Artists Simone Jacquat and Pauline Allomes share converging pathways in exhibition

Simone Jacquat and Pauline Allomes welcome visitors to view their artworks at Aramoho studio and gallery. Photo/Stuart Munro

Artists Simone Jacquat and Pauline Allomes may be similarly inspired by the natural environment but they work in different dimensions.

Painter Allomes has invited sculptor Jacquat to share the gallery space at her Barrack St cottage for their joint exhibition, Nature's Forms.

"We will be open for nine days from this Saturday until December 15," says Allomes. "It will be our own open studio event."

Allomes' paintings and drawings of native bush scenes in and around Whanganui have earned her awards and commissions from customers who ask her to capture their own small slices of paradise.

Visitors to the exhibition will be treated to a first viewing of her most recent work.

"It is a pathway at Bushy Park that is not often taken by visitors," she says.

There are also some new examples of her signature pen and ink micrography works.

The technique incorporates the use of relevant words to form pictures and further express the artist's feelings about her subjects.

Jacquat creates her sculptures in marble, limestone, soapstone, wood and clay.

A landscape architect and garden designer, she started sculpting after she chanced upon a workshop in her native Switzerland and was welcomed inside by a "friendly and dusty sculptor" who was working with soapstone.

Sculpting became an "absolute fascination" and she travelled to find new materials, discovering Carrara marble in Italy to be a particularly beautiful stone to work with.

Moving to New Zealand in 2009, she found new materials to work with and fresh inspiration in the local landscapes.

She says her minimalist style is intended to be dynamic, yet balanced and harmonious.

*Nature's Forms by Pauline Allomes and Simone Jacquat will be open for viewing at 4 Barrack St from 10am to 4pm daily. Open after hours by appointment. Phone 02102238837