connexion School of Creativity and Art. He says the idea for the exhibition was inspired while looking at the architecture of buildings in Wellington and Hawke’s Bay.  “I was inspired by the art deco patterns using the sun, lines and geometric patterns. The artworks in the exhibition have been made from either woodcut or screen prints or a combination of the two. As I was combining print styles together, I started choosing colours that made it look like looking at a sunrise or sunset.” Matthew says unique combinations have been created through layering and rotating the limited blocks. “Each individual block is like a character who changes with new interactions and placements on the paper.” Matthew – who has studied at The Learning Connexion (TLC) since 2018 – says compared to other mediums he has worked in (such as clay, Oamaru stone and glass), he has found that printmaking has an immediacy. The planning and execution of ideas are able to happen quickly, which allows for a cascade of ideas expressed in print. “I enjoy being able to make multiple prints in a shorter space of time using different mediums, screen and woodcut prints, also combined together. While ceramic clay can take days and Oamaru stone carving can take months.” Matthew, who has Asperger's Syndrome and a learning disability, says he learns well by being hands-on – something that TLC has been able to foster. He likes that TLC has given him an opportunity to learn and try out different types of art.  “I have been able to make art objects using my imagination. I’ve also had very supportive tutors who have helped me when I needed them. They have given me advice and encouragement.” One of those tutors – Marci Tackett – says what stands out about Matthew and his pursuit of printmaking is his ability to create a multitude of variations from a few designs.   “As a student, I feel he struck a wonderful balance between learning new techniques and creating a cohesive body of work. I believe he built his aesthetic by working to a theme that interested him.” Marci says the work in Stories of the Sun is evidence of Matthew’s creative process in printmaking. “Matthew worked with intensity and focus every day in class – his commitment to his printmaking practice is exceptional. I'm very excited to see this exhibition. It's a great showcase of what is possible in to achieve in printmaking at The Learning Connexion.” Matthew’s TLC journey began after he decided to take a lifelong interest in art to the next level.  “I was going to career expos, and I kept coming across TLC. I decided I would like to continue studying art which I had taken at Tawa Collage, but only to NCEA Level 1. I have immensely enjoyed my time at TLC.”  He says his time at TLC has transformed him as an artist. “I have learnt the skill of printmaking using different styles. I have learnt how to carve Oamaru stone into different shapes, turned clay into ceramic artworks, and found out how to turn wax models into bronze sculptures. I have learned to paint in different ways and improved at my drawing. I have become more confident in making art and taking risks with my ideas and turning them into art pieces.”   Stories of the Sun opens Thursday 2 March, 4.30 - 7pm, and runs until 15 March The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pmThe Learning Connexion is at 182 Eastern Hutt Road, Taitā, Lower Hutt0800 278 769gallery@tlc.ac.nz|TLC| Gallery   

    • New News Article Page
      • Shaun Robinson is a Nelson-based artist who completed an Artist Residency at the Hidden Sculpture Garden and Gallery in Tapawera last year. We've been delighted to be part of Shaun's journey into the wonderful world of sculpture. Hi Shaun. How would you describe yourself as an artist? I entered the world of art as a mature student. I initially enjoyed illustration, however, the last two years I've devoted my practice to figurative sculpture and wood carving. In terms of inspiration, I'm fascinated by the human form and nature, which fortunately there's an abundance of. Why did you decide to enrol at The Learning Connexion? It had been suggested to me by a number of people. I was reluctant as it meant moving to Wellington to allow me to utilise the onsite tutors and workshop. I'm very glad I did.  The invaluable knowledge and experience I gained from the year focusing on creating art onsite allowed me to continue my last year of study via distance delivery. What did you enjoy most about studying at TLC? The focus on the practical side of art. Having completed 2.5 years of study at theory-based institutes I had a reasonable understanding of what is needed and many of the fundamentals of an art practice – however, there was very little focus on practicing art. One of the main ways I've transformed through studying at TLC is the realisation that there's no lottery ticket – the work needs to be done. I'm thankful to TLC for the education and the opportunity to live a creative life! Do you have a project you are currently working on? Yes, I attempt to have 2-3 works at various stages if possible. Oftentimes I'm waiting for clay or paint to dry, or if I'm unsure how to proceed with a particular piece I can work on a different one then come back at a later time. Are your skills and approach to creativity transferable into ‘other’ fields in your life? Most definitely. As a sculptor I need to plan ahead as certain parts of a work may need to be built/completed before others for structural or cosmetic reasons. Thinking critically and having a critical eye can be essential in many facets of life. Describe a highlight, a wow moment of a recent work or creative experience? The first time I submitted a piece into an exhibition in Nelson and it sold within 10 minutes of opening! What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Keep practicing. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in 5 years? To have a sustainable art practice that not only satisfies me creatively but also provides joy to others. Combining that and providing me with an income is my ultimate ambition. Tell us about your Artist Residency last year. I was fortunate enough to be invited as the Artist in Residence at The Hidden Sculpture Garden & Gallery in Tapawera. It was an amazing experience where I learned so much about the realities of, and what's required to be an artist.   What were some of the challenges to setting up your business? I'm still struggling to find a studio. I live in an area with a very high percentage of creatives so studio spaces/workshops are at a premium.  

    • Shaun Robinson: There's no lottery ticket
      • Shaun Robinson is a Nelson-based artist who completed an Artist Residency at the Hidden Sculpture Garden and Gallery in Tapawera last year. The Learning Connexion has been an integral part of Shaun's journey into the wonderful world of sculpture. Hi Shaun. How would you describe yourself as an artist? I entered the world of art as a mature student. I initially enjoyed illustration, however, the last two years I've devoted my practice to figurative sculpture and wood carving. In terms of inspiration, I'm fascinated by the human form and nature, which fortunately there's an abundance of. Why did you decide to enrol at The Learning Connexion? It had been suggested to me by a number of people. I was reluctant as it meant moving to Wellington to allow me to utilise the onsite tutors and workshop. I'm very glad I did.  The invaluable knowledge and experience I gained from the year focusing on creating art onsite allowed me to continue my last year of study via distance delivery. What did you enjoy most about studying at TLC? The focus on the practical side of art. Having completed 2.5 years of study at theory-based institutes I had a reasonable understanding of what is needed and many of the fundamentals of an art practice – however, there was very little focus on practicing art. One of the main ways I've transformed through studying at TLC is the realisation that there's no lottery ticket – the work needs to be done. I'm thankful to TLC for the education and the opportunity to live a creative life! Do you have a project you are currently working on? Yes, I attempt to have 2-3 works at various stages if possible. Oftentimes I'm waiting for clay or paint to dry, or if I'm unsure how to proceed with a particular piece I can work on a different one then come back at a later time. Are your skills and approach to creativity transferable into ‘other’ fields in your life? Most definitely. As a sculptor I need to plan ahead as certain parts of a work may need to be built/completed before others for structural or cosmetic reasons. Thinking critically and having a critical eye can be essential in many facets of life. Describe a highlight, a wow moment of a recent work or creative experience? The first time I submitted a piece into an exhibition in Nelson and it sold within 10 minutes of opening! What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Keep practicing. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in 5 years? To have a sustainable art practice that not only satisfies me creatively but also provides joy to others. Combining that and providing me with an income is my ultimate ambition. Tell us about your Artist Residency last year. I was fortunate enough to be invited as the Artist in Residence at The Hidden Sculpture Garden & Gallery in Tapawera. It was an amazing experience where I learned so much about the realities of, and what's required to be an artist.   What were some of the challenges to setting up your business? I'm still struggling to find a studio. I live in an area with a very high percentage of creatives so studio spaces/workshops are at a premium.  

