Paintings Bring You Smiles.

An Exhibition by Kaori Jackson

I am a self-taught, Japanese-New Zealander wildlife artist based in South Otago, greatly influenced by my grandparents since I was a child. My grandfather was an embroiderer, grandmother a kimono maker, great grandfather a woodcarver. I like to paint in the modern style while still adhering to the principals of the traditional. I was deeply inspired by the worlds of Beatrix Potter, Peter rabbit author and Hayao Miyazaki, co-founder of studio Ghibli. My humble target is to create something heart-warming, uplifting and has a wide appeal to all the generations and people across the world like their work one day Having lived in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, my themes of paintings are combinations of the flora and fauna of these countries from time to time. I always have a deep interest in wildlife. My artworks are predominantly New Zealand native forest birds and flowers. Living in a nature reserve, an outskirt of Dunedin for the last nearly 15 years, I am surrounded by the beauty of New Zealand in all its uniqueness as the scenery changes through the day. In my work, I try to give an impression of colourfulness as well as uniqueness and originality. My compositions are mostly created images. I try to depict the details of the subjects as close as possible to reality while giving them personalities at the same time. I started painting I call “Romantic Dunedin series” which combines historical architecture of Dunedin with wildlife in harmony since January 2018.