Based in Warkworth, Sharlene is in her 25th year as an artist, working mostly with acrylic and watercolour paints. Recently, she has developed a new technique using poured acrylic with details added in using oil paints to create her “Te Karearea – Flight of the Falcon” series. Karearea (the New Zealand Falcon) is a rare and highly valued native bird of prey, and the movement of flight and airflow through the feathers is aptly captured using a rare, unique method.

She has also recently “gone back to basics” in her development of the “Hidden Forces” technique. As the dots of waterborne dye interacts with the water, it mixes the four different colours in a unique way which can never be exactly repeated. Many different forces act on each piece: air movement, temperature, humidity, paper, brush, the amount of water on the brush, etc, and the colour keeps moving for a very long time. It is always a surprise in the end. This technique was used to create the “Out my Window” series.