Mieke Davies

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people it is people. (Maori proverb)

Kia ora, I’m Mieke Davies, oil paint and portrait specialist, and mother of 3. Portraiture is my first love; I am inspired by the diverse beauty within humanity and aim to celebrate it. Our stories are written on our faces; the more wrinkles the better! Perhaps it is my gypsy ancestry that makes me so drawn to captivating characters, beads, dreads, ethnic fabric and texture, all expressed with a luxuriously warm oil colour palette. I have a healthy relationship with oil paints, their buttery consistency is a joy to handle and I am largely inspired by the old masters techniques. I completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts 2002, and the highlight of my career was winning the People’s Choice Award for the National Portrait Gallery’s Adams Foundation Award 2012, for a portrait of my late grandmother.

The symbol of the Compass within my close-up landscape and figurative works, questions the viewer's own point of reference in their lives; are they forging their own path, following something or are they lost? For me it has long symbolized karaiti (Christ), as he shows us the 'Way'; our true north. It is also significant as it links with my Tahitian heritage, having navigation of the seas at the core of Tahitian culture. Tahitian motifs are used subtly in these works, along with attention to interesting negative spaces and organic pattern within nature.

I have a passionate background in youth and young adult ministry, currently working with my husband at St Mary’s youth group in Blenheim. I am also working on a large, long-term project influenced by issues surrounding youth in New Zealand. I hope to tour NZ with this exhibition at its completion.

I am also an experienced and proficient art tutor, teaching oil painting, textural acrylic, and art fundamentals since 2007. I am particularly passionate about educating others about oil painting, using old masters techniques and delving deep into the history and science of the medium. With Creative NZ funding I instigated the teen art program How Great Thou Art 2011-2015, inspired by up-skilling young artists beyond their high school curriculum.

You can visit at Hamani studio gallery in Blenheim, where I paint alongside my mother Belinda Bryce who is a potter. (Hamani: Tahitian for ‘to create with ones’ hands’).