Raglan artists included in New Zealand contemporary art book

Raglan artists Lindsey Baker and Jane Galloway have been included in a new book on contemporary New Zealand art.  Publisher Denis Robinson travelled on a road trip of New Zealand in his caravan visiting artists to discuss and select work for Artists’ Impressions of New Zealand.

Raglan residents Lindsey Baker and Jane Galloway, are artist who are both totally familiar with their location.   Baker has painted Te Mata Church, about 12km East from Raglan.  The painting shows a cream weatherboard building, set against a darkened, brooding sky. The painting salutes a disappearing way of life in rural New Zealand when every small settlement had a church and school at its heart.

Galloway’s work celebrates Raglan’s wild Ngarunui Beach, complemented by the Pokohui Estuary in another painting. The estuary has been painted at sunset, the soft colours and a graceful grey heron evoking a tranquil mood.

Robinson photographed the artworks himself, or used images supplied by the artists.   The artists submitted work that expresses their creative or emotional response to the places they know well. The captions tell the ‘story’ behind every painting.

This latest book by Robinson is his seventh in the past five years on contemporary New Zealand art. He is in his mid-60s and throughout his career as a designer, art director and gallery director, he has developed impressive contacts among painters.  He lives on the Hibiscus Coast, north of Auckland and operates his own art and design consultancy, connecting artists with art lovers.

Robinson books concentrate on the paintings that most people buy  and he aims to make the books interesting while giving the painters national exposure.

Artists’ Impressions of New Zealand, compiled by Denis Robinson, (New Holland Publishers, $55).