    • Macarena Bernal: Making Contemporary Treasures
      • A workshop on contemporary jewellery run by one of New Zealand’s most exciting visual artists is selling out ahead of Summer Skills this January. Macarena Bernal is returning to The Learning Connexion for a Resin Jewellery Workshop run over the weekend of 28 - 29 January, and she’s promising a very unique experience. “Resin as a material for jewellery has some pretty cool benefits. You can make large pieces that are light in weight, you can incorporate bright colours into your jewellery designs, you can make jewellery encapsulating treasured small objects such as keys, sand, shells, hair, paper other objects that hold dear memories.” Born in Chile, Macarena is renowned for her mindfully designed, handcrafted contemporary jewellery. Maca chooses Art Jewellery for its wearability-inducing interactivity. Best known for her work Links, her work explores alternative ideas of value in jewellery. “Art jewellery or contemporary jewellery is ideas based and it allows me to move from the traditional into the artistic and creative, where the perception of value, attached to the word jewellery changes and mutates,” says Maca. “When teaching workshops with resin, I tend to celebrate and encourage the alternative, the different, the serendipitous. There's so much beauty in this material for those that get in tune with it and I enjoy finding it in my students work.” Maca has been based in New Zealand since 2012. She has studied jewellery in both Chile and New Zealand, including a Master’s Degree from the Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin School of Arts. You can see more of her work here. She says the workshop is open to all levels of skill, and will start with the important process of mould making. “I teaching how to make your own silicone moulds to pour resin into, this way you dont have to conform to generic moulds and you get to personalise your jewellery designs – which takes you to the next level.” Day two will be a masterclass on pigment mixing and casting techniques to achieve the most diverse results. “Finally we will affix jewellery findings to your resin components making them wearable jewellery to take home and treasure for life.” Maca says participants can expect to make several pieces of jewellery and take plenty more to finish at home. “The workshop is ideal to make earrings, bangles and rings for yourself and for all your friends too.” Sound like you? Book today for Maca's Resin Jewellery Workshop here, or click the banner below. 

    • Tim Mills: teaching the secrets of leathercraft
      • Looking to treat yourself to a late Christmas gift? Only a few spots remain in Tim Mills’ Leathercraft Secrets workshop at The Learning Connexion in January. The Kāpiti Coast based artisan has been crafting leather since 1974, when he carved his first leather belt. He now creates more complex projects including wall hangings, decorative projects, artworks, chessboards, and furniture. "My art is tactile. I love the fact that people can touch my art, feel the material. There is a primal attraction to the medium," says Tim, who has been a regular at TLC’s Summer Skills. Tim is a natural teacher, with a passionate communication style. He says he feels a very real responsibility and joy in offering leatherworking skills and tuition to others. “The art of leathercraft has changed my life and given me a calm focus, identity, and purpose which I’m humbled to share with others.” He says the most rewarding part of sharing that passion is watching others “catch the fire of leathercrafting that runs through my veins. My workshops and skills come alive when others are sharing that moment with me.” Tim says this workshop will differ from previous ones at TLC, and suit both beginners and those who want to upskill in quick time. “This class provides for a wider range of leathers. We will be using both dyed and undyed vegetable-tanned leather. Rather than a whole week, this workshop will be two days, and will be focused, efficient, and goal-oriented.” Tim’s work has appeared in many art exhibitions within New Zealand, and he is the Wellington area representative of the Association of New Zealand Leather Artisans. One last question. Why leather? “I love the smell, the feel and the way that leather responds to my manipulation. I love the fact that leather lasts for a long time and that it is environmentally sustainable, unlike most of the vegan and plastic coated faux leathers that ultimately end up in landfill.” Sound like you? Book for Leathercraft Secrets with Tim Mills here, or click the banner below.

    • Javier Murica: Pushing the limits of sculpture
      • A workshop on figurative sculpture run by one of the industry’s best exponents is filling up fast ahead of Summer Skills next month. Javier Murica is bringing his unique talents to The Learning Connexion for a week-long workshop in January, providing a rare opportunity to learn from an internationally renowned sculptor, who counts Sir Richard Taylor among his biggest fans. “His work dances on a knife edge, as noble and reverential as it is fervent and impassioned,” says the Weta visionary, who worked with Javier on Te Papa’s extraordinary exhibition The Scale of Our War, among other projects. A Summer Skills’ regular, Javier is looking forward to sharing his passion with a new batch of students. “Learning the human figure, in the same way it has been studied by artists for millennia in history, is a unique opportunity here in New Zealand. It is the same way of learning they use in academies in Europe, some of the oldest art schools in the world alive.” Javier says figurative sculpture in clay is useful for both 3D and 2D artists, as it helps to understand the human figure in volume. Working with a life-model, students learn to break the body into simple geometric parts and understand how the body's mechanics shape the pose. Born in Spain, Javier has international experience of over 20 years working in the film and art industries, including five years at Weta Workshop. He has lived in New Zealand since 2013, and is inspiring a new generation of Kiwi creatives with his passion. “My passion for the human figure is the same kind of passion a musician can have for playing music. You love it so much that it becomes part of you.” If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, we’ll leave it once more to Sir Richard Taylor: “Javier Murcia pushes human anatomy to its outer limits while elevating the grace, strength and potential energy of the human form.” Are you ready to push your limits? Book today.Javier Murcia – Sculpt a Figure (9 - 13 January)  

    • Javier Murcia: Pushing the limits of sculpture
      • A workshop on figurative sculpture run by one of the industry’s best exponents is filling up fast ahead of Summer Skills next month. Javier Murcia is bringing his unique talents to The Learning Connexion for a week-long workshop in January, providing a rare opportunity to learn from an internationally renowned sculptor, who counts Sir Richard Taylor among his biggest fans. “His work dances on a knife edge, as noble and reverential as it is fervent and impassioned,” says the Weta visionary, who worked with Javier on Te Papa’s extraordinary exhibition The Scale of Our War, among other projects. A Summer Skills’ regular, Javier is looking forward to sharing his passion with a new batch of students. “Learning the human figure, in the same way it has been studied by artists for millennia in history, is a unique opportunity here in New Zealand. It is the same way of learning they use in academies in Europe, some of the oldest art schools in the world alive.” Javier says figurative sculpture in clay is useful for both 3D and 2D artists, as it helps to understand the human figure in volume. Working with a life-model, students learn to break the body into simple geometric parts and understand how the body's mechanics shape the pose. Born in Spain, Javier has international experience of over 20 years working in the film and art industries, including five years at Weta Workshop. He has lived in New Zealand since 2013, and is inspiring a new generation of Kiwi creatives with his passion. View Javier's website here.  “My passion for the human figure is the same kind of passion a musician can have for playing music. You love it so much that it becomes part of you.” If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, we’ll leave it once more to Sir Richard Taylor: “Javier Murcia pushes human anatomy to its outer limits while elevating the grace, strength and potential energy of the human form.” Are you ready to push your limits? Book for Sculpt a Figure with Javier Murcia here, or click the banner below.   

