Rod Eales

After completion of qualifications in Fine Arts and Teaching in Dunedin, Rod has successfully maintained a dual career in both teaching and painting.

While she has always maintained a deep connection with the natural world, the inspiration behind painting flowers began after moving to a two-acre property. From a very reluctant gardener, she moved to becoming a passionate gardener after realizing she could play with the exact same elements as in painting, line, colour, composition, form, structure and texture. The flowers in her own garden are meticulously observed, researched dissected and photographed through their stages of life, form bud to bloom to decline and decay.

These paintings explore the resilience, beauty, and power of flowers to convey meaning throughout their life cycle. The flower is used as a symbol of tenacity and fragility against the prospects of impending climate change. They embody the enduring spirit of nature.