June 1, 2025 • 31 mins
Ann Skelly is a Waiheke Island artist who creates beautiful seascapes and landscapes that feature the ocean in all its varying moods: dappled and rippled in the sun, fierce and churning, blue and inviting.
Shona talked to Ann at the 2025 NZ Art Show, which runs annually in Wellington over King's Birthday weekend.
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In June Shona is taking part in Coastguard NZ's The Big Swim – follow and support The Tridents!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to the Swim Chats podcast.
I'm Shona Riddell, a writer, former journalist and ocean
swimmer from Wellington Alto in New Zealand.
For each episode, I talk to a different guest from our swim.
Community they're. Dippers, adventure swimmers,
coaches and conservationists with one thing in common, they
all love being in the sea. So before we start this episode,
(00:26):
I just wanted to cover a couple of things.
First of all, I want this podcast to be interactive, so if
you have any questions, thoughtsor suggestions, you can e-mail
me at swimchatswithshona@gmail.com.
Or leave. A comment below each episode.
Also, this particular episode was recorded at the beginning of
June and it's the start of the Big Swim which is a fundraiser
(00:49):
for Coast Guard New Zealand. I'm taking part with a team
called The Tridents, so if you'dlike to learn more and support
us, you can go to bigswim.org NZthe Hyphen Tridents or just
click on the link in the show notes.
And finally, to support the podcast, please hit the follow
or subscribe link so you don't miss an episode.
(01:11):
You can also leave a rating and share it with friends.
Thanks for listening. Enjoy the water.
And here's today's episode with Ocean Painter and Skelly.
Exciting. This is my first in person
interview for the podcast and we're at the New Zealand Art
Show today and I'm with Anne Skelly, whose paintings I admire
(01:33):
a lot. Thank you for your time today,
Anne. It's a pleasure.
And welcome to Swim Chat. Thank you.
So it's looking very busy down there.
Have you had a good few days with the art show?
I have, it's been terrific actually.
It's been, it's been really a boost for me to sell paintings
and for people to love them so much.
(01:53):
And they're all paintings of thesea.
So yeah, you end up talking to people with an affinity for the
sea, I think. Yeah, I can imagine.
Yeah. Like me?
Yeah, And this will be a good challenge to describe your
paintings because this is an audio podcast.
You paint seascapes, I think they're called.
(02:14):
Is that right? So you're painting the sea in
different moods, from choppy seas to calm seas.
That's. Right on sunny days, so the
waters rippling in the sun. And in shade.
And more recently, I've been creeping into shore a bit more
and including some headland or beach or trees overhanging the
(02:36):
beach, things like that. Yeah, it feels that I've been
out at sea with my paintings forquite a while and I'm feeling
more confident with with those, just like swimming.
So now I'm coming in closer to shore and exploring some of the
(02:56):
some of the lands that meets thesea.
Yeah, that's really interesting.And have you been painting sea
skates for a long time? Is this a new thing for you
there? Well, there was, there was
nearly always sea in my paintings.
I've painted birds and then sea birds.
I've been through a period of painting flowers, but really the
(03:17):
flowers taught me about structure and my the the sea.
I kind of stayed away from painting the sea, just, I always
had it in the background as a colour or just a gentle texture,
but I shield away from it because I felt I couldn't do it,
that I didn't have the skills to, to paint the sea properly so
(03:41):
well enough. But with years and years and
years of practice, I, yeah, I decided to tackle it head on.
So I've deliberately been painting more of the sea and I
really enjoy it. Yeah, and it comes into my
swimming as well. I I'll be swimming along and
(04:01):
trying to analyse what I'm seeing on the surface of the
water and what the shapes like, what the colour and reflections
look like. So yeah, it's all part of the
same thing. So when you're painting, is it
from memory of what you've seen?Sometimes, but quite often, I'll
do sketches and take I take hundreds of photographs.
(04:23):
Some of them I never see again. But I'll cruise through all the
the photographs and just one image might stand out as
something I need to paint. Or I'll zoom right into that
image and just take one section of a wave and that's the part of
the photograph that excites me, so I'll paint that.
(04:46):
Yeah, it's awesome. And you live on Waikiki Island?
Yes, surrounded by beach. Surrounded by beautiful patches.
I used to live in Auckland and so I've spent a bit of time on
Waikiki Island. Yeah.
What's your local beach there? Well, I swim at Palm Beach.
We live in Ostend, so although the sea is at the bottom of the
road, it's it's full of boats just there.
(05:09):
It's a bit of yes, and people live on their on their boats and
there's a lot of boats at anchorand on moorings.
So I don't swim there. I drive 5 minutes up the road to
Palm Beach, which I love. It's surrounded by cliffs on two
sides. Yeah, I swim there and it's,
(05:32):
it's so close to home. I can go home for a hot shower
afterwards and then meet friendsfor coffee or whatever.
Yeah. Brilliant.
And do you have a studio that you paint from?
Yes, I've got a tiny studio at home with no view of the sea,
but I've got all the things I need there to begin my
(05:53):
paintings. Yeah.
And I do. I paint sometimes.
I we have a little boat and I I can paint when I'm on board or
when we're away sailing. Yeah.
What's the water temperature at the moment?
Maybe it's getting down. It's started to drop temperature
(06:14):
wise, probably 16 something like.
That it's it's about 13 here at the moment.
Oh, OK. Yeah, I think the coldest it's
been, it's been about 12 for us on Waiigi.
And do you? Get in the water most days or.
Look, I've been swimming. I've been swimming every day.
(06:35):
I like to swim all year. I well, I try to swim all year,
but winter, the winter months when it's beating with rain and
it's horrible weather and I've I've swum on my own for a long
time. Sometimes it's just too much and
I call it quits for the you knowand have a few months off till
say Labour weekend and start again then.
(06:58):
Are you part of a group or do you like to swim by yourself?
