‘Therapeutic’ work making textured art

An example of the "textured art" Kom Haryani will be teaching how to make in her workshop as part of the Riversdale Arts Annual Mixed Media Exhibition. Photo: supplied

"I was quite artistic since the start," she said.

He has since died, and Mrs Haryani has carried on making art in her father’s memory, starting the studio "Papa’s Art Room" in his honour.

It was only recently, while scrolling through social media, that she came up with this 3-D style of painting she called "textured art".

The painting, done with thick paint and a pallet knife, was so satisfying Mrs Haryani said she could not stop watching.

"It was so therapeutic," she said.

She has developed her style, creating thick floral works with the knife, and guests of her workshops can also learn the relaxing technique.

Mrs Haryani is hosting one of her workshops as part of the Riversdale Arts Annual Mixed Media Exhibition this year.

She had noticed her students started with instruction and then, when she checked in later, they had gone off on their own creative journey.

"There’s a point of time when they just continue on their own," she said.

With her classes, some of the participants just attend to relax, enjoy food and drink, while others are more interested in the technique, she said.

She was quite passionate about teaching people, and doing the workshops had become a her "side hustle".

She said she was an artist after 5pm, creating works after finishing at her fulltime job that she then sold through social media.

The guests of her Riversdale class will learn how to make her favourite style of textured painting, filled with flowers.

She had tried cutting palms and shells but she was always pulled back to flowers, at least for now.

She had only begun holding her workshops at the start of this year and depending on how things progressed she could move on to ceramics.

"So I think we can just progress more as I go."

ella.scott-fleming@alliedpress.co.nz