The Waitaki App would like to share an artist’s story each month. If you are an artist, or know someone clever and creative you would like to nominate, please email [email protected]. This month, we are talking to Charlene Blignaut

Q. Tell us a little bit about your background, and what led you to becoming an artist…

I was born in Zimbabwe and grew up on a farm where we had a variety of wildlife including giraffe, zebra, kudu and impala. 

I have always loved animals and, from a young age, the Zimbabwean bush with its huge variety of wildlife, big and small, was what started my passion for drawing and painting. 

I was also fortunate enough to have very talented art teachers during my school years there as well as learning from my aunt who is also an artist. Living now in New Zealand has given me the opportunity to spend a lot more time on my art and paint native New Zealand wildlife. 

Q. Tell us about your art

My favourite mediums are pencil, oils and acrylics. I just use whatever I feel would work for that particular project.

Although my focus had always been on African wildlife, especially endangered animals such as leopards, elephants and African wild dogs, I now also enjoy painting New Zealand birds such as tui and fantails, as well as sheep and deer. 

I have also recently started doing pet portraits on a commission basis. 

What has landed you here in the Waitaki?

My family and I moved here to Ōamaru 21 years ago. We had relatives living in Ōamaru, so it made sense to move to be with family. However, we all moved back overseas after four years - my sisters and I all got married and lived back in Zimbabwe for a period of time, but because of the economic situation in Zimbabwe, we all eventually moved back to Ōamaru!

I moved back here in 2020 with my husband and son. We enjoy the peaceful, relaxed lifestyle here.

What do you love about where you live?

We live just outside of Oamaru, so we love the rural lifestyle and views of the mountains. 

We love how small Oamaru is, making it easy to get around and no rush hour traffic!

How does it inspire your work? What else inspires your work?

Living back in New Zealand has made me aware of different native wildlife here that is endangered.

As I love animals of any kind, this inspires me to paint endangered wildlife (in between other projects), hoping to help bring awareness of the danger some of these animals are in of becoming extinct. 

What is your favourite thing to do outside of art?

I love gardening, my dogs, and spending time with my family. 

What aspirations do you have for your work? 

I hope to be able to become a full-time artist. I would love to focus on endangered animals, not just in New Zealand, but from around the world and to help people become more aware of them through art. 

What have you got coming up or going on that people might be interested in?

I am fortunate enough to be part of the Within Reach community art exhibition in Kurow through the Waitaki Valley Community Society.

I will be exhibiting a couple of paintings for the month of September. I am also working on a selection of smaller paintings and hope to have these for sale at a local fair soon.

Please feel free to have a look at my Facebook page, Fine Art by Charlene, for any upcoming work for sale.