Christchruch, New Zealand

I’m Hannah Jensen, a full-time paint carver. I layer up boards with up to 70 layers of acrylic paint and then carve back through the layers to reveal the different colours below. It has a topographical effect and I enjoy emphasising texture, using nature as my main source of inspiration. When I am not in the studio, you’ll find me on the water or up a mountain. We have nature at our fingertips here in New Zealand and I make sure I make the most of it. I am also lucky to have traveled to South Africa where I spent many hours walking around my fathers game reserve before he passed away and a further 37 countries to fuel me with inspiration. But the time in South Africa with the animals was life-changing, the country and the people hold a huge place in my heart. From that stemmed my passion to carve large scale wild animals. I have been carving since I created this technique in 2003 when I was at University. I was majoring in Printmaking and experimenting with carving into wood after mainly working with etching and engraving into metals and plastics to print from. I honestly came across the technique by mistake, I did too many layers of paint on a board and had a light bulb moment when I was then able to carve into the paint before carving deeper into the wood. I now only do one-off works and the ‘layered woodblocks’ have themselves become the artworks. It is a bit like painting in reverse, all the paint is applied first and I simply reveal the artwork below. I absolutely love carving.

View Hannah’s WILD exhibition 2018

Images of Work

Techniques

Paint Carving

Favorite Products

I only ever use one tool and that is the Speedball No.1 cutter; in fact over the last 15 years I have used hundreds of heads to carve hundreds of paint carvings and I'm not stopping anytime soon. The sharp v-shape edge allows me to cut intricate textures and detail and bring small and large scale works to life. I know I can create what is in my heart using the Speedball carver and that makes me very happy.

Upcoming Workshops/Events

Currently collaborating with The Paper Rain Project and carving on their handmade skateboards