Fiona Hyde had always loved drawing and painting, but work and family life put paid to those ambitions until five years ago.
The Hastings artist is a territory manager for Hansells, which means lots of time on the road between Wairoa and the Wairarapa.
In 2005, the company's managing director decided its
employees needed more work-life balance and offered to help them achieve those goals.
"Some people went out and bought mountain bikes, that sort of thing, I wanted to draw and paint," she says.
That gentle push helped Hyde find her artistic feet again. She has had work in several exhibitions, completed the visual art extra-mural foundation course run by The Learning Connexion and started its Diploma course.
Lately, she has been heading down the musical track, inspired by the many types of music she listens to, and drawn to the wonderful shape of the violin.
Her style harks back to her days working with leadlight glass, cutting and putting together different shapes, and with painting, using lots of texture and different media.
Her work was included in the recent Creative Hawke's Bay Art Guide artists' exhibition in Hastings.
She has also shown in Tauranga, Auckland, and in the Art for the Animals charity art auction fundraiser for local SPCA shelters held at the Hawke's Bay Opera House in July, the latter just one of the ways she tries to give back to the community.
For every piece she sells she gives something to charity.
Because of work commitments she often ends up painting at night, and finds the more she does, the better the flow of ideas. Hyde says she used to love realism but is finding herself enjoying experimenting with her art.
"I just get started with an idea and see where it takes me. I just want to do something that people can enjoy."
For more information, visit www.fionahyde.vc.net.nz or pick up a copy of the 2010 Hawke's Bay Art Guide.