    • Brendan Martin: Exploring my Internal World
      • Brendan Martin is a Lower Hutt-based artist who studies with The Learning Connexion via distance delivery. This is a follow-up chat with Brendan, who we last spoke to in 2019. Kia ora Brendan. How have you seen your work progress over the last few years? When I studied the Diploma in Creativity Level 5 from 2018 to 2020, I gained an understanding of creative process and practice and explored different creative ideas in a range of styles and media. Back then I spent significant amounts of time researching subjects before I started, viewing the work of other artists for inspiration. Also, during this time, I developed a fascination with Greek mythology and explored different Greek myths artistically. I have discovered deeply personal stories in the characters from Greek mythology which my art study at TLC has given me the licence to explore. Since starting Level 6 study in 2021, I have increased my understanding of creative process and practice, and investigated Greek mythology even more deeply. A big change has been a shift in creative approach and focus; during Level 5 I searched for ideas externally and looked to the outside world and other artists’ work as a source of influence and direction. Now in studying Level 6, I look internally for inspiration and guidance. I “go within” for an idea and then work through an intuitive creative process to bring that idea out into the world. You've recently been taking Kiran Gandhi's Drawing and Painting Evening Classes. What have you enjoyed about this class in particular? Kiran’s classes are the perfect mix for me, I can work on my own projects independently and also seek advice from Kiran when I need it. I have used pencil, paint, and charcoal extensively as part of this amazing learning experience. These classes have helped me explore new ideas in a safe and creative environment. Kiran has taught art for many years and has vast artistic experience to share; he is also an accomplished artist himself. With Kiran’s encouragement and support, I have had the courage to explore different media in ways that I might not have done on my own. Has it helped your other work at TLC? There is definite cross-over into other projects and tasks that I do as part of my TLC study. I often review the work I have produced in Kiran’s class with my mentor, Sophie Saunders. Together we gather learning and insights that often lead into a new creative project or task. I also find that contact with Kiran and the other students during the on-site class gives me motivation and encouragement to keep going; I carry this energy and enthusiasm into my art study at home.  You are now a few years into your time at TLC, how have you enjoyed the overall experience? I have thoroughly enjoyed my TLC experience and I have met some amazing students. I have also been very fortunate to work with two brilliantly talented mentors, Billy Wilson and Sophie Saunders. I have attended a wide range of on-site classes, including drawing, painting, printmaking, jewellery making, and picture framing. The best aspect of my TLC experience is the way that the programmes and support have evolved to suit my learning needs. In the early days during my Level 5 study, I needed structure and guidance. This was given to me by my mentor, during on-site classes and via the school’s online resources. Now during my Level 6 study, I need motivation and advice regarding specific topics. My current mentor Sophie is a constant source of inspiration and an incredible sounding board. Sophie has vast knowledge of art practice and history, as well as considerable “hands-on” experience as a highly accomplished artist. I am also supported by Kiran who provides a broad range of technical advice during his classes, as well as a significant amount of reference artwork. Lately, I have found that sharing ideas and experiences with other artists is extremely beneficial. Students who attend Kiran’s class, my mentor, and the Instagram artist community have all become amazing sources of inspiration and encouragement. My peers often have a fresh perspective and are incredibly supportive. They see things in the work that I do not see and provide revealing insights. I am extremely appreciative of those artists who willingly share their time and knowledge with me. Any recent news or success stories with your art and creative journey you would like to share with us? During my Level 6 studies, I have had enquiries from the general public to purchase my artwork. I have sold several paintings and recently gifted a piece to a close family member for a significant birthday, which was gratefully received. I am planning to hold a public exhibition towards the end of this year. Entitled 'Lessons from the Labyrinth', it will showcase the significant pieces from my Level 6 studies.  Anything else you would like to say about your TLC journey so far? My TLC journey has been incredible. I have been very fortunate to have had the best of both worlds in terms of tailored learning at home via distance delivery study and mentor programme, as well as on-site classes. I am extremely grateful to TLC for supporting this journey and helping me to grow and develop every step of the way. Art has always given me the opportunity to explore my internal world, TLC has given me the means to do this in a safe and creative way. Plans for the future? When I finish Level 6 in February 2023, I will evaluate where I am at artistically and determine next steps. I would love to complete the Diploma of Art and Creativity (Advanced, Level 7). This would be a natural progression from Level 6 and would be the final step in working towards the development of my own professional art practice. Check out our latest Prospectus for your study options  

    • Rani Stigsdottir: Banshee The Valkyrie
      • Rani Stigsdottir is a Pōneke-based artist, otherwise known as Banshee the Valkyrie. Specialising in jewellery with an otherworldly, esoteric vibe, she has recently joined The Learning Connexion as a tutor. We have a chat with Rani about her creativity and art. Kia ora Rani. Tell us a bit about yourself and your art. Kia ora, I'm a half Kiwi, half Icelandic jewellery designer and metalsmith. I sell my work through the nom de plume Banshee The Valkyrie and have a number of successful collections with eclectic themes and styles. I sell my work through my many stockists around New Zealand, through Etsy and my website. I love learning about new techniques, female deities, history, science fiction, and hip hop – all of which inspire me greatly. I've taught jewellery for years doing adult evening classes for Workspace Studios in Wellington. I am also an alumni of The Learning Connexion and am feeling very chuffed to circle back around to the place I studied and come back as a jewellery tutor. And it's great to have to here! Tell us, how do you sustain your creative practice? I'm lucky enough now after years of making to have a jewellery business that pays for itself, but I still need a part-time job to pay for all the essentials like food and rent. The goal is always to have a self-sustaining art practice that I can live on. For the last year, I've been able to call myself a full-time jeweller as my part-time job was working for a goldsmith and I will be able to continue to be able to say that this year as the Learning Connexion's new jewellery tutor. Previous to last year I worked at The Dowse Art Museum for six years as a host. Which was fantastically educational. I learnt so much about New Zealand art, historic and contemporary. Do you have a creative project you are currently working on? I always have multiple projects on the go, this may mean that some ideas get put on the back burner as new ideas pop up but eventually I always get back to them. Sometimes they get sidelined because halfway through a project I realise I have to learn a new skill before I can carry on, and learning skills take time and patience to perfect. At the moment my main muse as far as creating new work, are worms. I'm obsessed with them as creatures and feel that they deserve to be valued as much as the most expensive diamond and more than the cost of gold. One of the ways they intrigue me is how people can perceive them in totally different ways. They are often described as yucky, and gross. These people don't see them as magical transformers who are integral to our agriculture and food. I like how this response can show how deeply a person thinks. The negative response to me is a metaphor for engrained prejudice and completely thoughtless base responses like sexism and racism. Although unlike some of these ingrained prejudices it's quite easy to explain how amazing these creatures are and change a person's perspective and being able to change your perspective once is the first step to changing your perspective again. Where do you draw inspiration from? On reflection my work seems to be very taken with the idea of equality, I really want us humans to be empathetic to each other and the rest of nature. I also feel that jewellery is a powerful tool for expressing culture, it can help show the beauty of an individual's identity and their chosen place in one of the many tribes of this world. I have described a collection of my earrings as complement catches. I love the idea of complete strangers spreading goodwill, because they can't help but admire someone and say it. I think we will be a truly empathic world when people have the freedom to dress and adorn themselves in any way they please in all situations of their life, and have the only judgment be 'a complement'. One of my collections that I want to highlight is my Cuisenaire block necklaces, made in an art deco style. I was fascinated with the Cuisenaire rod, an object used all around the world, to help teach children how to understand the universal language of mathematics, which then became a tool used by First Nations peoples to help teach people to speak their native tongue. That a simple colourful wooden block was, and is used to help and heal so many humans across the world is breathtaking. Are your skills and approach to creativity transferable into other fields in your life? The short answer is hell yes; the long answer is my skills as a jewellery maker and business person are the skills to expertly problem solve. To be Zen when working with highly technical equipment and projects. To be creative and innovative, to research and design till the project is perfect. To be an administrator, a photographer, a marketer and sales person among many other hats. Basically, I'm bloody skilled and can do anything. Tell us about a highlight, a wow moment of a recent work or creative experience.I was very thrilled to have four of my silver worms showcased in the Sarjeant Gallery Arts Review last year. In the same cabinet as one of Frances Stachl's rings and a Rick Rudd Teapot work from two very amazing New Zealand artists that I personally admire. How did studying at The Learning Connexion transform you? TLC was a pivotal part of my development as a young adult. I made lifelong friends, and learnt lifelong skills. My self-esteem skyrocketed. Remember how I said I can do anything? Well I wouldn't think that if I had not studied at TLC. What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? There is no art without craft and no craft without patience. Making art is just as stimulating as taking drugs. It's all right if it doesn't happen straight away, this is a life path – don't eat yourself up if you don't achieve as quick as you think you should. The goal is to get better not be the best, you're winning against yourself not others. It's great to love what you're doing but eventually, everything you do becomes a job. Practise good routines – you will have to know how to do your taxes. keep dreaming and thinking big because coming up with new dreams takes a long time. Write down big goals as if casting a spell then hide them away, you'll be pleasantly surprised in a few years when you stumble across them and they all happened. Find people you can talk art with, keep them close. Have you been involved in any recent external creative activities, exhibitions, collaborations, presentations etc? I'm very lucky to have recently moved to the creative lil city of Whanganui and I've had many great creative opportunities come my way because of the very supportive arts community. I have four stockists in Whanganui which is huge as I only have three in Wellington. I've put work in the Sarjeant Review, been involved in a number of group shows at the Orphic Gallery. I've been in three Whanganui open studio events and had mentoring with local curators and artists. I also had the opportunity to work for a goldsmith for a year which was instigated by Whanganui and partners, a local business and innovation NGO affiliated with the council and the government You can see more of Rani's work on her website or Instagram.  Explore our study from home options.

