Tutors
Art Excursions - Walking & Sketching
Alice Blackley
Alice has been a full-time artist for over 20 years, exhibiting at home in New Zealand, and overseas. She enjoys the opportunity to help developing artists and novices with one-to-one tuition, to develop their confidence, their ways of approaching a subject or location, and their individual sense of expression. She loves hosting her Art Adventures guests and giving them a world-class experience to treasure.
Alice’s favourite medium for art excursions is pastel, as it is direct, spontaneous and flexible. There’s no mixing of paint, or brush to manage, so there is less chance of failure for the beginner. In addition, a pastel drawing can be completed in three hours – making it ideal for working in the field, in changing light and weather.
As an avid and experienced artist, Alice also thoroughly enjoys sharing her passion for art and the local environment – and this is why she is also a regular tutor on the tours and adventures.
Megan Huffadine
Megan’s workshops include both traditional approaches to drawing as well as using a wide range of contemporary media to create richly worked images. Her extensive knowledge of local flora, fauna and landforms unique to this region informs her own meticulous art work and encourages her students to develop a new way of looking at their subject.
She is also skilled in techniques for painting and drawing from photographs. Using photographs taken in the field by students, her teaching enables them to further personalize their work, creating original images.
Megan’s adult teaching qualifications have contributed to her strong coaching skills, assisting her students to produce work well beyond their own expectations, within the period of a single workshop. For this reason, Megan is a highly sought-after tutor in centres across the South Island; we are fortunate that she has joined our team.
Spike Wademan
Spike’s own creative career continues to be wide-ranging – from his background in advertising, to his specialty technical illustrations (including cutaways of ships, planes and cars), his illustrations for children’s educational and fantasy books, and his conceptual storyboard frames for international and local film companies. Spike himself would say that his first love is nautical and aviation art, and his work has been exhibited at top NZ air shows ‘War Birds Over Wanaka’, and ‘Classic Fighters’ in Blenheim, and in collections overseas.
Spike is a very experienced teacher who is able to call on a number of simple tricks and techniques to help his students learn to see tonal and colour differences, and to get the right effect. He is patient and helpful, and happy to lend his experienced eye – and hand, too – to guide, suggest and rescue – as required!