No, I'm not part of a group. Group I I like the freedom of
being able to choose when I go and it's, it's been, it's been
pretty much at dawn so that I can fit it in before the rest of
my day starts. So the sun will be just coming
(07:18):
up. But then more recently, a few
weeks ago, I had a little incident where I was swimming
with another with a friend and Ilooked over her shoulder and
there was a fin cruising past and that was obviously a shark.
And then I saw the tail behind that and and my face must have
(07:41):
changed because my friend said, what is it?
I said I think that's a shark. And she turned round and
switched. She said, yes, it's a shark.
So let's go in. We both start.
I turned onto my back and just quietly continued, but in the
beach direction. We both got back to the beach,
(08:03):
but it had been swimming alongside.
It was swimming along with us. It didn't hurt us.
It didn't touch us. But when we changed direction,
the shark went underwater, whichI didn't like because I couldn't
see it. Yeah.
So we got in. We we got into the beach OK, got
(08:25):
dried. And honestly, I didn't want to
swim at dawn the next day. And then and then I realised,
well actually that's when sharksfeed as well, dawn and dusk.
So I decided to go when it was sunny and I don't mind the
weather so much, but when it wasmid morning or lunchtime.
(08:46):
So that's my tact now I I've stopped swimming at dawn, but
I'm still swimming sort of only once or twice a week now because
the weather's getting colder. Sounds like you handled it very
well, like you stayed. Calm I was, I would sit.
Your arm? No, that's.
Right. I'd read not to do that, so I
(09:08):
didn't shout or slap around, butyeah, I just.
I was surprised at how calm I was actually.
But it was soon over and nothinghappened.
So yeah, but it did put me off. It did.
It did make me stop swimming at dawn for.
Sure made you think twice. I might be back again at dawn
(09:28):
next year, but it was just at that period of time where the
clocks were about to be put backand and the the mornings were
quite dark. So yeah, my fault.
Have you always been a swimmer or is that since you moved away?
I'm not a strong swimmer but I Ilike well at Palm Beach.
(09:54):
I made it a goal to swim from one side of the beach to the
other and I definitely couldn't do that to begin with.
But with practice every day. And then a friend joined me who
was key, quite keen and capable of swimming that distance.
So I joined her. And because we were chatting and
(10:16):
swimming alongside each other, it was easy enough to do that.
So I started doing that on a daily basis.
Yeah, and it makes you feel good.
It's the exercise for the day. It's a great way to start the
day. Oh.
It's lovely, it's lovely. And when I was swimming on my
own, I would, I would swim out far enough and then hold my
(10:38):
breath, dive down to the bottom and touch my nose on the sand.
Oh, I love that. And and swim back up, which was
again lovely to see the ripples in the sky above as you're
coming up through the water. Yeah, And those ripples, you
when I can replace them. Yeah.
I was going to say that you represent me so beautifully in
your painting. Thank you.
(10:59):
And I've got one of your paintings called Beyond Reach.
That scroll. Yeah.
And hangs on my office wall and it's the sea rippling on a
beautiful sunny day. And the lights glint outfit and
you can see the pebbles. On Yeah.
And more recently I've been painting of I am moving away
from the the rough waves and painting more calm scenes.
(11:20):
Recent painting was called Calmer Waters and I think that's
something we all need nowadays. Yeah.
So I'm really enjoying painting.Not Stillwater, but calmer.
A lot calmer. But it's something I was going
to ask you, do your the moods ofthe sea, your painting reflect
(11:41):
your moods? So if if the seas are choppy,
are things sort of choppy and. In your mind, there's something
in my life that's choppy I I suppose.
But yeah, I I think to stay calmand keep and stay happy and not
let the world's problems troubleme too much.
(12:02):
I think it's therapeutic for me to paint calmer waters, yeah.
Sounds like blue therapy. That's what it's called.
Oh, is it? Yeah, when we look at the water
or get in the water, yeah, it's known as blue therapy.
Because there's certainly a feeling of ease, isn't there?
When you get in the water, It's it's just beautiful.
It's a lovely feeling. And to float on your back and
(12:25):
look at the sky just makes you feel parts.
Part of the sea and part of the planet.
Yeah, that's a lovely feeling. Yeah, there must be a lot of
swimmers on Waikiki Island, I imagine.
Yeah, and they go all times of day.
Yeah, I just happened to meet one person that was going at
dawn, same time as me, and she always went.
(12:45):
She swims all year. And then when her sister joined
her, it was the sister I startedswimming out a bit further away
than going going a bit further right across the beach.
And are there sort of marine conservation groups?
On way here. Oh yes, definitely.
(13:05):
And I've put in a submission myself for the marine reserve
ideas that are moving forward very slowly yeah.
But that's that's my total involvement really with with
that, apart from painting the sea, which.
Yeah, and in the podcast showingnotes, we can share some links
(13:27):
to your social media so people can see your paintings.
And I love the way you create the reels.
So it's almost like the CS animated when you're filming
them. I don't know if that's still.
Oh, really? Yeah, no, I've never.
Well, I didn't realize that it looked like that to other
people. But and yeah, with the music and
and no, it's sort of like. Yeah, I've put some music in
(13:48):
afterwards. It's been a learning curve being
on Instagram and and trying to put together interesting little
reels. People seem to like to see me
painting as well, so I try to doa bit of that.
My husband bought me a stand forthe phone so I can put that
behind me when I'm working and film a bit of that.
It's. A good idea, yeah.
(14:09):
Yeah, I think people do like to get to know the artists too,
don't they? Yeah, yeah.
Hear the stories behind the painting.
Yeah, definitely. And I just put casual comments
by the by the paintings or explain what I'm doing in the
process. So hopefully people will, oh,
they seem to enjoy that and makenice comments.
(14:31):
Yeah. This might be a silly question
from someone who's not an artist, but how do you know when
a painting is finished? Does it just feel finished?
The painting tells you it's finished.
Yeah, there is a moment with me anyway.
Well, I, I could have been painting for weeks on one work.
And then there's a moment where I just know it's like a full
(14:56):
body feeling. I know it's finished and to put
the brush down. Yeah, yeah.
