Artist Bio -

Jacqui Hart

b. 1963

Jacqui is an oil painter working from her home studio in the Waikato, near Hamilton, New Zealand. Raised on a rural property of native bush, birdlife and a beautiful river, she carries an enduring connection to New Zealand’s flora and fauna into everything she paints.

She came to oil painting later in life, and her style was shaped by the American realist painter Mark Carder. Her work sits within the tradition of botanical painting, informed by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the Dutch masters. She is drawn to their devotion to craftsmanship, harmony and beauty, and shares their commitment to accuracy and attention to detail.

Faith is at the heart of Jacqui’s practice, and her paintings celebrate the design, beauty and harmony of creation, themes that have remained touchstones throughout her work. She sees her art as a quiet act of resistance against the chaos and turmoil of the world, inviting viewers to slow down and encounter beauty not as decoration, but as evidence of the sacred.   

Artist Statement -

I paint large-scale, close-up oil portraits of flowers, working in the genre of realism. I photograph flowers in various stages of bloom crafting those images into striking compositions for my paintings.

I use classical techniques & soft colour palettes often including 24c raised gold-leaf insects. My work sits in the tradition of botanical painting, influenced by the Dutch masters, and I use flowers as a medium to explore the beauty and deliberate design found in the natural world.

Currently I am further developing the role of gold—both shell gold and gold leaf—to fuse historical botanical designs into my contemporary floral pieces.

Exhibitions/Awards:

  • 2026 - First Place Award HMVC gallery, N.Y - April online group exhibition “Full Bloom”

  • 2026 - Bronze Award Camelback Gallery, Arizona online group exhibition“Flower Power”

  • 2026 - Homiens Art Prize highly commended - Spring 2026

  • 2026 - Finalist Exhibizone “Flourish” international juried online exhibition Canada

  • 2024 - “In The Frame” Waikato Art Expo group exhibition - St John’s College Hamilton

  • 2021 - “Visages - Faces of NZ Artists” solo exhibition, ArtsPost, Hamilton

  • 2019 - Hilda Ross Art Exhibition, Art Nexus & ArtVenture group show, Hamilton

  • 2018 - Dio ArtX group exhibition, Diocesan School for Girls Hamilton

  • 2018 - NZ Artist Magazine Vol.3 Issue 27 Mar/Apr.

  • 2018 - “An Artful Mix" group exhibition, ArtsPost gallery, Hamilton

  • 2017 - "A Bold Adventure" group show, Wallace Gallery, Morrinsville

  • 2016 - Finalist in the New Zealand Painting and Printmaking Awards Hamilton

    For sales, commissions or speaking engagements, Jacqui can be contacted through the Contact button on the home page or at jacqui@jacquihart.com

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