Bio & Contact Details
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Contact DetailsE-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Address: Phone: +64 6 364 3911 |
The landscape surrounding Bee Doughty-Pratt’s home, which is perched high on the banks of the Otaki River, an hour north of Wellington, would inspire any artist and provides a marvelous setting for a studio.
Bee paints on the property full-time - producing vibrant works in demand from galleries and buyers throughout the country. “Mostly I paint abstract seascapes and landscapes in oils and inks - on large canvases usually at least 1 metre square and often much larger. I work on several canvases at once, coming back to each one repeatedly to continue the layers over a period of weeks until each is complete.”
“Water in some form or other features in virtually every canvas I paint … river water, lake water, sea water - all abstract water. I am also all about colour. I love colour and try to use it to capture the feelings or emotions behind these ‘scapes - the essence of the seascapes and landscapes, real or imagined, rather than the actual detail.”
Although Bee has had a lifelong interest in art, the route to becoming a full time artist has been a long one. From college art classes in the Manawatu to selling her early paintings in Wellington city, this interest was set aside in favour of a career in the computer industry. “Finally selling my business allowed me to refocus on painting. My studio is a re-vamped garden shed with plenty of light, a lot of white wall-space and at least three easels in residence at any one time. When the roller door is up, it has magnificent river views right down the Otaki Forks river gorge - a wild and wonderful landscape. It is freezing in my shed in winter but this doesn’t stop me. Every day painting is a pleasure - I even like cleaning my brushes.”
Bee’s exhibits regularly and her work is displayed for sale on this website and in a number of galleries throughout New Zealand. Check out the Exhibition News page for dates and venues of up and coming exhibitions and events. Bee also accepts commissions for larger works.