And I always hide A tiny it's a stylized mouse, a line drawing
as a mouse in profile with it's tail flicked up in the air and a
(15:18):
little bow in the tail. And I always hide that in all my
work. My dad was a architectural
draftsman and he would put this little mouse shape in his
drawings and I was keen on drawing, was always hanging off
the side of his drawing board watching him.
And he said I was allowed to usehis mouse as long as I put a bow
(15:42):
in its tail. And I've done that ever since.
It's in every painting. Yeah, that's, that's a great
little extra bit of. So when I come in and when I
come in in the evening and my myhusband says, have you moused it
yet? Because he knows it's finished
when I put the mouse in, Yeah. That's a verb in your house.
Yeah. Yeah.
(16:04):
And before we started recording,you mentioned that you had a
mermaid tail. Would you like to talk about
that? Yeah, I'm a retired mermaid now,
but when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a mermaid as a
career option. I well, I didn't know.
It wasn't really a career option.
I wanted to be a mermaid and would dream of having a tale.
(16:28):
And, and I had very long hair then.
And my dad made me a beautiful mermaid tale and he drew on all
the scales, impermanent marker, because they never came, they
never faded. And I was allowed to wear it in
the bath. It just fitted me perfectly.
(16:49):
And I would line the bath and let my hair float around and
wear this tail and splash it around a little bit.
And it helped me think I was a mermaid.
Yeah, I love that. Yeah.
And then when I was, I must havebeen 50, I think, when I got a
custom made mermaid tail made bythe Mer tailor who lives in
(17:15):
Florida. And that's all he does for a
job. He's got a lovely website with
all these beautiful mermaid tails.
So I, I sent all my measurementsin, triple checking the
measurements were correct and had a custom made mermaid tail
and I designed how I wanted the skin of it to look.
(17:38):
What did it? Look like.
It was kind of a little bit iridescent, but it was quite
dark with the iridescence down the front and the back looked
quite realistic actually. Yeah, not a particular fish, but
just dark with some shimmer. And all the scales were moulded
(17:59):
into the 100% silicon. So I would, I would put the tail
on sitting on the sand and just in the shallows, get my feet
properly into the tail fin and there are little straps.
It's there's a mono fin at the bottom of the tail.
And I'd put the straps around myankles and then wriggle into the
(18:23):
rest of the tail because it's pretty tight fitting.
And then I had a technique for getting into the water.
But once I was in the water, I would swim out to until I
couldn't touch the bottom and stand upright.
And when I was completely upright, all the bubbles of air
in the tail would would just race up to the top and come out
(18:47):
of the waistband area. And then it was sort of glued to
you. It was, it just went just stuck
to your legs and and you could swim sort of.
It was just beautiful. You moved along quite fast.
I could. I could swim along the ocean
(19:08):
floor and just look at what was in front of me and just just
keep moving. Yeah, it was.
Lovely, that sounds beautiful. Is there any underwater footage
of you with your mermaid? No, I didn't have any equipment
to do anything like that. But yeah, I would swim, just
swim underwater a lot until I was too tired and then then come
(19:33):
in and we have a little boat, asI mentioned before.
So I'd always take the tail withme on the boat and yeah, just
jump in off the back and sit on the duck boards and, and then
fall in, yeah, and swim around the boat.
And yeah, you could see the anchor line and just play in the
(19:55):
water. Yeah, that sounds incredible.
I love one of the things I love about swimming and being in the
sea is just being able to play as an.
Adult and just. That's right.
Yes. Well, I loved it.
Never even thought about sharks back then.
But yeah, I loved it and I stillgot the tail.
But both, I swam in it for about10 years.
(20:18):
But now both ankle straps have perished and can't be fixed as
far as I can see, because they're right down at the bottom
of the tail, which is is too narrow to roll all the way back.
So yeah, I'll just keep it as a memory.
Did you find it easier swimming with the tail than without it?
(20:40):
It's, it's definitely faster, but then but now just swimming
normally, but I just swim breaststroke.
It's, I think you get more exercise doing that.
You know, it's, it's very liberating.
Nothing hurts when you're in thewater.
No aching ankles or anything like that because it's
(21:01):
weightless and it's just, it's just lovely to turn and twist
around and almost dance in the water.
It's lovely. It's very freeing.
There's a book which I haven't read yet, but it's by a New
Zealand author called Megan Dunnabout mermaids.
I don't know if you've kind of cross it.
No, it's quite a new book. And so she travelled around
(21:22):
interviewing people who are professional mermaids.
Oh, really? And I think she tried on a tale
and gave it. Oh, did she?
Yeah, yeah. And I've made tales for two of
my granddaughters. Oh yeah, one of them was very
interested and I made her this quite detailed tale.
And then I made a smaller one for her younger sister.
(21:43):
And they sit in the paddling pool.
Wearing Oh, that's really cute. Yeah, or in the bath and they've
all got mermaid dolls. It was definitely a theme
running through the and I've given them piggyback rides when
I'm wearing my tail in the sea. Oh, incredible.
Yeah. Would you paint mermaids?
I did used to paint mermaids. I went through a phase of
(22:05):
painting mermaids underwater with waving weeds and and lots
of mermaid hair floating around.Yeah.
I did a whole series of mermaidsto get it out of the system.
Yeah. And the shark, is that when you
paint sea creatures that you come across in your swims as
(22:25):
well? Or is that more something you're
happy to keep as a memory in? No, I don't paint sharks.
I don't. I've got no desire to paint
sharks. I don't paint fish either.
But I've done a a long series ofthe New Zealand pie shag because
when we were boating, I would see them sitting up this tree
(22:49):
in, in Coromandel Harbour, dozens and dozens of them.
And we watched them all day going out fishing, flying back.
And we'd kayak gently under the tree and take lots of photos.
So I painted a lot of those birds.
They've all long since salt, butyeah.
(23:12):
Where do you usually sell your paintings?
Is it in galleries? I have a little studio and I
sell some from the studio, the New Zealand Art Show.
