MY BEGINNINGS – Ruby Burke
I was born in Canada, 2002. We had a small backyard which led onto a forest, where I remember seeing a hummingbird for the first time. The iridescent color as it glinted in the sun was so magical, and the exquisite bird so tiny. The newness and wonder of it filled me up.
My grandparents had the most wonderful garden, and many of my memories are of wildflowers and butterflies. Growing up in British Columbia was wonderful, because you got the magic of snow and blizzards, as well as brilliant sun and lush greenery.
Just after my fifth birthday my family moved to New Zealand, where I fell in love with the long hot summers of golden light.
A few years after we arrived a local artist came in and gave a drawing lesson at my school. We each had to copy a printed photo in pencil. I loved it, and without making a conscious decision I fell into drawing, then painting. Portraits were my favourite and I would work for around six hours most weekends, hardly noticing the time go by.
When I was thirteen my family went on holiday and the house we stayed at had a separate building that looked like it was used as an art studio. I adored it. (Image of me standing in front of a blue door) So I asked my dad, who was a builder, if he could ever build me one. In an attempt to dissuade me he replied that if I could earn $2,000 he would make me a little studio in our backyard. At that time I was too young to get a proper job, and $2,000 was some abstract number that I could hardly fathom earning. Nevertheless, that summer I threw myself into whatever little job I could find, babysitting, berry picking, you name it. At $8 an hour it took me a few months, but in the end I earned the money and helped my dad build my studio. Since then, I have never gone more than a month without painting or drawing.
The summer that I was fifteen I decided that I wanted to try selling my artwork at the market. There were two markets in Wanaka, and one in Queenstown that I attended every week. Many markets I didn’t sell a single thing. It was quite defeating, but I don’t regret it at all, as it has made me more resilient to the ups and downs of being an artist.