    • What’s it like being a political cartoonist?
      • Cartoonist Jeff Bell came to The Learning Connexion after 10 years in journalism and communications. After completing a Diploma in Creativity, he’s now drawing weekly cartoons for Stuff.co.nz and in 2022 was awarded Cartoonist of the Year at the Voyager Media Awards. We spoke to Jeff about his work as an editorial cartoonist, and how The Learning Connexion gave him the confidence to realise his dream. Hi Jeff. You enrolled at The Learning Connexion in 2017. What brought about that decision? I wasn’t satisfied with my career, and wanted to have a real crack at being a cartoonist. I’d got to a point where I was really determined to make a go for it. I’d never studied art before, so it was a big leap. Do you think it was a good decision? It was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Within a few weeks of finishing my Diploma I was drawing a weekly cartoon for the Dominion Post, The Press and all the other Stuff.co.nz newspapers around New Zealand. It was my dream job. The Learning Connexion helped me upskill in areas I needed improvement, like drawing anatomy and painting backgrounds. But it also gave me the confidence to finally believe that I could be a cartoonist. I started approaching editors again – and this time it worked. How did your job with Stuff come about? After I finished my Diploma in 2018 I started approaching editors and art directors with some of the work I had produced in my year of study. But it wasn’t really going anywhere. I would get told my work was good, but they didn’t have any openings, or there wasn’t a budget. On top of that, I was unemployed and starting to run out of money. This wasn’t helped by the fact that a few months earlier I’d booked a trip to Indonesia with my partner. So there I was – July 2018 in Bali – literally on my last few dollars and freaking out about my employment situation. I was starting to seriously wonder if I should give up on my pipe dream of being a cartoonist. And that’s when I got that call from the editor of the Dominion Post. He told me they were looking for a new cartoonist for their Monday paper and would I be interested in stepping in? Ummm yes! That phone call changed the direction of my creative life. I went from being on the verge of giving up my dream of being a cartoonist, to having a cartoon published weekly by one of the biggest media companies in the country. It was quite a surreal change. You recently won Cartoonist of the Year, that must have been exciting? It was very exciting and unexpected. I was up against some great talent, cartoonists who have been doing it a lot longer than me. I feel like I’m still finding my style, and my voice. But, I seem to be reaching an audience, and the award was a great affirmation that maybe I'm not too bad at this. Why is political cartooning your choice of creativity? I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a satirical illustrator. I discovered my brother’s stash of Mad Magazines when I was about eight – I think I was looking for another type of magazine. But Mad captured my imagination, with its satirical cartoons and anarchic humour. I grew up wanting to be a cartoonist for Mad or the newspaper – that was pretty much it. What’s your purpose as a political cartoonist? My purpose is to offer a different perspective on issues. I really like bringing humour to things, but it’s more complex than that. I think cartoons can be a platform for constructive anger, for telling stories, making people think and feel. But mostly for me, it’s about looking at issues in an ironic way, pointing out hypocrisy and cutting through political spin. I’m always conscious of that idea of punching up rather than punching down. I firmly believe cartoonists should hold the powerful to account. We function in a similar way to journalists – it’s just that we have the added protection of satire, so we can be more subjective and get away with a lot more. How do you come up with ideas? I spend a lot of time reading and watching news content. I like to get a feel for what the biggest issues are that week, and then it’s a process of working out which ones I care about the most. Then I’ll sketch out some ideas and see which ones stick. I’ll often have that a-ha moment, when I know I’ve hit the idea I’ve been looking for. Do you receive any complaints about your work? Yeah, it comes with the territory. I don’t go out of my way to cause a reaction or create controversy, but in four years I’ve managed to piss off the dairy industry, the gun lobby, Destiny Church, Bob Jones, monarchists, National Party supporters, Labour Party supporters, and plenty of others. As a fairly non-confrontational person it’s been odd. There was one cartoon in particular about gun control that generated a lot of positive feedback, but it was also shared on a couple of gun blogs, and I started getting some really ugly messages from gun owners. There were no direct threats, but I was definitely feeling rattled for a couple of days. How do you handle negative feedback? One thing I’ve had to learn is to tone down my sensitivity. You can’t get too caught up in feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. You just keep doing your job. As artists, I think we struggle with that conflict of wanting our work to be seen, but also feeling very protective of it. But with editorial cartooning you have to let that go and accept that once your work is out there, it’s very open to criticism and pushback. How do you find that line between stirring debate and being offensive? That’s an interesting one. I recently did an interview with RNZ where I talked a bit about this. For me it’s about trusting my own instincts and “reading the room”. I think I’m lucky with Stuff – I have a really trusting group of editors, and because of that I’ve never felt restricted in what I can draw about. Have you ever had a cartoon rejected? Only once. It was about another cartoonist, Garrick Tremain, after he drew a cartoon that saw him stood down from The Otago Daily Times. I knew at the time of drawing it might be iffy – not because it was offensive or mean – but because it was a big, controversial issue that week, and I could understand why my editors might be feeling a bit nervous about adding fuel to the fire. The Learning Connexion has made a habit of producing cartooning talent – in 2013 you were runner up to another of our students Cory Mathis in the New Zealand Listener Young Cartoonist Award. Tell us about that? I know right! Cory was a big factor in me coming to The Learning Connexion. He really talked up the School’s illustration classes, and tutor Iain Watt. He was right. Iain’s illustration classes gave me a chance to grow as an illustrator. I was suddenly thinking about how to really craft an editorial illustration and how I might approach editors. I was actually seeing myself as an illustrator for the first time. You graduated with a New Zealand Diploma in Creativity (Level 5) – would you like to continue your study? I would like to – there’s so much I want to learn. It takes years for cartoonists to develop their own unique style and voice, and I don’t think I’ve quite nailed a consistent style yet. I think doing Level 6 could help fast-track that process, so I’m keen to do it when the time is right. You can see Jeff's work on his Facebook and Instagram Looking for a new creative direction? You can study onsite or from home at The Learning Connexion. 

    • Back on Track: Simon Hurley
      • A serious back injury – and eight weeks off work – was the spark needed for a new wave of creativity from Wellington artist Simon Hurley. Simon, who began work as The Learning Connexon’s caretaker in May this year, recently shared a collection of art created during his break, alongside other new staff at the School. “I slipped and fell (very hard) on my tailbone, lucky not to break it, but managed to do a compression fracture to one of my vertebrae, so fairly serious. As a result I couldn’t really leave the house much, and sitting was super uncomfortable, but I could manage standing at a workbench where I created these pieces.” Simon says that art was his mental, physical and emotional therapy during a difficult time. “Art was the thing that kept me going mentally, kept me company during long hours at home alone, got me out of bed in the morning to see how that piece I had glued together the day before looked, and kept my mind busy and focused on something other than the pain and discomfort I was in.” The focus of his art is assemblage sculpture from found objects, many of them everyday objects that have been previously discarded. “I try to see the beauty and value in items that would otherwise end up in landfill, or floating in the sea, and give them a new life by transforming them into something else.” Simon says sharing the work at TLC Gallery, alongside some other new staff, was a good way to introduce himself to the TLC community. “It is also a celebration of my being fit and healthy enough to now be back in full time work, and in an environment that reflects what is truly important to me, art and creativity!”  He says the injury was a reminder to him of what is really important to him – the ability to create and express himself. “I promised myself to embrace that more fully in my life going forward, not just during times of crisis.”  