I've had a long gap when we moved from we used used to live
in Wellington and when we lived in Wellington I think I did the
(23:33):
art show for seven years running.
Then there's been a long gap when we moved to Waihiki and
I've done it this year and last year 24 and 25 and I've really
enjoyed it. So I'll continue doing that.
But also now I had I have a a gallery representing me in
(23:54):
Sydney called Grafis Gallery in Mossman and a Black Door Gallery
in Parnell. Oh yes, it has some of my work
as well. Yeah, awesome.
No, I don't know. You used to live in Wellington.
Were you a swimmer there? Yes, definitely.
I thought I would go to the pools and I didn't know anyone.
(24:16):
When we moved to Wellington for my husband's job and I started
swimming and would go every day and met up with a group of
lovely women that we'd end up having coffee together
afterwards and was nice to see them every morning as a regular
thing. They were always there.
(24:36):
You could have a chat and swim, swim for lengths and lengths and
and I started practising for my tale, I think for the, for the
mermaid tale. When I lived in Wellington, I
bought a monofin and would swim a few lengths breaststroke and
then I'd practice underwater swimming wearing the monofin.
(25:00):
Yeah. And they were all really
supportive. Thought it was very funny.
Which pool? Was that was that Friburg pool
or? Kilburnie Oh, OK.
Kilburnie Quite a centre. Yeah, yeah, it was lovely.
Oh, I could have taken you for aswim this morning.
I was out in the harbour. It's beautiful.
Oh really? Yeah.
I've swam once in my mermaid tail at Scorching Bay.
(25:23):
Oh yeah, yeah, a tail down thereand it was quite a still day, so
I really enjoyed a little swim there.
It was very early days for having the tails, so I was still
pretty. Nice golden Sander on the earth.
Yeah, one of my favourites. Lovely.
Yeah, lovely and flat. Nice cafe.
Tea for coffee. Definitely was important.
Yeah, definitely. Well.
(25:46):
What else was I going to ask? What's what's your routine for
painting like? What's a typical day for you in
the studio? Do you paint sort of set down?
Well, until very recently, I've had my early morning swim first
and then come home have a hot shower and go to and I swam for
(26:08):
maybe half an hour, sometimes 45minutes.
And then after the shower straight to the village for
coffee with friends and after coffee straight to my studio.
And then I'd be in the studio until 5:00-ish every day, five
(26:29):
days a week at least it's a lot of hours in the studio, but it
was, well, it still is my happy place.
I I love getting into the studioafter after my swim which makes
me feel grounded. I think the swim 1st and then
the then the painting. Do you listen to music while you
paint? Yeah, I have the radio on.
(26:50):
I I listen to New Zealand radio and the BBC Radio, sometimes
music I've got. I've put Spotify on and listen
to music. Yeah.
Is painting like a form of meditation?
When you're painting the ocean, do you feel like you lose
yourself when a painter? Definitely.
(27:11):
The hours just fly by because you're so engrossed in the
painting. I often miss lunch because I
haven't remembered lunch. I'm just engrossed in the
painting and, and want to continue on.
You know, it's, it's a, it's a lovely challenge to have to
finish the painting. Yeah, that's my day.
(27:31):
That's brilliant. And do you feel like you'll
continue painting seascapes? Everything has its own time.
I'm really immersed in the seascapes, I'm really enjoying
them. I I can't see me not painting
water now so whether it's calm or waves I just want to keep
improving painting the the water.
(27:56):
And it's different every day, isn't it?
It is. I think that's it for me now.
But who knows? There could be a change of tack
further down, further down the road, yeah.
Just check the time. Yeah, we've, we've got a bit of
time left. Is there anything you'd like to
talk about that I haven't asked you yet?
(28:18):
A. Particular painting you'd like
to mention that you're especially proud of, or other
apps that you might. I think being in, well, just
being in the gallery in Sydney, they only want to take large
scale paintings. And I hadn't really painted that
large before, well once or twice, but so that was quite a
(28:41):
challenge, quite a mission to paint on that scale.
It's just a metre and a half by a metre.
That's large for me, for my studio, which is tiny.
Yeah. And I, I think I pack, I painted
two of those canvases which the gallery accepted and then
(29:04):
packaged them up and had them shipped to Australia.
All very costly, but yeah. But it was worth.
Doing, yeah. Growing your audience?
Yeah. Yeah.
And I'd only come across the gallery because there was a
water themed exhibition advertised.
So I entered. I don't normally enter
competitions, but because it waswater themed I thought, oh, I
(29:28):
could try this. And I sent them images of two
recent paintings that I'd done specially actually for that.
And they, one of them got in. I was a finalist in the, in the
competition. So I shipped that painting and
then I went over to see the exhibition myself.
(29:51):
It was my birthday present, the flights.
And I went to the opening night,which was really exciting, met
lots of lovely other artists whopaint water and yeah, and while
I was there they asked if they could represent me, which was
fantastic. So yeah, that's why I ended up
(30:14):
with some work in Sydney. That's really exciting.
Thank you. Yeah, it is.
Yeah. They're part of Soho Galleries
and they have two galleries, I think one in Moulara, one in
Mossman. So I'm in the Mosman 1.
Yeah, when you're not working, do you still enjoy thinking
about the sea? And do you read books about the
the. I'm always thinking about the
(30:35):
sea. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We don't fish from on the boat. We're vegetarian mostly.
I do eat some fish if someone else is cooking it, but I don't.
We don't fish on the boat. We just.
I take photos, I sketch. In recent years I've taken
(30:57):
little prepared canvases and boards with me and I paint when
we're at anchor. If it's if it's sitting, I can't
see. I paint sitting on the boat.
Yeah, that works if you organise, you know, take all the
right things. Yeah, brilliant, Anne.
Well, thank you so much for yourtime.
(31:20):
I'll let you get back to your very busy stand down at the New
Zealand Art Show. Oh, it was lovely to meet you
and talk with you. Yeah, lovely to meet you and
Professor. Thank you, Anne.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Swim Chats please.
