Of all the artistic challenges artist Marion Vialade has embraced during her artistic career, having to make her own paint was one that came out of left field.
After mastering printmaking and moving on to painting, Vialade eventually discovered she had developed an allergy to acrylic paints. Now she is having to learn how to make her own paints, without the substances that cause her allergy.
But the challenge is all part of a self-imposed regimen for the Alexandra resident, who says she thrives on challenging herself and learning new things.
Vialade and her partner Antony Worch, who are both winemakers and part of Alexandra Vintners Ltd, started coming to Central Otago in 2005 through their winemaking work but soon found themselves spending more time in New Zealand than their native France, "so it made sense to stay". They both became New Zealand citizens last year, and have two sons, Jules (7) and Hugo (2).
Vialade has always been involved with the visual arts but has no formal training, her artist profile summing up her attributes as "no diplomas, no art school, just me, a real self-taught artist".
She initially specialised in printmaking but has now moved on to painting, although she is planning to take up printmaking again as well, this time putting more colour into her prints.
The shift to painting was made when Vialade could not work with the chemicals involved with paint-making when she was pregnant with her youngest son.
Chris de Jong, of Cromwell’s Octa Gallery, has been a key mentor. He has encouraged Vialade’s painting and made his studio available for the printing of her larger prints. Vialade has a studio in Alexandra where she creates her smaller works.
She says the process of printmaking is lengthy and complex but "magical".
For example as well as the physical work of making etchings — Vialade describes it as "more like carving" and uses her grandfather’s wood-carving tools — there is the matter of having to design the artwork in reverse.
"You have to put your mind in a special place."
Then comes the "magical" process of using the ink.
But the complexities of printmaking and other art forms keep her mind simultaneously clear and active.
She grabs "any minute" she can to work in her studio, and reflects on a significant change living in Central Otago has brought about.
"I’ve gone from painting an idea that I had in my mind to painting what I see outside. Living in New Zealand you’re surrounded by beauty everywhere, and I want to express that."
Formerly a member of the Hullabaloo art collective but now part of a new five-member collective in Alexandra, Art du Beret, Vialade said she wanted to make her artworks "bigger and better", and was planning to move into landscapes and portraits as well.
• Vialade is among about 30 artists featuring in Art in the Garden, in Alexandra, today and tomorrow. The two-yearly Alexandra Community Arts Council event raises money for arts scholarships in the district.
