Horowhenua StarShannon based artist Tracey Lidene says she loves watercolouring, but often uses other media to express herself.
“I have always doodled but when my mum died in 2019, painting helped me deal with the grief.”
Shannon artist Tracey Lidene with a selection of her paintings of women. Photo Janine Baalbergen
Tracey is part of Art Trail Manawatū, running this weekend from 10am-2pm both days. She paints flowers, birds and people, and sometimes on greeting cards.
She has numerous small paintings on the walls of her studio depicting women, stressing they don’t depict existing people.
“Every woman is unique, no-one is perfect.”
Her painting The Spiral, a symbolisation of her journey through art and through life, show deep connections with nature, is featured in Horizons Regional Council’s environment report.
A visit to Bali, where she learned traditional Balinese painting from a local, has inspired her to a different way of painting.
Tracey moved to Shannon more than four years ago from Levin after a developer expressed interest in her land.
“We kept the house and moved it to Shannon, where we had bought a section 17 years ago.”
Once they moved in they planted 240 olive trees, which brought bird and insect life to the land. The new property needed sewerage, water pipes, electricity and other services, so they lived in a caravan on site for a while.
In the peace and quiet of her gazebo she paints and exhibits her work. She often holds workshops and has people staying on her land.
“People love getting away from the hustle and bustle,” she says.
This is the first time she is part of Art Trail Manawatū, and she says visitors on the weekend can have a go at painting, provided the weather is good.
“There’s not too much space inside. In good weather I will have tables and chairs outside for them to work on. They can bring their own lunch and enjoy the olive orchard.”
She has already had an olive harvest, although most olives take eight to nine years to mature.
“It’s hard work as you have three days to do it all. You can’t pick olives and leave them to a later date, they must be pressed as soon as possible after picking.”
Tracey is a member of the Horowhenua Art Society and has regular contact with other artists, such as Mandy Brown from Palmerston North, who inspires her.
The biggest problem for an artist she says is coping with high expectations. – from myself and other people”.
“It’s part of the process, but can be hard to deal with. You can be your own harshest
critic.”
Art Trail Manawatū is on 18 and 19 October, 10am-4pm.A guide can be found at communityarts.org.nz – search “Art Trail Guide 2025. Tracey is online at charlierae.co.nz and on Facebook – traceylideneart.
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