About Us - Marie Sanders
Creative Background
My career in art began when I did the three year course at the
Wellington School of Graphic Design, and I graduated in 1971. I then
went into design and advertising, and eventually specialised in fashion
drawing. Then twelve years ago, a friend sent me a box of Unison
pastels, and I immediately loved working with them, as they were
essentially a drawing medium. I found the special qualities of pastel
were ideal for life drawing, enabling me to capture the movement of a
figure in a quick sketch, and also the details of the face for a
portrait.
Six years ago, I was asked to teach a general pastel class at the
Mairangi Art Centre, and in this class I cover landscapes, still life,
portraits and flowers in pastel. Teaching has been a learning curve for
me, and I really enjoy teaching this class, – in particular, seeing the
students develop and gain confidence using their pastels. I am very
grateful to my wonderful and enthusiastic students, who inspire me to
discover even more about the joys of using the pastel medium.
I am also a member of PANZ, the Pastel Artists of New Zealand, and I am
the PANZ representative for the Auckland area, and also Northland and
the Waikato area. This involves keeping in touch with the PANZ members
by e-mail, – informing them of art exhibitions, workshops, and
interesting web-sites featuring pastel artists.