About me – Jill Main

Actually the story starts with two of the great Kiwi traditions, a love affair and the O.E. However, in this case it started from the other side of the world (England) and wound up here in New Zealand!

I fell in love…. clean oceans, big sky, majestic scenery and friendly people, I knew I had met my soul mate when I met New Zealand.

With a passion for textiles and crafts (having a mother who sewed for “all the family”) I embarked on the dusty, bumpy, adventurous, soul searching and ultimately rewarding road of building the business Jill Main New Zealand.

That was, well, a few years ago and while the love affair with textiles continues I am seeking new challenges and stimulation.

Experimenting with acrylic paints, already experienced and intune with colour, this art is a personal challenge to find my way to create a unique technique and imagery with my own signature strokes. For me it is a form of relaxation, a journey of discovery, a meditation where my brain is focused solely on the canvas before me, trying to generate something of beauty, to enhance a living environment and create a treasure.

At present I am using acrylic paints on the linings of Japanese Obi, a heavy woven linen, the material has a wonderful texture. Always inspired by the allure of nature I photograph and use these images of scenery and birds as my starting point.I visit museums and art galleries and study other artists techniques – Rita Angus, Don Binney, Robin White, to name a few –  but aspire to create my own individual style.

I usually listen to music when I paint and sometimes lyrics will resonate and in my mind I will be conveying that music and lyrics into the painting. The music is usually calming and meditative but can sometimes be very fun and popular songs that I can hum or sing along to whilst I paint.

My aim? To purvey a luscious and luxurious palette, bright and vibrant, with a perspective that entices you to journey this extraordinary country of magical light and sublime scenery – a vision that is so tactile, you long to reach out, touch and be transported to that place.

Enjoy the trip

http://www.jillmain.co.nz