Millie takes art to next level for community

EMERGING ARTIST: Millie Ogg, who is crowdfunding to help pay for her art tuition, works on a colourful painting to donate to Youth Kinex.

When feeling depressed, Millie Ogg would look at her little niece's artwork to lift her spirits.

Inspired, she picked up a paintbrush herself -- and is now crowdfunding to pay for her tuition in fine arts.

Millie has enrolled for the Certificate of Art and Creativity through The Learning Connexion (TLC), a dedicated visual arts training provider based in Lower Hutt.

The Masterton resident received a partial scholarship to study at TLC, but has set up a page on the New Zealand Art Foundation website Boosted to help raise the remaining money for course costs.

Millie began attending King Street Artworks in 2014, while coping with a debilitating bout of depression, and says art has been crucial for her recovery.

She now plans to take her artistic hobby to the next level through formal training.

"Art has been pretty big for me -- my life would feel empty without it," she said. "I'm looking forward to seeing how I can improve, and where this course will take me."

Millie said she first became unwell, which she attributed to exhaustion from a hectic work schedule, in 2013 and was cared for by her sister's family.

"It just came on out of the blue. It got to the point where I couldn't leave the house, or get out of bed."

Her biggest comfort were her two young nieces -- and looking at eldest niece Bella's artwork which she'd bring home from daycare. Her brother-in-law Sam Ludden, himself a well-known ceramicist, saw Millie admiring Bella's work, and suggested she give painting a try.

With some encouragement from her counsellor, Millie began going to King Street Artworks each week, and soon completed her first painting of a sunset, which she gave to her sister for her birthday.

Since then, she has twice exhibited at King Street's annual exhibition at Aratoi, showing works characterised by bold colours, clear symmetry and psychedelic imagery.

"The tutors at King Street are really good," she said.

"They'll give you lots of tips, and their honest opinion. It's cool to look at my first painting and some of my more recent stuff and see how much I've improved."

With the extra training under her belt, Millie hopes to get involved with community art projects, such as painting murals and Chorus boxes -- and has started by designing a piece for Youth Kinex, and donating an environmentally-themed piece to Taste Cafe.

"Masterton's my home town -- I grew up here, so I'd love to be able to give back and add a bit of colour."

King Street studio manager Linda Tilyard said Millie has become more outgoing and confident since she first arrived, and had developed a very distinct artistic style.

"She's very creative -- many artists spend years trying to find a unique style, but she's got it naturally."

To donate to Millie's Boosted page, go to: www.boosted.org.nz/projects/take-the-next-step-with-millie