    • Trusting the Process: Chrissy Wickes
      • Chrissy Wickes is a distance delivery student, who studies, and makes art from her home in Wanaka. She has also begun sharing her skills with others as an art teacher. Hi Chrissy. Nature features quite prominently in your art – how would you describe yourself as an artist? I like to paint, sketch, draw and basically visually express the natural world around me. I am fascinated by life. It's a miracle, it’s magic, it’s indescribable, it’s totally fantastical and that essence is what I try to express through art. The act of doing art is also a way that I find myself totally engaged with nature and my environment. It is like a doorway into another way of being in the world. It brings me joy to make art and it brings me joy to see others’ art. I work a lot from field trips, I like to be in location. Otherwise, I work on my dining room table from photos taken in the field. I enjoy going to places and sketching, photographing and then on return compiling a series of expressions of that place, that time. What brought you to The Learning Connexion? I wanted to try being an artist. For years, I have come and gone with art, putting it in the when I have time basket. So committing to TLC meant that I have time for art. Art is now what I do. I am so much happier because of this. And my art is getting much better. The more you do something the better you get. It’s not rocket science! At the time I enrolled there was a really helpful grant for those affected by COVID. Well, everyone was affected by COVID! But I took up that grant which avoided my self-imposed guilt of cost to the family. So I am very grateful. Art is now becoming my career. Both in teaching and selling art. Since doing the course I have grown in abilities as an artist as well as confidence. I have taken on three big community projects during my two years, and this has led to more on the horizon. Wow – that’s fantastic! Do you have a project you are currently working on? I have several projects on the go. I am working on a Subantarctic series. I have been down to the Subantarctic Islands several times working on conservation projects. I now want to create a series that provides the viewer with an experience of these really amazing raw natural places. I have been doing large charcoal sketches of the islands. For me, it's all about the wind, the relationship between sea and land. It's about weather and remoteness. Amazing. Any projects closer to home? I recently painted a transformer box for Aurora and the council here on the Wanaka waterfront. This was a neat project that featured the grebe in an acknowledgment of conservation work that a local did that has seen the comeback of the rare native bird the crested grebe. As a conservationist myself, this project fitted so well with my beliefs. I’m also working on some art in nature classes for adults. We have a lovely park here in Wanaka that is particularly amazing in autumn and spring. I think being in nature is so healthy for people. I also think being creative is really healthy. I completed a really successful autumn course and so I have applied for a second grant to complete a spring course. By getting a grant I can provide these workshops for free for all participants. I think people need this at the moment so it feels right to do this. So what are some of the things you enjoy most about studying with TLC? Having a mentor to talk through ideas with. I have been lucky to have two really good, very different mentors, both of whom stretched me so that I tried new ways, saw new possibilities and grew because of this. For me, as a distance student, I have used some of the resources online but haven't really fully engaged in the raft of other resources available. I did visit TLC for a block course and thoroughly enjoyed it. I would really love to be an onsite student but the remote works for me at the moment. What I like about the TLC style is the focus on experimenting. Some of the exercises to make you think wider and try new ways of seeing and doing are incredibly helpful in expanding the possibilities of my art. You are producing so much work. How do you sustain your creative practice – and where do you draw inspiration from? I get inspired by other artists. Currently, I am really enjoying two books – David Hockney’s Spring cannot be cancelled and Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff – another really good book about loosening up creativity. This has been good for my own practice and also as a teacher which is useful as I have just started to take classes for both adults and kids. I get a lot of ideas from being out in nature, looking and feeling. Exercise helps me think. Currently, I am enjoying walking at night around the streets looking at the shapes of things devoid of colour and detail. I think I will do a night series soon. Have you had any “wow moments” in your recent creative work? I think it was this paper mache lesson I did with some children. It was more of a wow moment as an art teacher. The kids thrived. It made me aware that kids like tactile experiences and need to get physical with their art. So I now think that sculpture is the perfect medium for kids, or maybe even for adults too. There is a common thought that kids need calming down. To me, this is painful, it is like a dulling down. By giving them a high-energy exercise, they can fully express themselves. It’s way more fun. What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Go for it! If art is your passion then it will take you somewhere useful for you and for your community. To be a creative person and not to be creative is like being a bird and not flying! TLC is also a very loving caring community with a focus on nurturing the creativity within each of us. From my experience it has been a very open and supportive art school. How have you transformed during your time at The Learning Connexion? I now do art almost daily. Basically, I now call myself a community artist. I am an artist! Before, I wanted to be an artist! I am a happier person when I am creating. My family know that! Trust the process – find out more about studying creativity and art from home

    • Forgotten Images: Nadia Simpson
      • Nadia Simpson was feeling burnt out by corporate life. We had a chat with her about how she turned things around and is now turning forgotten photographs into works of art. Hi Nadia. Why did you decide to enrol at The Learning Connexion, and was it a good decision? I think like a lot of us in 2020, I took time to reevaluate life. I had been working in the corporate world for five years, and previously I was hairdressing for 13 years. But working in an office five days a week staring at a screen I found myself being burnt out and just really questioning what I wanted in life. I had a few friends who had been to TLC and thought I would reach out to one after a day while I was on break at work. They replied so quickly with almost an essay-like response and I said to myself if I don’t do this now I won’t do it at all. I enrolled and handed my notice in and haven’t looked back. It's been one of the best things I've done for myself. I get to be me do things I want to do, learn things I want to learn, and be around creative people. I have enjoyed it so much my daughter is now doing her Level 4 Certificate. How would you describe yourself as an artist? I would say I am more of a hands-on sort of artist. I like to say I made this from the start to the end, taking the time to just zone out, listen to music and create. I like to be able to take photos on film, develop and print them myself. I find a lot of joy and find it therapeutic. There is nothing better than sitting in your own little darkroom, and when making my oddity creations it's also about that process of taking something you wouldn’t expect – be it bones, dead insects or birds – and making it into something beautiful. What are you currently working on? I'm working on a project I have called ‘forgotten images’, where I have collected over the past year people’s photos, negatives and slides that were thrown away and have found their way to local op shops. I have collected these from Rotorua all the way to Invercargill. I have spent many weeks just scanning and editing and restoring these images. The collection is now sitting at over 3000. Although it has been long and time-consuming, I really enjoy sharing some of these images with people, and everyone that sees them just really loves them. Plus I love getting to look through the eyes of the person who took them. I am forever grateful to have these images and have people's memories, as I find it rather sad that people just don’t care for them and throw them away like yesterday's trash. I would love to do an exhibition in the future of these images as some of them date from the late 1800s right up to the early 1990s. There are just so many images too amazing to even explain how great they are. What are some of the things you enjoy most about studying at TLC? From being on-site to now being a distant delivery since moving to Dunedin, I  have been lucky enough to be onsite to be around the most creative and amazing people and have the resources to create art. I have also made the most amazing group of like-minded friends which is always a huge plus. Now as a distance student, I am connecting with a new bunch of amazing people and being able to have that support from mentors and just the TLC Community has been great. How do you sustain your creativity, and where do you draw inspiration from? I feel that my inspiration really comes down to the mood I am in. As someone who has battled with mental health, I have found that I need to listen to my body and do things for me. When I'm low I tend to pick my camera up and head to the beach where I will sit there for hours taking long exposure photos, and when I'm in a well-focused mindset, I will be working in my art room with my music playing creating things with the material I have on hand. This is where I feel that my artwork has changed and evolved over the years. I stopped doing things that I thought people expected from me and have been creating things that I want, and if someone likes it then that’s a bonus. As an artist, I feel that this is something we tend to forget about. We are always creating trends or what people expect us to make, so breaking away from that mindset is so freeing. Have you had a recent "wow" moment with your creativity? Recently I have started to make art pieces out of bones I’ve collected, and ethically sourced butterflies, birds, and moths. I started making these just for myself as this is something that I enjoy, as I really love oddities. Since I shared the pieces I have made, I have had a lot of people loving them and even sold and done some commission pieces for people, which has just blown my mind. As artists, we are always our own worst enemy and have that self-doubt that our work is any good and why would anyone want that? But I am just blown away by the support for this extra project I have been working on, and it's something I could definitely grow into something more.   Explore our study from home options.

    • Matariki Food Drive: Sharing Food + Art
      • Matariki Food Drive: Sharing Food + Art2 July - 13 July A student exhibition and food drive for the Lower Hutt Food Bank are at the heart of The Learning Connexion School of Creativity and Art’s Matariki celebration. “As the marking of the Lunar New Year, Matariki is a time to consider the renewal and change that is a constant in life; to celebrate the year past and make plans for the year to come,” says Leo Semau, a mentor with The Learning Connexion (TLC) Restricted Programme. Traditionally, Matariki is closely tied to planting, harvesting and hunting. Those core concerns around providing for ourselves and our loved ones remain. “In recent years for more and more of us, these concerns around reliably providing life’s basic necessities have become pressing, even urgent issues,” says Leo. “With these contexts in mind, we have made the goal of this exhibition to mark and celebrate Matariki, while specifically acknowledging the contemporary context of food in 2022, particularly regarding food affordability and food security.” The Matariki exhibition will feature artwork from students in TLC’s Restricted Programme – those students studying qualifications from prisons around Aotearoa. The featured artworks will be in the form of kites – celebrating Matariki – and plates – which are associated with food. The works are overflows from previous RP exhibitions, and represent the prolific creativity of TLC’s Restricted Programme students. “Fitting with concepts central within mātauranga Māori such as balance and reciprocity, these works which represent an abundance in their own context, are utilised here with the intent that they draw awareness to and help alleviate an essential and growing material need in another,” says Leo. All food donations will go to the Lower Hutt Food Bank; 50% of proceeds from artwork sales go to the Lower Hutt Food Bank and 50% to The Learning Connexion Educational Trust, a not-for-profit organisation. An opening will take place on Saturday 2 July, 2pm - 5pm at The Learning Connexion School of Creativity and Art. The event will include a karakia, along with a free sausage sizzle. Koha for the Lower Hutt Food bank is welcome. Opening: Saturday 2 July, 2pm - 5pm Exhibition hours: 2 July - 13 JulyMon - Fri, 9am - 2pm The Learning Connexion 182 Eastern Hutt Road, Taitā, Lower Hutt0800 278 769gallery@tlc.ac.nz|TLC| Gallery Feature artwork:Untitled (Food from the Sea)Restricted Programmes StudentAcrylic on Board28cm Diameter$65 Poster artwork: Untitled (Fish/Corn), Restricted Programmes Student. 

