There's a sort of alchemy in bringing life to a blank canvas. The process of creating art is intimate and invigorating, as ideas flow from mind to brush in a flurry of creative energy.
Being privy to such creation is a rare privilege and it's fascinating to watch empty space being imbued with colour and vitality - as at the final of the Tiger Streets of Singapore series and the creative process of two artists, Josh Lancaster and Erika Peirce, as they painted works inspired by the city-state.
Held at White and Wong's on Auckland's viaduct, the event was a celebration of the beer that came to life in the streets of Singapore; it gave the public the chance to sample three limited edition Tiger beers formulated for the occasion.
Lancaster created one of the Woks of Art that have been on display throughout the Streets of Singapore series: "I knew the wok would end up on a wall at a Tiger Beer bar in Australia or New Zealand so I wanted to paint something that would work well in such an environment," he explains.
His Glad Eye wok features a single eye; it symbolises the steamy look someone may cast an object of attraction in the early hours of the morning.
His work for the White and Wong's event was equally enticing. Created in an old tin dish sourced from an op shop in the central North Island, this painting is an homage to the classic tom yum soup.
"I was looking through the photos on White and Wong's website and was really inspired by the colours and textures of the food. I knew the work would be on display at the restaurant so thought a food image would work well," he says.
Lancaster was also interested in how images of food have become so ubiquitous through apps such as Instagram. He liked the idea of slowing the process down to achieve the same effect.
"The work captures the excitement of beautiful food in the same way as something like Instagram - but the creative process is much slower," he says.
The final piece, which is about the size of a hubcap, is engagingly oversized.
"There's something lovely about taking familiar things and exaggerating the scale of them," he says. "It's like being taken back to childhood, where everything is so much bigger in relation to your size. It recreates what it would be like to look into a big bowl of soup that your grandmother has cooked for you."
Peirce's piece was the beautiful face of a tiger; an animal she loves.
"Their colours are so beautiful and they encapsulate so much energy," she explains.
Using test pots and spray paint, her large-scale painting was a brilliant, bold combination of orange, blue, black, and yellow.
Tiger Beer released three limited edition beers (Tiger Green, Tiger White and Tiger Black) for the Streets of Singapore series, which were paired with three bespoke street food dishes.
But Lancaster's favourite was the classic original Tiger Beer - "It's a great beer and perfect for the type of food they serve at White and Wong's," he says. "It was fantastic to be part of Tiger's final Streets of Singapore event."