Remember to follow or. Subscribe to the podcast so you
don't miss an episode and if youenjoyed it, you can leave a five
(31:40):
star rating and review which helps other people find it too.
Enjoy the water and we'll see you next time.
Welcome to the Swim Chats podcast.
I'm Shona Riddell, a writer, former journalist and ocean
swimmer from Wellington Alto in New Zealand.
For each episode, I talk to a different guest from our swim.
Community they're. Dippers, adventure swimmers,
coaches and conservationists with one thing in common, they
all love being in the sea. So before we start this episode,
(00:26):
I just wanted to cover a couple of things.
First of all, I want this podcast to be interactive, so if
you have any questions, thoughtsor suggestions, you can e-mail
me at swimchatswithshona@gmail.com.
Or leave. A comment below each episode.
Also, this particular episode was recorded at the beginning of
June and it's the start of the Big Swim which is a fundraiser
(00:49):
for Coast Guard New Zealand. I'm taking part with a team
called The Tridents, so if you'dlike to learn more and support
us, you can go to bigswim.org NZthe Hyphen Tridents or just
click on the link in the show notes.
And finally, to support the podcast, please hit the follow
or subscribe link so you don't miss an episode.
(01:11):
You can also leave a rating and share it with friends.
Thanks for listening. Enjoy the water.
And here's today's episode with Ocean Painter and Skelly.
Exciting. This is my first in person
interview for the podcast and we're at the New Zealand Art
Show today and I'm with Anne Skelly, whose paintings I admire
(01:33):
a lot. Thank you for your time today,
Anne. It's a pleasure.
And welcome to Swim Chat. Thank you.
So it's looking very busy down there.
Have you had a good few days with the art show?
I have, it's been terrific actually.
It's been, it's been really a boost for me to sell paintings
and for people to love them so much.
(01:53):
And they're all paintings of thesea.
So yeah, you end up talking to people with an affinity for the
sea, I think. Yeah, I can imagine.
Yeah. Like me?
Yeah, And this will be a good challenge to describe your
paintings because this is an audio podcast.
You paint seascapes, I think they're called.
(02:14):
Is that right? So you're painting the sea in
different moods, from choppy seas to calm seas.
That's. Right on sunny days, so the
waters rippling in the sun. And in shade.
And more recently, I've been creeping into shore a bit more
and including some headland or beach or trees overhanging the
(02:36):
beach, things like that. Yeah, it feels that I've been
out at sea with my paintings forquite a while and I'm feeling
more confident with with those, just like swimming.
So now I'm coming in closer to shore and exploring some of the
(02:56):
some of the lands that meets thesea.
Yeah, that's really interesting.And have you been painting sea
skates for a long time? Is this a new thing for you
there? Well, there was, there was
nearly always sea in my paintings.
I've painted birds and then sea birds.
I've been through a period of painting flowers, but really the
(03:17):
flowers taught me about structure and my the the sea.
I kind of stayed away from painting the sea, just, I always
had it in the background as a colour or just a gentle texture,
but I shield away from it because I felt I couldn't do it,
that I didn't have the skills to, to paint the sea properly so
(03:41):
well enough. But with years and years and
years of practice, I, yeah, I decided to tackle it head on.
So I've deliberately been painting more of the sea and I
really enjoy it. Yeah, and it comes into my
swimming as well. I I'll be swimming along and
(04:01):
trying to analyse what I'm seeing on the surface of the
water and what the shapes like, what the colour and reflections
look like. So yeah, it's all part of the
same thing. So when you're painting, is it
from memory of what you've seen?Sometimes, but quite often, I'll
do sketches and take I take hundreds of photographs.
(04:23):
Some of them I never see again. But I'll cruise through all the
the photographs and just one image might stand out as
something I need to paint. Or I'll zoom right into that
image and just take one section of a wave and that's the part of
the photograph that excites me, so I'll paint that.
(04:46):
Yeah, it's awesome. And you live on Waikiki Island?
Yes, surrounded by beach. Surrounded by beautiful patches.
I used to live in Auckland and so I've spent a bit of time on
Waikiki Island. Yeah.
What's your local beach there? Well, I swim at Palm Beach.
We live in Ostend, so although the sea is at the bottom of the
road, it's it's full of boats just there.
(05:09):
It's a bit of yes, and people live on their on their boats and
there's a lot of boats at anchorand on moorings.
So I don't swim there. I drive 5 minutes up the road to
Palm Beach, which I love. It's surrounded by cliffs on two
sides. Yeah, I swim there and it's,
(05:32):
it's so close to home. I can go home for a hot shower
afterwards and then meet friendsfor coffee or whatever.
Yeah. Brilliant.
And do you have a studio that you paint from?
Yes, I've got a tiny studio at home with no view of the sea,
but I've got all the things I need there to begin my
(05:53):
paintings. Yeah.
And I do. I paint sometimes.
I we have a little boat and I I can paint when I'm on board or
when we're away sailing. Yeah.
What's the water temperature at the moment?
Maybe it's getting down. It's started to drop temperature
(06:14):
wise, probably 16 something like.
That it's it's about 13 here at the moment.
Oh, OK. Yeah, I think the coldest it's
been, it's been about 12 for us on Waiigi.
And do you? Get in the water most days or.
Look, I've been swimming. I've been swimming every day.
(06:35):
I like to swim all year. I well, I try to swim all year,
but winter, the winter months when it's beating with rain and
it's horrible weather and I've I've swum on my own for a long
time. Sometimes it's just too much and
I call it quits for the you knowand have a few months off till
say Labour weekend and start again then.
(06:58):
Are you part of a group or do you like to swim by yourself?
No, I'm not part of a group. Group I I like the freedom of
being able to choose when I go and it's, it's been, it's been
pretty much at dawn so that I can fit it in before the rest of
my day starts. So the sun will be just coming
(07:18):
up. But then more recently, a few
weeks ago, I had a little incident where I was swimming
with another with a friend and Ilooked over her shoulder and
there was a fin cruising past and that was obviously a shark.