    • Ground Works: Fundraising to acknowledge lost mural
      • Staff Exhibition Ground Works 19 May - 3 JuneFundraising to acknowledge the lost E. Mervyn Taylor mural The Learning Connexion School of Creativity and Art (TLC), is housed in what was once the New Zealand Soil Bureau, a government research centre established to investigate the specifics of our soil in Aotearoa, such as the implications it had for farming. Groundworks, an exhibition opening on 19 May, continues this investigation, but by looking at the other applications that ground, soil, earth and clay can have in an artistic frame. Groundworks is a collaborative exhibition of works in different mediums referencing the soil – all made by the incredible and multi-faceted team of staff at The Learning Connexion. Staff (from tutors to admissions) have created specific pieces or reflected on their practice – finding ties to the soil already existing in their work. As part of the programme taught onsite, materials from the earth are regularly transformed through bronze casting, Raku ceramic firing, Oamaru carving or stone setting. Fifty percent of proceeds from the exhibition will go towards fundraising to install a digital image of the First Kumera Planting / Kia Kitea Te Waewae Tangata mural (1962) by respected New Zealand artist E. Mervyn Taylor, that is masked by layers of paint in the school foyer. Unfortunately, the mural cannot be easily uncovered, as these methods would result in damage to the original paint. This exhibition is a grassroots collaboration by staff to start the journey that this project brings. To achieve an appropriate outcome in honouring this work, Dr. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith, editor of Wanted: The search for the modernist murals of E. Mervyn Taylor (Massey Press: 2018) and co-Director of Public Art Heritage Aotearoa New Zealand a research initiative at Toi Rauwhārangi Massey University College of Creative Arts. Ground Works opens 19 May, 5:30 - 7pm, and runs until 3 JuneThe TLC Gallery is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 2pm The Learning Connexion is at 182 Eastern Hutt Road, Taitā, Lower Hutt0800 278 769 gallery@tlc.ac.nz

    • Beth Strickland: The Silver lining
      • The first Covid-19 lockdown was a catalyst for change for Wellington artist Beth Strickland. After losing her job during the lockdown, Beth received an email about TLC's Reinvent your Future scholarship for people experiencing similar challenges. We had a chat with Beth at her studio in Khandallah, Wellington where she studies via distance delivery and works with a variety of mediums including charcoal, pastels, acrylic and oil. Hi Beth. So how did that email from TLC change things for you? I initially thought the scholarship wouldn't apply to me, but then one day I sat down and read it properly. Luckily, in the first lockdown, I had gone out and got a whole lot of art supplies and was taking daily photos of my progress. So I had a record of my work. I applied and found out the next day I got it. A real buzz. It's been the best decision I've made in a long time. Life-changing as they say and I'm totally obsessed with art now. I certainly have found my happy place. How would you describe yourself as an artist? I like to be experimental in my work and really enjoy the process – more than focusing on the outcome. I didn't really start getting into art until later in life. I first started classes as a way to meet people while living in Holland and just continued, mainly self-taught, picking up classes here and there when I could. "It wasn't until COVID hit and I lost my job that I found my silver lining. I got offered a Scholarship at TLC and have been more focused over the past couple of years moving from Level 4 to Level 5 now." What are some of the things you enjoyed most about studying at TLC? The flexibility and experimentation is huge for me. I've really enjoyed being able to work on projects and be guided by a mentor. It's been a great environment that encourages experimentation. I like it when I can go along for Block Weeks and when I've been able to do just one day in class as a DD Student. Learning from other students is a big part of that. Do you have a project you are currently working on? Now I have finished doing exhibitions for the year – I am going to experiment and focus on making art with hidden meaning around diversity. I have done a lot of research into international languages and symbols. I find it fascinating and listened to music from all different cultures as I worked. I've travelled quite a bit and love learning about different cultures. I also work for the Ministry of Ethnic Communities, so continue to learn a lot from there. My other little project is experimenting making art on large rolls of fabric – almost linen – rather than board or canvas. I've found ways to print my own designs onto the fabric. I'm using a Golden product called GAC900 which you just add as a medium to normal acrylic paint. It can go through the washing machine if it needed to. So I don't need to use special fabric paint which is more expensive and has less colour options off the shelf. I can paint straight on the fabric or use smaller pieces of fabric – designed with the gel plate – or I've even found out how to transfer paper designs on the fabric. Fantastic. So a bit like collage which I love as an art form.  How do you sustain your creative practice, where do you draw inspiration from? Financially I sustain my practice currently by working another job. Recently that's been really hard as my day job has been hugely time-consuming and I have had two exhibitions to pull together – all at the same time. I kind of laugh when I'm asked that question about inspiration. It's everywhere. I do spend a lot of time when I'm not in my studio making art watching all kinds of movies and videos about art and artists. So some of my favourites are the big names like Picasso, Matisse, Jean Michel Basquait. But I also love New Zealand artists like Louise Henderson, Woollaston and Rita Angus for her swirling lines. I don't want to replicate their work – but do copy at the beginning to see if I can use it in different ways. Or parts of it. Great artists steal and all that. Are your skills and approach to creativity transferable into ‘other’ fields in your life? I think so. I find at work I'm adaptable, creative in problem-solving and able to analyse, equally well. Where some others at work are good at one of those, I think I'm a bit more of an all-rounder. Not sure if it's true or not, but I read artists use a lot of different parts of their brain. As we learn more and more about the brain I think it's become less true about left and right brain thinking being so categoric. When you are being creative it is the only time you use two parts of your brain at the same time. Maybe it's paying off for me! Describe a highlight, a wow moment of a recent work or creative experience? I almost always go through the ugly stage when making my abstract work. That moment when I think I've ruined it – but actually I never do. I've learnt I can always fix it. But I guess the highlight is when you make the breakthrough and recover from that ugly stage. 'When it all starts to come together and you wake up the next morning, have another look at it and think yup, I love it. You can't beat that feeling. That's the WOW moment. Sometimes I look at work I did a little while ago and am a bit stunned – in that I'm surprised I could do that.' What advice would you give people starting out at The Learning Connexion and wanting to pursue a creative pathway? Don't make excuses – just get into it. There has never been a better time for artists to make and sell their work. It's a world of abundance. What are your creative ambitions? Where would you like to be in five years? I'd like to be earning a high income from my art. Recently I have bought a house with my husband down in Kakanui – near Oamaru. I want to be living down there in a little piece of paradise with my own studio that I can open up to the public – when it suits me. The rest of the time I just want to carry on being creative and evolving. If I can be making the work and have galleries that want to sell it on my behalf, that's me sorted. And if somehow I can convert a campervan into a moving art studio and just go travelling, even better. How have you transformed during your time at The Learning Connexion? First, my confidence has gone up in huge leaps. I don't worry what people think about my work or compare myself to others anymore. My favourite saying is 'it's my job to make work to a level I'm happy with - it's the audience's job to seek out work that resonates with them'. I've also got a lot, lot braver – trying lots of different things and just putting it out there. What challenges have you faced as you work towards making your creativity sustainable? Time mainly. It's also always challenging to try and sell my art. The number of hours put in at the beginning with little financial reward just ain't fun sometimes. With marketing and selling, it's better to focus on doing a few things well, than trying to get really popular on all social media platforms, for example. If it doesn't convert to a faithful following and sales further down the track – it's just noise.So how do you market your work? The usual channels – website, social media. I'm always talking to people about what I do. I carry a pile of small postcards that have quality images of my work, then give them away to interested people. They are more effective than a business card as people like to keep it. When I thought about doing an exhibition I chose Thistle Hall in Cuba St, Wellington for a few reasons. It's a community-based gallery – good foot traffic and costs and commissions are lower so it seemed a good entry point. Once I learned from that experience, I've strategically approached galleries that I think will be a good match for my work. In other words, I did my homework first. I've been able to build good relationships with gallery owners so far – and they are asking for more – so that's all positive. Looking for your own silver lining? Explore our study from home options.

