Wanganui artist Kate St Amand took up art as a form of escape from her busy career as a nurse.
So it's appropriate that her latest exhibition is called Artescape.
The exhibition opens today at the Wanganui Community Arts Centre and runs until November 13. It's an eclectic mixture of encaustic (wax), woodcuts, oils, acrylics, charcoal drawings and palette knife painting.
"I've been experimenting as I go along this art journey," Mrs St Amand said.
She took up art in her early 40s as part of an adult education course - and discovered she could draw.
"I'm retired now so I have a lot more time for art. But when I started I was a nurse and I fitted in my art around that. Art was a great escape from nursing for me."
Since her discovery of art, Mrs St Amand has been to several workshops and art courses, but she is largely self-taught.