Janie Neal wears a lot of hats each week – painter and muralist, disability support worker and hospitality worker. The 30-year-old tells Charlene Macaulay about her childhood in New Zealand, her new life here and the challenge of creating large-scale murals.
Tell me about your childhood.
I was born in New Zealand … in a little town called Oakura. We were right on the beach. I was a lifeguard growing up, and used to swim competitively, but only at province level. Then I went to art school at 16 in Hamilton, finished there at 19, moved home for a year and moved [to Wyndham] when I was 21.
What prompted your interest in art?
My mum’s always been very creative, and my aunty is quite a famous New Zealand painter. I’ve always done it, it’s the only thing that ever came naturally. I do a lot of pattern work, painting mainly, and mixed media. [One day], I want to do occupational art therapy.
You just painted a 15-metre mural along one wall at the Crooked Fork cafe, where you work. How do you plan for an artwork of that size?
You don’t, you just start to paint and stand back [to see how it looks]. You plan on what images you’re going to use, but I didn’t know where exactly I was going to use them. I tried a few different techniques, I worked on a wall at home and a door at home, trying to work out the easiest way to do it. It’s the biggest mural I’ve done. I work under the name Janie Askew, which is my maiden name, and put my work on Instagram, under Askew Mural Art.
How does Werribee compare to New Zealand?
The population’s great, because where I come from it’s so tiny, but I miss the ocean. If I could mix them both together, it would be great.
What’s your favourite Wyndham landmark?
I like the Werribee Mansion gardens for picnics and stuff, and I don’t mind walking my dog around Werribee South.