    • Finding my miracle: Frances Caldwell
      • When Frances Caldwell received a scholarship from The Learning Connexion to study for the Certificate in Creativity and Art, it felt like a “miracle”. We asked her to tell us why. “The scholarship was a miracle arrival in my mailbox; it turned up several weeks after I admitted my attempts to succeed in the world of ‘normal’ work was going to kill me – in spirit definitely, and possibly even by death from stress. For almost 10 years I had job-hopped from frying pan to devil’s cauldron, working mainly in mental health as a manager, adviser, coordinator, or facilitator. I had no time or energy to be creative, and my physical and mental health kept declining. But I just kept on pushing myself until the week before I saw the TLC scholarship advertised. I was at work on Saturday, exhausted, but still functioning when my brain just stopped working. People talked at me, asking questions and all I could hear were strange underwater noises. Nothing made sense. I went home and cancelled everything in my diary for the following week. In that week of silence I slept, meditated, journaled, and I taped pieces of paper together into a massive mind map. Things had to change. I was on the wrong path, but I didn’t know what the new one was. The only thing clear was that I needed to do more of what nourished my brain and less of what made it feel like it was daily being stripped and shredded in a grinder. Somewhere in that week of recalibration, I saw and applied for a TLC scholarship. I had no expectation of it being successful. But when it was, it was like a light came on; after years of banging my head on doors, one had opened, and I had barely knocked. My initial aims for study at TLC were low key; I wanted to rekindle my creativity (before the “real jobs” I had devised theatre and done lots of writing) and see if there was anything in the embers worth saving. I wanted to explore the tiny but satisfying experiences I had had with visual art. I wanted to learn to draw. And I wanted to see if the envy I felt towards artists was a kind of wake-up call. Turns out it was. My first TLC mentor, the very patient Billy Wilson, saw a tiny speck of hope in the dusts that were my initial attempts as a part-time distance student. He nurtured that speck and guided me until I was drawing! And then I was seeing the world differently, taking photos everywhere I went, working out what I was drawn to, getting ideas that were beyond my capabilities but starting to feel like this could be something I could keep learning. I went to Wellington for a block week at TLC, studying jewellery onsite. It seemed like a bit of a side-track, but I’d never forgotten the winter I once spent in Amsterdam, staying with a silversmith, and watching him work; the flame from his torch warming up the icy studio. Since that first jewellery block week, where I cut and burned myself as I learned to make hundreds of tiny copper jump rings, I’ve now done three TLC jewellery block weeks and have my own workspace at home, complete with a torch and a few of the other many (and expensive) tools required. I’m not a patient person, not especially a details person, and certainly not someone prepared to suffer for my art. But when it comes to making jewellery, I’m in the moment, focused and content. Time disappears. I applied for a scholarship for the next stage, the level 5 diploma. Again, my expectations were low and again, I was astounded to hear that I would have all my fees paid as I studied part-time for another two years. Again the door was open, so I walked through it. My circumstances were a little changed and it was going to be harder for me to get to block weeks in Wellington. I didn’t know how I’d manage to keep learning jewellery by distance, but the Christchurch library had jewellery making books, and that seemed the closest I could get in the meantime. With the books nearly all out on loan, I put holds on some and was emailed by the librarian; she’d never come across this before, but the person with all the books out wanted to make contact with me. Reluctantly I shared my email address, wondering if I was handing it to a stalker. But, the book borrower was a lovely women called Lorelie, a maker of beautiful silver jewellery, who hoped from my book choices that I was knowledgeable about enamelling. She was also curious to find out who wanted the books that she’d been serially renewing for months. Unfortunately for Lorelie, I was no use to her on the enamelling front. Instead, she opened opportunities for me, inviting me to join her and other jewellers on Mondays, learning and making in the studio of retired Dutch jeweller Gerry De Gouw. I was shy and very aware of my lack of experience, but I couldn’t believe my luck. I now had access to tools, inspiration, guidance, and encouragement on a weekly basis. And then it got better still. TLC changed my mentor to an actual jeweller, Keri-Mei Zagrobelna. From the other side of 18 months of mentorship from Keri-Mei, my perspective on life has changed. Most strikingly, I’ve stopped anxiously searching for what to do “when I grow up”. I’ve accepted that being creative, visually, is something I need to do for my own health and sanity. I’ve accepted that while not everyone sees that as a valid life choice, many people are supportive. I’ve learned how to set creative goals and work in a way that is emotionally sustainable, rather than my old workaholic driven-ness I’ve learned that I can calmly set goals and solve problems in other areas of my life too. Keri-Mei also encouraged me to pursue other forms of visual creativity, ones that could nourish me when the jewellery well was running dry. I rediscovered my love of mosaicking, something linked to my obsession with op-shopping for old china to decorate my house, drink dainty cups of tea from, and make into jewellery. And I followed a long-time love of coloured glass, taking my first community class in lead lighting, then designing and making my first window. The glass class offered yet another opportunity, a community of leadlighters that I can create with on Saturday mornings. In my first year of study, I identified art nouveau as a style of art that spoke to me. And when, on a car journey in rural Canterbury, I came across a tiny church with stained glass windows designed by famous wallpaper designer William Morris, I knew that my love of decorative art and floral motifs was something real and weighty. Something I had a right to care about. Keri-Mei pushed me on my whys for the floral theme and it went deeper; in the worst of my despair times, I hung hope on the changing seasons in the garden, focused on capturing the fleeting beauty of poppies, the last leaves of autumn and the severe branches of winter. No doubt my tastes will change as my art journey progresses. I’m very new in this, still an apprentice with so much to learn and too many ideas going in different directions. I wish I’d found my way here years ago, but I think perhaps I was too impatient, too unwilling to sit still and quietly, too unsure of myself and, ironically, too caught up in my own importance. Initially afraid of destroying my creativity by linking it to money, Keri-Mei has encouraged me to think in terms of sustainability – making decisions that will allow me to cover the substantial costs involved in making jewellery. When I think of it this way, it makes sense to make a few ‘best-sellers’ that will allow me to keep creating. And selling things to make room to make more. So far, I’ve sold just a few rings, but next time Covid allows me the opportunity to be in an exhibition I will let other pieces go – if someone wants to buy them. There is something terrifying about putting a price on something I’ve made, but I’m getting used to the idea of valuing what I do. I’ve got exhibition pieces ready and waiting, and I’ve enrolled in a course that trains people in setting up their own business. And when finances allow, I plan to re-enrol with TLC for the next phase of my creative journey. In the meantime, mental health work has made a minor reappearance in my life – this time linked to creativity as I facilitate art sessions for people in community and inpatient mental health facilities. My aim is not so much to teach art but to share creative tools that have helped my own mental health." Ready to find your miracle? Explore your study options now for Term 2

    • Jimmy Taylor: Brave new worlds
      • Jimmy Taylor’s fascination with the other-worldly began at a very young age. “As a child I always drew and painted, creating new creatures and characters based on mythological legends and folklore.” As a young artist, he was drawn to the works of H.R Giger – the mastermind behind the creatures and worlds of the Alien series, as well as worlds from that other iconic science fiction series, Star Wars. “To be able to create a new world down to its botanical life forms, and creatures that only live in the imagination. I began to study anatomy, botany and chemical science to make my world a reality.” It’s a journey that is now flourishing at The Learning Connexion, where Jimmy has been able to turn the visions of his imagination into physical structures, courtesy of TLC’s ceramics studio. “Currently I'm creating organic shapes from clay that resemble coral or fungus, using various methods to create texture and bring colour in the firing process. I love tarnished metals, oxidation, how fungus grows on rotting wood and decay.” Jimmy says he’s found new creative life working in ceramics, and is excited by what he’s been able to create. “Seeing my first finished glazed piece – that's when I knew I was onto something. I can create the colors and textures that I imagine and make them 3D. A drawing of an idea can only portray so much, whereas physical touch makes an idea real.” He’s also painting a series of mummies using inks and schlack, creating textured layers to portray the decaying of time. He’s also finding that in the unique native bush setting of TLC’s campus, and the surrounding environs of the Hutt Valley, inspiration can be found much closer to home. “Nature inspires me. I'm always exploring mother nature. Collecting shells, skulls and sticks washed on a beach or how a spider catches a fly. The way nature feeds itself and grows inspires me to create new textures and forms of shape.” Jimmy says he was initially “petrified” of enrolling at TLC. “I hadn't drawn or created anything since I was a young teen. I had a lot of self-doubt, and it wasn't until I started getting feedback from fellow students and tutors that I started to have confidence in my art. "It's only recently that I've allowed myself to truly create, to draw, to put pen to paper and make my world a reality.” “The tutors at TLC have a huge knowledge base about artist techniques that can be applied to a student’s overall vision and encourage new ways of trial and error.” His advice if you’re thinking of enrolling at TLC: “Experience everything, taste-test every class that the school has to offer, a new method or technique can always elevate the vision you are trying to create.” Jimmy says TLC has given him a lot of confidence to take the next steps in his creative journey. “I've gained confidence in developing a personal style, and confidence in myself. My life hasn't been the easiest of roads – broken home, childhood trauma, religious discrimination, addiction – you name it, I've most likely had an experience of it. Art has been my escape from the world around me and the situations that I've found myself in." "It's in the odd and discarded where I find most comfortable.” Ready to build your brave new world? Explore your study options now for Term 2

