JUDY WOOD
My Art
Artist's Statement
I have been painting for over 25 years. I started in watercolours, both self-taught and attending painting
courses. I dabbled a little in oils, but found I do not have the patience to wait days for paint to dry before
working on the artwork again. So, acrylics have become my medium of choice. I love painting abstract landscapes which are often textured to give depth and interest to the painting. I use a lot of earth tones; greens, browns and golds to represent the hills and valleys of New Zealand. Blues and Greens are also favourite colours and capture the essence of our wonderful coastlines and open skies which also inspire me to create artwork. I would describe my artwork as “abstract landscapes”. The paintings challenge the viewer to look into the imagery to see the ruggedness of the New Zealand mountain ranges, the textures of the bush and wetlands, and movement of the oceans.
I have visited Coromandel since I was a child, coming with my parents Ann and Dick McNair to camp at the
end of Te Kouma Bay Road on James’s bay each Christmas. Eventually my parents moved to Coromandel in 1989 and Mum (Ann McNair) started painting in both watercolour and acrylic. Over the next 10 years I was also learning to paint and eventually Mum and I felt confident enough to hire Hauraki House during the Christmas/New Year period and held our own exhibitions. These exhibitions were very successful and we made many sales. We also enjoyed listening to people who visited the exhibition talking about the artwork, often not realising that the artists were at the front desk! Comments were always very positive and it encouraged us to keep painting and hold further exhibitions.
My love of artwork led my husband, Dennis Wood, and me to purchase an art gallery which we ran for almost four years. Many of my own paintings were sold through the gallery. Unfortunately, the journey on the southern motorway to and from the gallery at Mt Eden to our home in South Auckland became unbearable (truly a nightmare on Friday afternoons) and we reluctantly sold the art gallery. However, I continued to paint and I set up my own website to promote my artwork (www.judywood.co.nz).
I have never been able to sit around doing nothing so, in 2018 I started an online jewellery business. As well
as painting, I have always loved making things and this lead to making earrings and necklaces. Much of the
jewellery on the website is imported, but the “Frenelle Design” collection is all my own work.
(https://frenelle.co.nz/collections/frenelle-design).
In 2023, Mum and Dad moved into a single level house in Coromandel town and my husband Dennis and I
took over ownership of their home in Puriri Road overlooking the Coromandel Harbour.
You will be able to view examples of both my artwork and jewellery during the Coromandel Arts Tour.
t: 021 737372