And then I saw the tail behind that and and my face must have
(07:41):
changed because my friend said, what is it?
I said I think that's a shark. And she turned round and
switched. She said, yes, it's a shark.
So let's go in. We both start.
I turned onto my back and just quietly continued, but in the
beach direction. We both got back to the beach,
(08:03):
but it had been swimming alongside.
It was swimming along with us. It didn't hurt us.
It didn't touch us. But when we changed direction,
the shark went underwater, whichI didn't like because I couldn't
see it. Yeah.
So we got in. We we got into the beach OK, got
(08:25):
dried. And honestly, I didn't want to
swim at dawn the next day. And then and then I realised,
well actually that's when sharksfeed as well, dawn and dusk.
So I decided to go when it was sunny and I don't mind the
weather so much, but when it wasmid morning or lunchtime.
(08:46):
So that's my tact now I I've stopped swimming at dawn, but
I'm still swimming sort of only once or twice a week now because
the weather's getting colder. Sounds like you handled it very
well, like you stayed. Calm I was, I would sit.
Your arm? No, that's.
Right. I'd read not to do that, so I
(09:08):
didn't shout or slap around, butyeah, I just.
I was surprised at how calm I was actually.
But it was soon over and nothinghappened.
So yeah, but it did put me off. It did.
It did make me stop swimming at dawn for.
Sure made you think twice. I might be back again at dawn
(09:28):
next year, but it was just at that period of time where the
clocks were about to be put backand and the the mornings were
quite dark. So yeah, my fault.
Have you always been a swimmer or is that since you moved away?
I'm not a strong swimmer but I Ilike well at Palm Beach.
(09:54):
I made it a goal to swim from one side of the beach to the
other and I definitely couldn't do that to begin with.
But with practice every day. And then a friend joined me who
was key, quite keen and capable of swimming that distance.
So I joined her. And because we were chatting and
(10:16):
swimming alongside each other, it was easy enough to do that.
So I started doing that on a daily basis.
Yeah, and it makes you feel good.
It's the exercise for the day. It's a great way to start the
day. Oh.
It's lovely, it's lovely. And when I was swimming on my
own, I would, I would swim out far enough and then hold my
(10:38):
breath, dive down to the bottom and touch my nose on the sand.
Oh, I love that. And and swim back up, which was
again lovely to see the ripples in the sky above as you're
coming up through the water. Yeah, And those ripples, you
when I can replace them. Yeah.
I was going to say that you represent me so beautifully in
your painting. Thank you.
(10:59):
And I've got one of your paintings called Beyond Reach.
That scroll. Yeah.
And hangs on my office wall and it's the sea rippling on a
beautiful sunny day. And the lights glint outfit and
you can see the pebbles. On Yeah.
And more recently I've been painting of I am moving away
from the the rough waves and painting more calm scenes.
(11:20):
Recent painting was called Calmer Waters and I think that's
something we all need nowadays. Yeah.
So I'm really enjoying painting.Not Stillwater, but calmer.
A lot calmer. But it's something I was going
to ask you, do your the moods ofthe sea, your painting reflect
(11:41):
your moods? So if if the seas are choppy,
are things sort of choppy and. In your mind, there's something
in my life that's choppy I I suppose.
But yeah, I I think to stay calmand keep and stay happy and not
let the world's problems troubleme too much.
(12:02):
I think it's therapeutic for me to paint calmer waters, yeah.
Sounds like blue therapy. That's what it's called.
Oh, is it? Yeah, when we look at the water
or get in the water, yeah, it's known as blue therapy.
Because there's certainly a feeling of ease, isn't there?
When you get in the water, It's it's just beautiful.
It's a lovely feeling. And to float on your back and
(12:25):
look at the sky just makes you feel parts.
Part of the sea and part of the planet.
Yeah, that's a lovely feeling. Yeah, there must be a lot of
swimmers on Waikiki Island, I imagine.
Yeah, and they go all times of day.
Yeah, I just happened to meet one person that was going at
dawn, same time as me, and she always went.
(12:45):
She swims all year. And then when her sister joined
her, it was the sister I startedswimming out a bit further away
than going going a bit further right across the beach.
And are there sort of marine conservation groups?
On way here. Oh yes, definitely.
(13:05):
And I've put in a submission myself for the marine reserve
ideas that are moving forward very slowly yeah.
But that's that's my total involvement really with with
that, apart from painting the sea, which.
Yeah, and in the podcast showingnotes, we can share some links
(13:27):
to your social media so people can see your paintings.
And I love the way you create the reels.
So it's almost like the CS animated when you're filming
them. I don't know if that's still.
Oh, really? Yeah, no, I've never.
Well, I didn't realize that it looked like that to other
people. But and yeah, with the music and
and no, it's sort of like. Yeah, I've put some music in
(13:48):
afterwards. It's been a learning curve being
on Instagram and and trying to put together interesting little
reels. People seem to like to see me
painting as well, so I try to doa bit of that.
My husband bought me a stand forthe phone so I can put that
behind me when I'm working and film a bit of that.
It's. A good idea, yeah.
(14:09):
Yeah, I think people do like to get to know the artists too,
don't they? Yeah, yeah.
Hear the stories behind the painting.
Yeah, definitely. And I just put casual comments
by the by the paintings or explain what I'm doing in the
process. So hopefully people will, oh,
they seem to enjoy that and makenice comments.
(14:31):
Yeah. This might be a silly question
from someone who's not an artist, but how do you know when
a painting is finished? Does it just feel finished?
The painting tells you it's finished.
Yeah, there is a moment with me anyway.
Well, I, I could have been painting for weeks on one work.
And then there's a moment where I just know it's like a full
(14:56):
body feeling. I know it's finished and to put
the brush down. Yeah, yeah.
And I always hide A tiny it's a stylized mouse, a line drawing
as a mouse in profile with it's tail flicked up in the air and a
(15:18):
little bow in the tail. And I always hide that in all my
work. My dad was a architectural
draftsman and he would put this little mouse shape in his
drawings and I was keen on drawing, was always hanging off
the side of his drawing board watching him.
