Kia ora, I’m Renee and I’m pleased to be tutoring the Introduction to Relief Printmaking class from term two.

I grew up in the beautiful rural Waikato, holidaying at lakes and rivers and day tripping to the beach. These formative experiences cemented in me a love for the Waikato basin, the texture of the bush, crisp New Zealand light, and the constant embrace of distant hills. 

I studied Visual Arts in Auckland, and the Bombay hill became a threshold between home and not home. I majored in printmaking, and still love the fascinating variety of outcomes printmaking offers. 

After my BVA I returned to Hamilton, completed a PGdip Teaching at Waikato Uni and began commuting to teaching positions in the greater Waikato. 

I have tutored and run works privately and am pleased to now join the WSA team. 

My current art practice is primarily in wood block print. I love the graphic quality of single colour images, and the methodical nature of the carving process. The beautifully designed 1935 Pictorial series of stamps capture iconic New Zealand Fauna and natural and cultural scenes. Translating them into wood block print is an ongoing project. 

The bach series began as catharsis but has become a reflection upon place and comfort. They are symbolic and a little romantic, sitting with their faces to the sun cloaked in bush and garden. They are humble dwellings with the stuff of life around them, washing lines, ladders, gas bottles, boogie boards. 

In them I try to capture a sense of place that we are drawn to return to; whether physically, in memory or in imaginings. 

It is a great joy to hear stories from viewers of how they bring to mind past homes, holidays, relationships and special memories.

https://www.rmprintmaker.com/