Meet Our Tutors.
Val Cuthbert
In 2000, after a lifetime of teaching, Val left her post at Northcote college to follow her dreams of becoming a full time artist. During the 1980's, she had joined NZ's first art/craft co-op, Brown's Mill, and was very keen to experience the same immersion in creativity she had been able to experience then as a fabric artist.
Initially Val taught herself to paint using acrylics on paper and canvas, then in 2004 she joined a printmaking group and learned intaglio and relief printing techniques. 16 years later and she is still enjoying painting and printmaking using her own press, and continuing to explore what it means to be an artist in the 21st Century. Val loves to use images from her garden, and of NZ native flowers, birds and landscapes. She is a realist, using images that people are familiar with, such as Tuis, Oystercatchers, Sparrows and Terns. She has also created a pastoral series with cows, sheep, hens and clover to reflect our farming heritage. Val has held several solo exhibitions, won many awards over the years and had work included in many juried and selected exhibitions: North Shore City Art Awards (now Hibiscus and Bays Art Awards), Central Print Council of Aotearoa NZ exhibitions, Impressive lll, and lV, and also the Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington. In December 2015 she won a Members' Merit Award at Lake House & in 2016 she was a finalist in the NZ Painting and Printmaking Awards. Val also enjoys being able to share her passion for printmaking with others and now tutors from her home studio at at Estuary Arts Centre. |