Artist - Paula Novak
Portraits and contemporary photorealistic art

Paula Novak Gallery
Email: paula@paulanovak.com
Web: www.paulanovak.com
Location: Haumoana, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand
Medium: Mainly acrylic on canvas
Subject matter: Commissioned portraits, surrealism and photorealism. Fascinating flora, riveting realism, corporate murals, fantasy art, book illustrations and prints.
Concept art plus visionary and fantasy works. The content continues to change, although figure work is still the essence of my creativity, whether it is realism or surrealism.

Paula Novak is an acclaimed contemporary photorealism artist, specialising in portraits and surrealism. Her contemporary paintings have drawn praise from famous people such as Richard Taylor, and include famous portraits such as Peter Jackson.

Fantasy artist puts you in the picture

Paula Novak lives in a world of artistic possibilities, swirling colours and ethereal images, which she delights to capture on canvas.

From early childhood this resident New Zealand artist became lost in the flow of the paintbrush as she captured the lines and character of friends, or conjured images from her rich imagination.

Her reputation has spread across the country through gallery exhibitions and word of mouth and her paintings have found their way into private collections around the world.

Traditional portraits and beyond

Paula Novak has one of those rare gifts in art, the ability to paint photo-realistically and to capture the curves and proportions of the human body and face in every life-like nuance. "For me a great portrait is more than simply painting a lifelike image. It has to include of the depth of the spirit and soul, the very heart of a person, to make it truly live."

Although Paula is more than capable of painting traditional portraits, she revels in her ability to take the client into their own story, often adding in personal or imagined items with a touch of fantasy resulting in a work beyond what is considered standard portraiture. This gives her work a deeply personal touch.

VIP portrait unveiled by New Zealand's Prime Minister

Bob Harvey, the Mayor of Waitakere City was so inspired by Paula Novak's painting of Peter Jackson hanging in the foyer of the council buildings, that he commissioned her to paint a portrait of Mr Ross Dallow, the driving force behind the construction of the Waitakere Trust Stadium, one of the largest stadiums in the country.

This commission required Paula to create an accurate representation of the stadium as a background to the portrait, to honour Mr Dallow for his commitment and dedication.

The painting was unveiled by Prime Minister Helen Clark. Ross Dallow was greatly moved by this gift of appreciation, commenting on the photographic likeness of the portrait.

Peter Jackson

Paula Novak's photo-realistic portrait of Peter Jackson, with elements of his movies around the border, was among the work selected for the finals of the prestigious 2004 Wallace Arts Trust, Adams Portrait Award.

It attracted a great deal of interest and a photograph of her work appearing in the NZ Herald and the Dominion Post. The theme for the award was a depiction of a well-known New Zealander. There were many comments from people who were amazed at Ms Novak's incredible accuracy and skill in capturing one of the country's national treasures on canvas.

People's Choice Award and Television Coverage

One of Paula's favourite pieces, the Nikau Woman, a striking work which came out of her moving from New Plymouth to Titirangi, literally "the edge of Paradise." It won "People's Choice" at a recent Waitakere City exhibition and was displayed on the Good Morning Show on TV1, NZ.

Collage commissioned by Prestigious College

Recently Paula was commissioned by King's College to created a collage depicting the essence and mission statement of this well known college. It was greatly admired as students, tutors and old school members could relate well to it.

Weta Workshop Director Richard Taylor

Richard Taylor Director of Weta Workshop, overseer for projects such as the Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings, The Legend of Zorro among many others personally invited Paula Novak to his studio in Wellington to discuss various aspects of the art world. Here are his comments after spending some time with her:

"I had the great pleasure of meeting Paula Novak and viewing her work when she came to visit us at Weta Workshop in Wellington. There is no doubt that Paula is a great New Zealand painter that has sensitivity and subtlety in her art that complements the subjects that she chooses to paint. Paula invests a tangible level of spirituality into her paintings and has produced a comprehensive body of work.

It has been wonderful to be introduced to Paula's beautiful art and I hope we see many more pieces coming from this wonderful NZ painter."

Richard Taylor
Weta Workshop

Other Works

Paula has illustrated several children's books for major publishing houses, and has worked with musicians on CD covers. She is also moving into the area of personalised corporate artworks with a difference.