Kirsten McAuley

Kirsten began her drawing and painting career when her youngest child was in their last few years at school. She hails from Ōtepoti and began life with a love of dance, but then studied medicine and worked as a doctor before embarking on a research career. She dropped everything in 2007 and focused on her family and exploring a different role for herself. This exploration in various creative fields led her eventually to life drawing and oil painting.

She is largely self taught, but has learned a lot over the years from many different courses, workshops and other artists. She particularly enjoys painting still life works, playing with colours, light and beautiful objects from nature or in everyday life. She finds there is so much to explore by combining different forms, compositions and colours, creating ‘landscapes’ in fruit or evoking the mood of the old masters with porcelain. She hopes to share the delicate beauty she sees in the simple things around her as she continues to explore the possibilities of expression through drawing and painting.