Jane Blackmore

Jane Blackmore is the owner of Jane Blackmore Gallery/Studio in Lyall Bay, Wellington. As a practicing artist with over 25 years experience, Jane’s work is primarily inspired by the stunning and singular vistas of New Zealand mountains, oceans and skies. Characterised by an intense emotionality, visitors to the gallery are struck by how her paintings announce themselves with a calm assuredness – the hallmark of an established artist who continues to grow and challenge her own artistic vision.

In an age where speed and instant gratification seem to permeate every corner of our lives, Jane’s paintings offer a space for thoughtful reflection. ‘Spirituality’ is a word contemporary artists and writers tend to eschew, favouring instead words like ‘ethereal’ or ‘intangible’. Blackmore’s landscapes are unashamedly spiritual. When we look at her landscapes and seascapes, we sense that we ourselves have inhabited these places, perhaps as children, perhaps in memory, or perhaps in a dream.

In equal measure to the spirituality in Jane’s work is joy, and this is abundant in her series of florals. Flowers push forward from dark backgrounds, defiantly sensuous and full of the fecundity of the natural cycles of birth, growth and decay. Jane’s floral works make you feel the same joy she felt when she painted them: right now, here, look.

Jane’s recent work continues her exploration of colour, form, and the visceral qualities of paint. Marking a shift towards a more pure abstraction, we see the artist peeling back layers of representation to arrive at a mélange of colour and light. Golds, purples, and blues – there is a lush regality to these works. Like the emotive charge of her landscapes, and the visual joy of her florals, her abstractions use a visual language synonymous with an artist working at a heightened level of skill and creative expression.