Jane Evans has been a very successful NZ artist despite suffering from chronic lupus for many years – it’s a sort of arthritis. She had to hide from the sun.
Her works are saturated with wonderful colour. She loved painting people but it is probably her flower pictures that made her successful. She hasn’t had much critical acclaim but has been successful where it counts – people want to buy her work. There is a book about her by John Coley.
Here are some of my favourite works:
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| Iceland Poppies with Chair and Vase |
hi,ive just been trying to find information on this lady,ive just moved from the nelson area,i did alot of rumage sales a few years back i picked up a box of unframed paintings mainly acrylics ,mostly pictures of poppies flowers and many others most have the name patrica evansallso a folder with photos of sculpture in acrylic dates 1988-1989 with the name patricia evans,the paintings i have seem to resemble her work do you think this maybe the same lady,if you could help me with sum information that would be great,my email address is chookfood@live .com,regards claire
ReplyDeleteI had been a student at Nelson College and in my final year's group exhibition, I was flattered to have had Jane Evans buy one of my paintings. In fact, she stood infront of my works, for much of the evening much to the chagrin of my fellow students and couldn't decide which of the three works to buy and I, had no idea what to sell a painting for.
ReplyDeleteAnd so we met and in conversation, discovered that she had gone to school with my mother at the time, at Nelson Girls. Both were very competitive with their artistic pursuits she hinted, and so she was quite chuffed that she would end up acquiring an artwork from Momoe's son.
It was a few years later while on a break from University studies, that I hitched a wild series of rides from Auckland to Wellington with a friend and was glad to finally see the rolling hills of Nelson, after a bus ride from Picton. It was summer of 1992-3 and one morning, for whatever reason, I wondered how Jane was doing, so I called her up from a pay phone. It wasn't long before Jane arrived in her little white convertible, wearing a beautiful summer outfit, staw hat, flowing shawl and away we went.
A old girlfriend was with me at the time and we spent the entire day with Jane and her partner, at Jane's cottage and studio, over looking Nelson Bay.
I still have photos of that day and I can still remember fondly the laughter, the light, her graciousness and hospitality, complimented by the blooming flowers of her garden and her artwork.
I will cherish those memories. Thank you for posting this in remembrance of her. She was a beautiful soul.
Stefan VR.
Wow! How fantastic to have known her
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