Colour-rich nature on display

ARTIST: Vanessa Ryan and her acrylic on canvas paintings.PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

King Street Artworks is exhibiting the colourful works of Masterton artist Vanessa Ryan.

Friends, family, and members of the community gathered at the venue yesterday to celebrate the new exhibition which is a collection of Ryan's works over the past year.

The Masterton art studio caters primarily for people with disabilities or mental illness.

Ryan says she loves painting more than anything else and draws upon the natural world for her inspiration.

Her aunt, Carol Foster, was one of her biggest supporters at the opening and said King Street Artworks had "been wonderful in encouraging Vanessa and getting her to build a lot more on her work.

"It's a real joy for Vanessa to come here and King Street Art is a fantastic asset for the community.

"She's extremely focused in what she's doing and she's always had enormous encouragement from her mother and father.

"Since the age she could hold a pencil, she was drawing, and from the age she could hold a paintbrush, she was painting.

"She's a real colourist and she's always dressed colourfully too. She puts her stuff together really well."

Ryan's father, Kevin, who also loves to do art, said he was thankful for the friendships his daughter had built with the King Street Artworks community.

"King Street Artworks is just so important to Vanessa because I travel a lot and she needs social interaction which this community gives her," he said.

"I could live in other areas of New Zealand, but to remove Vanessa from this would be unwarranted because this is her life and I couldn't find it anywhere else.

"It's an important asset to us and to Masterton."

Ryan's exhibition will be running for the month of October and is located in the gallery at King Street Artworks on Queen Street in Masterton.