"Welcome to Art Group Nelson". "I am delighted to be Art Group Nelson's AGN’s president".
"The extraordinary dedication of our valued committee members both past and present has made our special club what it is today".
"Thank you to Past President Nicole Russell and her committee for all their efforts and dedication". "Together we will strive to support members on their exciting art journey".
"To you, all who share a passion for art, let us together make this year a better healthier, and connected club and last but not least have fun doing it!".
"I'll include a bit about myself below so we can get to know each other a little better".
About me
A retirement hobby? Yes, but art has provided me with so much more. I enjoyed art at high school despite the memories of striving to create a masterpiece on newsprint, with a brush only fit for glue and rounds of poster paint in a six-hole patty tin.
At college, I trained to be a PE teacher with an additional qualification in ceramics. At my first interview, sitting at a large mahogany board room table and surrounded by an audience of eleven male board members, I was asked if I could teach hockey and what was ‘crematics’?
Years passed and for ten years I was a member of Omokoroa Artists in the Bay of Plenty. Their monthly challenge was the incentive I needed to make a start. The members have become lifelong friends and tutors but with our family move south to the ‘mainland’ I joined Art Group Nelson – a new challenge.
My art roots are in drawing, particularly in pen and ink with my first ever sale being a drawing of a wild sea on the rocks of Muriwai Beach. Now I enjoy painting in bright acrylics, art which makes people smile.
My vision for the club is to dream big and work towards an Arts Centre for Nelson Tasman, where meetings, workshops, and Expos can be held in one place. A home for ‘Doing Art ’ that provides a facility that promotes arts and crafts, meeting both the creative and artistic needs alongside the well-being of the community.
Karen Loten