And he said I was allowed to usehis mouse as long as I put a bow
(15:42):
in its tail. And I've done that ever since.
It's in every painting. Yeah, that's, that's a great
little extra bit of. So when I come in and when I
come in in the evening and my myhusband says, have you moused it
yet? Because he knows it's finished
when I put the mouse in, Yeah. That's a verb in your house.
Yeah. Yeah.
(16:04):
And before we started recording,you mentioned that you had a
mermaid tail. Would you like to talk about
that? Yeah, I'm a retired mermaid now,
but when I was a little girl, I wanted to be a mermaid as a
career option. I well, I didn't know.
It wasn't really a career option.
I wanted to be a mermaid and would dream of having a tale.
(16:28):
And, and I had very long hair then.
And my dad made me a beautiful mermaid tale and he drew on all
the scales, impermanent marker, because they never came, they
never faded. And I was allowed to wear it in
the bath. It just fitted me perfectly.
(16:49):
And I would line the bath and let my hair float around and
wear this tail and splash it around a little bit.
And it helped me think I was a mermaid.
Yeah, I love that. Yeah.
And then when I was, I must havebeen 50, I think, when I got a
custom made mermaid tail made bythe Mer tailor who lives in
(17:15):
Florida. And that's all he does for a
job. He's got a lovely website with
all these beautiful mermaid tails.
So I, I sent all my measurementsin, triple checking the
measurements were correct and had a custom made mermaid tail
and I designed how I wanted the skin of it to look.
(17:38):
What did it? Look like.
It was kind of a little bit iridescent, but it was quite
dark with the iridescence down the front and the back looked
quite realistic actually. Yeah, not a particular fish, but
just dark with some shimmer. And all the scales were moulded
(17:59):
into the 100% silicon. So I would, I would put the tail
on sitting on the sand and just in the shallows, get my feet
properly into the tail fin and there are little straps.
It's there's a mono fin at the bottom of the tail.
And I'd put the straps around myankles and then wriggle into the
(18:23):
rest of the tail because it's pretty tight fitting.
And then I had a technique for getting into the water.
But once I was in the water, I would swim out to until I
couldn't touch the bottom and stand upright.
And when I was completely upright, all the bubbles of air
in the tail would would just race up to the top and come out
(18:47):
of the waistband area. And then it was sort of glued to
you. It was, it just went just stuck
to your legs and and you could swim sort of.
It was just beautiful. You moved along quite fast.
I could. I could swim along the ocean
(19:08):
floor and just look at what was in front of me and just just
keep moving. Yeah, it was.
Lovely, that sounds beautiful. Is there any underwater footage
of you with your mermaid? No, I didn't have any equipment
to do anything like that. But yeah, I would swim, just
swim underwater a lot until I was too tired and then then come
(19:33):
in and we have a little boat, asI mentioned before.
So I'd always take the tail withme on the boat and yeah, just
jump in off the back and sit on the duck boards and, and then
fall in, yeah, and swim around the boat.
And yeah, you could see the anchor line and just play in the
(19:55):
water. Yeah, that sounds incredible.
I love one of the things I love about swimming and being in the
sea is just being able to play as an.
Adult and just. That's right.
Yes. Well, I loved it.
Never even thought about sharks back then.
But yeah, I loved it and I stillgot the tail.
But both, I swam in it for about10 years.
(20:18):
But now both ankle straps have perished and can't be fixed as
far as I can see, because they're right down at the bottom
of the tail, which is is too narrow to roll all the way back.
So yeah, I'll just keep it as a memory.
Did you find it easier swimming with the tail than without it?
(20:40):
It's, it's definitely faster, but then but now just swimming
normally, but I just swim breaststroke.
It's, I think you get more exercise doing that.
You know, it's, it's very liberating.
Nothing hurts when you're in thewater.
No aching ankles or anything like that because it's
(21:01):
weightless and it's just, it's just lovely to turn and twist
around and almost dance in the water.
It's lovely. It's very freeing.
There's a book which I haven't read yet, but it's by a New
Zealand author called Megan Dunnabout mermaids.
I don't know if you've kind of cross it.
No, it's quite a new book. And so she travelled around
(21:22):
interviewing people who are professional mermaids.
Oh, really? And I think she tried on a tale
and gave it. Oh, did she?
Yeah, yeah. And I've made tales for two of
my granddaughters. Oh yeah, one of them was very
interested and I made her this quite detailed tale.
And then I made a smaller one for her younger sister.
(21:43):
And they sit in the paddling pool.
Wearing Oh, that's really cute. Yeah, or in the bath and they've
all got mermaid dolls. It was definitely a theme
running through the and I've given them piggyback rides when
I'm wearing my tail in the sea. Oh, incredible.
Yeah. Would you paint mermaids?
I did used to paint mermaids. I went through a phase of
(22:05):
painting mermaids underwater with waving weeds and and lots
of mermaid hair floating around.Yeah.
I did a whole series of mermaidsto get it out of the system.
Yeah. And the shark, is that when you
paint sea creatures that you come across in your swims as
(22:25):
well? Or is that more something you're
happy to keep as a memory in? No, I don't paint sharks.
I don't. I've got no desire to paint
sharks. I don't paint fish either.
But I've done a a long series ofthe New Zealand pie shag because
when we were boating, I would see them sitting up this tree
(22:49):
in, in Coromandel Harbour, dozens and dozens of them.
And we watched them all day going out fishing, flying back.
And we'd kayak gently under the tree and take lots of photos.
So I painted a lot of those birds.
They've all long since salt, butyeah.
(23:12):
Where do you usually sell your paintings?
Is it in galleries? I have a little studio and I
sell some from the studio, the New Zealand Art Show.
I've had a long gap when we moved from we used used to live
in Wellington and when we lived in Wellington I think I did the
(23:33):
art show for seven years running.
Then there's been a long gap when we moved to Waihiki and
I've done it this year and last year 24 and 25 and I've really
enjoyed it. So I'll continue doing that.
