Whanganui printmaker's work selected for Auckland billboard

"Kunes On A Cloudy Day" will be on display until September 19. Photo / Supplied

A work by Whanganui printmaker Keeley Eastwood is currently being displayed on a giant billboard in Grey Lynn, Auckland, thanks to a campaign by online marketplace Chooice.

Eastwood said "Kunes On A Cloudy Day" featured kunekune pigs Milly and Squeak, who live at Stoney Oaks Wildlife Park in Taranaki.

"Kunekunes lend so well to art, they're just are so loveable and characterful.

"I used to have a couple myself. I've had a real connection with them ever since, and I tend to gravitate towards animals in general in my art."

That art began in earnest around six or seven years ago, when she attended a printmaking workshop run by Whanganui artist Ann Jennison.

"It's really just grown from there. I had a baby three and a half years ago, so I've been fitting it around that," Eastwood said.

"My child started kindergarten a few months ago, so I've been able to get a little more serious and make more of it."

"Kunes On A Cloudy Day", her most popular drypoint print to date, was made on a press she had access to "as and when" she could, Eastwood said.

"I don't currently have a big print press of my own.

"Esther Topfer has been running some really good drypoint print-making classes through Community Education Whanganui over the past couple of years, and she's been really supportive.

"In between, I work on hand-colouring and doing different kinds of prints like gel plates, which are quite fun and a lot less intense."

Keeley Eastwood said seeing her work on a billboard had been a "a bit of a mental boost". Photo / Supplied

Eastwood said her current exhibition, Meet Mr Kune, opened at Fenton Street Arts Collective in Stratford two days before the country entered alert level 4, so seeing her work on a billboard had lifted her artistic spirits.

The exhibition features another kunekune pig from Stoney Oak called Hagrid, also known as Mr Kune.

"I have an online store with Chooice, and, due to the circumstances with alert levels and everything, obviously there was that period of time where online businesses couldn't really run, unless you had essential goods," Eastwood said.

"Sarah Colcord, who runs Chooice, teamed up with LUMO digital media to run a campaign to increase the visibility of Chooice entrepreneurs throughout the country.

"I applied, but wasn't seriously expecting it to happen. A week or so passed and I thought 'Oh well, they didn't select me', and then I got an email from Sarah saying it had gone live.

"It's quite exciting, and a bit of a mental boost as well."

Her artwork will remain there until the end of the week.

"When you're an emerging artist, which is what I definitely consider myself to be, it can be hard to get going, and you're fighting to get your stuff seen," Eastwood said.

"Unexpected things like the billboard are just massive for me."

To check out more of Keeley Eastwood's art, go to
https://www.facebook.com/KeeleyEastwoodArtistPrintmaker

Her online store can be found at
chooice.co.nz/store/keeley-eastwood-printmaker