Bio

Kirsty Nixon is a contemporary fine artist from Auckland specialising in New Zealand landscapes and nature paintings. Kirsty’s summer bush and coastal scenes showcase New Zealand’s incredible native trees and flora, including nikau palms, harakeke flowers (NZ flax), cabbage trees, toetoe, kawakawa, kōwhai, and blossoming pōhutukawa. Her paintings feature tui and pīwakawaka (fantail), with korimako (bellbirds) and kōtare (NZ kingfisher) also making an appearance.

When I lost my wonderful dad the birds began to feature in my artwork. Birds even sounded louder to me. I bought a charm for a bracelet of a pīwakawaka and would often run the back feathers though my fingers as I thought of him.  As I paint each bird I want them to look as though they are thinking something. Watching something. Communicating with each other. A snapshot of them in thought. When I lost my beautiful mum, once again the birds sounded louder.

For over 20 years Kirsty has been a successful artist capturing the intensity of colour and light found in New Zealand’s unique native bush and coastal scenes. She began her career in advertising and now cherishes the peace of the canvas and her subject matter.

When I start a painting and the first layers are coming together there's a piece of me that knows how it will look completed, and there will be a part of it that surprises me. Sometimes, in the middle of the process, I have to stop and wait a while to gather my thoughts and get back on track. So I stop. That painting needs a rest.

Kirsty’s appeal and recognition as one of New Zealand's foremost landscape artists has been celebrated in national art publications such as Art News and Asian Art News. She also features in the New Zealand Favourite Artists book (2010) edited by Denis Robinson. Her range and experience in different techniques such as acrylic painting, watercolour, and etching has increased her popularity amongst collectors. Her Art by the Sea exhibitions consistently sell well and her growth in popularity is a testament to the timeless quality and detail of her work.

Nestled in their settings, my birds give me a lot of peace. They are company. When a show is all put together and the birds are lined up in their bush and foliage settings I almost feel as if I can hear them. They are windows to a green restful place. With all the chaos surrounding us, advertising hammering us, political uncertainty, climate madness, I want my paintings to communicate peace. To slow us down. To literally stop and breathe.