But also now I had I have a a gallery representing me in
(23:54):
Sydney called Grafis Gallery in Mossman and a Black Door Gallery
in Parnell. Oh yes, it has some of my work
as well. Yeah, awesome.
No, I don't know. You used to live in Wellington.
Were you a swimmer there? Yes, definitely.
I thought I would go to the pools and I didn't know anyone.
(24:16):
When we moved to Wellington for my husband's job and I started
swimming and would go every day and met up with a group of
lovely women that we'd end up having coffee together
afterwards and was nice to see them every morning as a regular
thing. They were always there.
(24:36):
You could have a chat and swim, swim for lengths and lengths and
and I started practising for my tale, I think for the, for the
mermaid tale. When I lived in Wellington, I
bought a monofin and would swim a few lengths breaststroke and
then I'd practice underwater swimming wearing the monofin.
(25:00):
Yeah. And they were all really
supportive. Thought it was very funny.
Which pool? Was that was that Friburg pool
or? Kilburnie Oh, OK.
Kilburnie Quite a centre. Yeah, yeah, it was lovely.
Oh, I could have taken you for aswim this morning.
I was out in the harbour. It's beautiful.
Oh really? Yeah.
I've swam once in my mermaid tail at Scorching Bay.
(25:23):
Oh yeah, yeah, a tail down thereand it was quite a still day, so
I really enjoyed a little swim there.
It was very early days for having the tails, so I was still
pretty. Nice golden Sander on the earth.
Yeah, one of my favourites. Lovely.
Yeah, lovely and flat. Nice cafe.
Tea for coffee. Definitely was important.
Yeah, definitely. Well.
(25:46):
What else was I going to ask? What's what's your routine for
painting like? What's a typical day for you in
the studio? Do you paint sort of set down?
Well, until very recently, I've had my early morning swim first
and then come home have a hot shower and go to and I swam for
(26:08):
maybe half an hour, sometimes 45minutes.
And then after the shower straight to the village for
coffee with friends and after coffee straight to my studio.
And then I'd be in the studio until 5:00-ish every day, five
(26:29):
days a week at least it's a lot of hours in the studio, but it
was, well, it still is my happy place.
I I love getting into the studioafter after my swim which makes
me feel grounded. I think the swim 1st and then
the then the painting. Do you listen to music while you
paint? Yeah, I have the radio on.
(26:50):
I I listen to New Zealand radio and the BBC Radio, sometimes
music I've got. I've put Spotify on and listen
to music. Yeah.
Is painting like a form of meditation?
When you're painting the ocean, do you feel like you lose
yourself when a painter? Definitely.
(27:11):
The hours just fly by because you're so engrossed in the
painting. I often miss lunch because I
haven't remembered lunch. I'm just engrossed in the
painting and, and want to continue on.
You know, it's, it's a, it's a lovely challenge to have to
finish the painting. Yeah, that's my day.
(27:31):
That's brilliant. And do you feel like you'll
continue painting seascapes? Everything has its own time.
I'm really immersed in the seascapes, I'm really enjoying
them. I I can't see me not painting
water now so whether it's calm or waves I just want to keep
improving painting the the water.
(27:56):
And it's different every day, isn't it?
It is. I think that's it for me now.
But who knows? There could be a change of tack
further down, further down the road, yeah.
Just check the time. Yeah, we've, we've got a bit of
time left. Is there anything you'd like to
talk about that I haven't asked you yet?
(28:18):
A. Particular painting you'd like
to mention that you're especially proud of, or other
apps that you might. I think being in, well, just
being in the gallery in Sydney, they only want to take large
scale paintings. And I hadn't really painted that
large before, well once or twice, but so that was quite a
(28:41):
challenge, quite a mission to paint on that scale.
It's just a metre and a half by a metre.
That's large for me, for my studio, which is tiny.
Yeah. And I, I think I pack, I painted
two of those canvases which the gallery accepted and then
(29:04):
packaged them up and had them shipped to Australia.
All very costly, but yeah. But it was worth.
Doing, yeah. Growing your audience?
Yeah. Yeah.
And I'd only come across the gallery because there was a
water themed exhibition advertised.
So I entered. I don't normally enter
competitions, but because it waswater themed I thought, oh, I
(29:28):
could try this. And I sent them images of two
recent paintings that I'd done specially actually for that.
And they, one of them got in. I was a finalist in the, in the
competition. So I shipped that painting and
then I went over to see the exhibition myself.
(29:51):
It was my birthday present, the flights.
And I went to the opening night,which was really exciting, met
lots of lovely other artists whopaint water and yeah, and while
I was there they asked if they could represent me, which was
fantastic. So yeah, that's why I ended up
(30:14):
with some work in Sydney. That's really exciting.
Thank you. Yeah, it is.
Yeah. They're part of Soho Galleries
and they have two galleries, I think one in Moulara, one in
Mossman. So I'm in the Mosman 1.
Yeah, when you're not working, do you still enjoy thinking
about the sea? And do you read books about the
the. I'm always thinking about the
(30:35):
sea. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
We don't fish from on the boat. We're vegetarian mostly.
I do eat some fish if someone else is cooking it, but I don't.
We don't fish on the boat. We just.
I take photos, I sketch. In recent years I've taken
(30:57):
little prepared canvases and boards with me and I paint when
we're at anchor. If it's if it's sitting, I can't
see. I paint sitting on the boat.
Yeah, that works if you organise, you know, take all the
right things. Yeah, brilliant, Anne.
Well, thank you so much for yourtime.
(31:20):
I'll let you get back to your very busy stand down at the New
Zealand Art Show. Oh, it was lovely to meet you
and talk with you. Yeah, lovely to meet you and
Professor. Thank you, Anne.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Swim Chats please.
Remember to follow or. Subscribe to the podcast so you
don't miss an episode and if youenjoyed it, you can leave a five
(31:40):
star rating and review which helps other people find it too.
Enjoy the water and we'll see you next time.
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