A reflective process
Sally is a mixed-medium artist and has been involved in various art groups and exhibitions across New Zealand and internationally, most recently in Tauranga and Waihi Beach. Sally has been involved in art as a practising artist and teacher for over 25 years. Her interest in exhibiting her pieces and nurturing her talent grew when on a six-year relocation with her family to Canada, and what started as a way to meet people and endure the long Canadian winters soon grew into a passion.
Sally Thrush is a new resident to the area, relocating from the Bay of Plenty to Snells Beach to be closer to family. After settling in the gorgeous beach suburb she joined Kowhai Arts and Crafts Print, and The Mahurangi Artist Network, working with like-minded people, helping feed her creativity and build her local artist network.
Sally is a member of the Print Council Aotearoa NZ and is a regular exhibitor in their small print exhibition, which travels to galleries throughout the country. Sally’s mediums are paint and print, exploring acrylics, mixed media and collage. Her printmaking revolves around collagraphs, but she also explores lino cuts and monoprints, often combining these techniques to create beautifully-layered prints. Her painting and mixed-media work is a very organic process; as the painting develops she allows it to evolve and the process becomes intuitive, often leading to the final piece being very different to the initial spark of an idea. Printmaking is a much more structural process, and she finds it a more cognitively focussed medium involving specific learnt techniques and skills. It’s this combination of constant learning and the unknown of the finished pull that continues to draw Sally further into printmaking.
Sally’s work is a “personal reflection of my emotions, character and life experiences. My inspiration is a response to the landscape, items I’ve collected and ideas stored in my vast compilations of sketch books. For me, sketchbooks provide reference, gathering of information, recollections of time, a place to write, draw and experiment without the fear of a blank canvas. The end results combine colours, texture, line and expressive markings that satisfy me personally and invite the viewer in to take a closer look.”
Sally works out of her home studio in Snells Beach where she welcomes visitors on open days or by appointment.
www.instagram.com/SallyThrush_Art
IsThrush@xtra.co.nz