    • Louisa Chase: Moving from the Inside Out
      • Louisa Chase has come to full-time creative practice later than many – she enrolled at The Learning Connexion (TLC) aged 52. But she is making up for lost time. "Until I started at TLC I was self-taught apart from a few community classes here and there," says Louisa, who completed Level 6 at TLC last year. "I had tentatively exhibited and sold a few early charcoal works through exhibitions at The Petone Depot, and had also had a painting accepted for exhibition at The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts." It was through these experiences that Louisa met tutors and students from TLC, encounters that led her to the School. She enrolled in Level 6 on the basis of a strong portfolio, skipping Level 4 and 5. "I already had a clear idea that painting and drawing were what I wanted to focus on, with a little side exploration into printmaking." She says beginning at Level 6 had one downside. "With hindsight I would have benefited from more time for exploration of 3D, photography, and all the other things on offer (in Levels 4 and 5)". Louisa says the decision to study at TLC came form a burning realisation. "I recall that at some point, I had the thought that if I ended up on my death bed without having studied art and committing myself to a full-time studio practice to see what could happen, I would feel terrible regret." "It had always seemed too hard, or that being and living as an artist was for other people." She is currently concentrating on painting and drawing, with movement as a basis for that practice. "I studied ballet and modern dance when I was younger, but moved away from those when I came back to dance in later life. My dance practice for the last five years has been centred on a variety of dance forms which come under the broad umbrella of Conscious Dance."  "Generally there are no steps to learn, and the focus is to listen intently to how one’s own body wants to move, and how it wants to move in relation to another or to the group," she says. "It is a practice of moving from the inside out, of improvisation and spontaneity, and this forms the basis of my art practice. The key to all this is that it may not always be pretty, 'together' or coordinated. It is about including it all, accepting being out-of-balance, the moments of awkwardness, the 'ugly' and the 'unacceptable'." "In doing this and finding expression for those parts that are often repressed, suppressed or hidden through fear or shame, we eventually move through them and find moments of peace, joy and beauty." She says this organic approach has been integral to her painting and drawing practice. "I feel as though I often have to move through the ugly and unharmonious stages with a work or series of works before they find the quality of strong energy and clarity that I am seeking. Art as life! And there are no short-cuts or by-passes: the only way is through!" Louisa says TLC has been a supportive place to explore this way of working. "It encourages the finding of our own particularity in how we work. I have been searching during my time here for a way of working that is aligned with my interest in more sustainable and earth-friendly living, and the expertise of Marc Hill in traditional painting materials and techniques has been invaluable for that, as well as the support of my Level 6 mentor Dan Wilkinson and others in trusting my own unique path." That exploration is certainly paying off. She has recently had another painting selected for the Winter exhibition at The New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts – it sold on the first day. She says the next stage of her work is research into a traditional plant from where she grew up in the UK, called Woad, which has been grown in Europe since the Stone Age. "It was used to make a blue dye and pigment as long ago as in Boudica’s time, when the warriors used it to paint their faces." "Using the medicinal plant Woad is a natural next step which integrates my homeland connection with my study of Western herbal medicine, my interest in sustainable materials, and my art-making, and just feels so right! It’s another example of how a unique art practice is an integration and result of your whole life and interests." Louisa says there is a lot she would like to explore as she continues her study with Level 7 this year. "My plan is to keep deepening the connection I have with the materials I choose (or that choose me!). And the potency and potential of creativity to bring healing and acceptance – for self, others, and the non-human world, are key motivating factors." You can see more of Louisa's work on her website and Facebook. Portrait photography by Neil Chase

    • Children's art and learning to make mistakes
      • Leda Farrow teaches children art at The Learning Connexion. Her students get the chance to find out what they are passionate about, and the freedom to learn from their mistakes. It's that philosophy that makes her one of New Zealand's best children's art teachers. We had a chat with Leda about teaching art to children, and her own background in creativity.  How did you get into teaching kids art classes at The Learning Connexion (TLC)? I first became interested in teaching kids when I worked on a performing arts summer camp in the USA. The camp was great because it allowed kids to find their passion through many different outlets from creative arts to circus performance. While I was there I taught painting, drawing, mural art, 3D sculpture and theatre classes. When I came back to New Zealand I really wanted to bring the freedom and positive energy from the camp into the classroom, which is when I started teaching at TLC. It must be exhausting! Do you enjoy it? Kids get excited about the same things I get excited about so I don't find it that exhausting. I get a lot of energy from seeing them create and have fun, though being on your feet for the whole school holidays can be tiring. Every class is always different so I enjoy the variety and different energy and wacky ideas the kids bring to it. Tell me about your teaching philosophy when working with children? I believe kids should learn to make mistakes and take risks, which are the key skills for innovation and creative thinking. Art is all about taking risks and finding out what it is you are doing through making. I try and encourage students to find confidence in themselves and in new ideas by giving them variety and allowing them to experiment. We obviously have boundaries and I do set limitations and parameters for them to work within but it is great for them not to have that pressure of trying to make something perfect and to just enjoy the process and see where it takes them. Why does TLC run kids classes? I like to think it is a great service to the community and gives kids and parents some different options. I think parents do see the value of creativity and see it as part of a child's healthy development and sense of self. Why is it good for children to learn art? That is a big question that I could write a whole essay on. I think the main benefit is for them to learn how to express themselves. At a more existential level I think art has the power to be transformative and helps us see ourselves and the world in new ways. When we create it is kind of like a mirror reflecting our innermost self back at us. It can give us clues as to who we are and where we are going. I think more practically it allows kids to have a healthier relationship with themselves and encourages them to take risks and make mistakes which in turn helps them to become more resilient as adults. I also think the younger generation is going to need to be innovative and not be afraid of going against the status quo if we are going to solve some of the challenging issues facing us in the future. Do you get good feedback from the kids? It is hard to get kids to fill out feedback forms as the feedback can vary hugely but many of the kids in our holiday programme come back every term. Some don't want to go home at the end of the day and some who come for the whole holiday programme, for example, get really excited to find out what the next day's activity is. So it is normally very obvious when they have had a good time. More about Leda Leda recently completed her Masters in Fine Arts at Massey University. She is interested in puppetry, multimedia, sustainable development and the avant-garde. She likes art that is experimental, expressive and immersive. Her studies in the arts at Massey University (Wellington) include a Bachelor of Fine Arts with First Class Honours in 2011, majoring in Installation and Performance Art. In 2009 she studied at UC Berkeley, where she took courses in sound and video art. In 2011, she worked with Bread and Puppet Theatre, a political puppet theatre company based in Vermont, where she learnt the art of animating objects and constructing large scale puppets. Her love of teaching began long before TLC's art classes, completing her Post Graduate Diploma in Secondary School Education at Victoria University of Wellington in 2013. She then went on to be an art tutor at Camp Pillsbury, a performing arts summer camp for kids in America. In addition, Leda has worked as a set designer for the Manawatu Summer Shakespeare, as a puppet and effigy builder for the Wellington Loemis Festival and as a special effects artist for BodyFX. She is interested in creating sustainable art through the use of recycled and eco-friendly materials and through looking at art as a sustainable philosophy. She believes art has the power to transform communities and encourages artists, young and old to embrace risk-taking, self-expression and the creative process. Check out this video of the creation of Staccus - an effigy built by Leda and team as part of Loemis Winter Solstice Festival in 2019.   Find our more about our Kids' Art Holiday programme And check out our Kids' Art Classes  

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