"The life experience that art has given me, the journey that it has taken me on and the extraordinary people it has connected me with, I consider to be a profound blessing."
Image by Ann Orman
Story
It was an epiphany in Florence that reawakened the dream to be an artist. Then a chance meeting in Auckland in 1997 with the late Tim Wilson, renowned NZ landscape painter, whose challenge to take up painting, was the catalyst to begin.
Originally self-taught, the next seven years were an exploration of mediums and grounds, always returning to oil paint. After a successful first solo show in 2000 at Somerset Grand Metropolis Hotel in Auckland, Anita continued to stage exhibitions of her work privately. A keen proponent of the written word, her works have also included painted poems and those of poet and friend Janine Phillips, inspired by the collaborations between NZ painter Colin McCahon and NZ poet John Castleberg.
In 2004 Anita was tutored by NZ painter Mathew Browne, attending his year long Painters Progress class exploring works in abstraction.
At the end of 2004 Tim Wilson invited her to work in situ with him and to develop her growing interest in painting realism in oil. The result was a six year one on one apprenticeship, learning Tim’s unique oil painting techniques and forging a great friendship with him and his husband Vaj. When Tim and Vaj moved from Auckland to Queenstown to establish Tim Wilson Gallery in 2010 they invited Anita to relocate with them.
From 2010-2020 Anita worked both as a sales consultant at Tim Wilson Gallery and exhibited the boat series, and still life works alongside the landscape paintings of her mentor. The gallery became a sought-after destination attracting art lovers and connoisseurs from all over the world.
When Tim passed away in July 2020 Tim Wilson Gallery relocated to Tim and Vaj’s private residence on Queenstown Hill. Visitors now have the opportunity to view a retrospective of Tim’s remaining works and private art collection amidst the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home, purpose built to showcase extensive views overlooking Lake Wakatipu. Tim’s private painting studio with unfinished works in situ is both poignant and inspiring to visit.
Anita is solely represented by Tim Wilson Gallery where her works can also be viewed alongside those of the other artists also mentored by renowned NZ landscape painter Tim Wilson.