Katie's Dam (watercress salad for all) Artist Print by Jane Hoggard

When you climb to the largest hill on my sister’s property, where the Nikau palms touch the top of the gravel road, there is a platform of tussock she plans to build on for aging family… and just beyond there is a swimming dam, a ‘plop in and out’ type dam.

I am inspired by history, my childhood, culture, my children and the world I see - the ground in front of me! Birds, boats and the bush are a mainstay for my drawing practice. I tend to capture landscape scenes and detailed botanical line drawings as a regular practice.

With a rich heritage of Yorkshire ancestors, I was surrounded by creative master potters and wares within our family’s chinaware business. Our home was a still life setting, complete with Dutch oil paintings at every turn and chinaware on every surface. I was surrounded by retro textiles and fabrics of my Dutch cousins in our first home in New Zealand. I am drawn to the calming lines of vintage furniture and architecture. Danish glassware and homewares bring me joy for their simplistic lines and earthy palette.

My work is a collection of these family experiences and memories. Inter-woven between history and the present, my heritage and present life, my work has been painted with elements of joy, sadness and pensive thought.