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It’s time for new adventures for Tindalls Bay artist and teacher Heather Matthews. For the past 17 years, she has helped people discover their artistic abilities at the Art Lab, but is now packing up her brushes to try something new.
Matthews has lived at Tindalls Bay for 18 years and has run painting and drawing classes for adults at Whangaparāoa Hall for almost as long.
She says one of the greatest rewards has been helping people discover their creativity.
“To see people come along who have always wanted to do art, but have never been in a position to follow their dreams, makes it extra special,” she says.
Matthews’ own journey into art took time. She studied art through to University Entrance at secondary school but was not able to attend Elam School of Fine Arts.
“In my youth, women were either secretaries, teachers or receptionists,” she says.
Although she worked in art-related jobs and continued attending night classes, it was not until she was 58 that she enrolled at Whitecliffe College to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts.
The opportunity came after her father died and left her some money.
“I used some of it to fulfil my dream of getting a degree, regardless of my age. It was a life-changing experience.”
Matthews had previously worked mainly as a realist artist, but Whitecliffe encouraged her to experiment with abstraction.
“It’s amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it,” she says.
After moving to Whangaparāoa, she says teaching became a way to meet people and share what she had learned. At Art Lab she taught painting and drawing across a range of mediums and styles.
She says seeing students gain confidence in their abilities has been particularly satisfying. One student, who had experienced a stroke, was able to return to work after a term of painting and drawing.
But, now aged 80, Matthews is ready for some new adventures and has decided explore some new interests.
French may be one of them. She studied the language at school and lived in New Caledonia in the early 1970s, and says she would like to finally become fluent in conversational French. She is also considering taking art classes herself and trying different disciplines.
Matthews has exhibited at Estuary Arts Centre and sold work privately, but art is not her only interest. She is also a keen pétanque player at the Hibiscus Club and has another ambition still to pursue – representing New Zealand in tran-Tasman competition.
For now, however, she says “au revoir” and thank you to the many students who have shared her Art Lab journey.
