An artist has found her niche painting posters for golf tournaments.<\/p>\n
Part-time Arrowtown resident Olivia Pinckney has not only painted the posters for the last two New Zealand Open golf tournaments at nearby Millbrook, but also for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the United States.<\/p>\n
In February, she followed up depicting superstar Rory McIlroy teeing off at the course\u2019s 17th hole by meeting the man himself.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, who has been a fulltime artist for the past two years, got into golf art through a hosting role at the NZ Open for co-organisers Michael Goldstein and Mel Gimblett.<\/p>\n
Goldstein asked her to do a drawing of their dog, then asked if she would paint the poster promoting last year\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018He said he\u2019s seen them around the world in other tournaments,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n
Then at last year\u2019s Open, Pinckney hosted Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament director Steve John who, taken by her poster artwork, asked her to do one for his tournament.<\/p>\n
After she sent some photos, she was asked to paint McIlroy teeing off at the scenic 17th beside the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n
John also invited her and her boyfriend to this February\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n
To watch McIlroy tee off where she had depicted him was \u2018\u2018a surreal moment\u2019\u2019, Pinckney said.<\/p>\n
She was somewhat awestruck meeting him, but her mum Jan said he called her artwork \u2018\u2018awesome\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
It was also amazing for her to see her artwork displayed in the players\u2019 lounge.<\/p>\n
She has also been invited to paint next year\u2019s poster, and will benefit from having now had a good look around the course and the various views it provides.<\/p>\n
Pinckney\u2019s also been commissioned to produce the artwork for next year\u2019s NZ Open, and is now pitching herself to other courses.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I\u2019m trying to see if I can build a portfolio in the golf world.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Already she was hopeful of work for the prestigious Te Arai and Tara Iti courses north of Auckland, whose owners are also involved with Arrowtown\u2019s under-reconstruction The Hills Golf Club.<\/p>\n
What she loved most about golf art was the landscapes.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I love landscapes, that\u2019s why I\u2019ve loved getting into golf\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Pinckney taught herself to paint while at Cromwell Primary, placed second in a competition and helped paint the school\u2019s mural.<\/p>\n
She finished head of visual art at St Margaret\u2019s College, in Christchurch, but went on to study science and marketing at the University of Otago.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I wanted to do a back-up – I didn\u2019t really think art would be a moneymaker.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
However, thanks to her fortuitous introduction to the golf art world, she is having to revise that opinion.\u00a0<\/p>\n