I was born in Palmerston North in 1948 and have lived in Manawatu for most of my life.
Creativity was an important part of our family life; my father was a draftsman and engineer, my mother drew and painted. I learnt to draw and paint from an early age and wanted to be an artist when I grew up. However, being an artist was not seen as a viable career option in the 1960s, so after graduating in geography in 1969, I entered teaching in 1970.
Summer art schools and drawing classes were inspiring, and I continued to explore oil painting procedures and techniques in the making and exhibiting of artworks.
The oil painting process developed during the Renaissance involving the layering of many glazes and scumbles became my favourite technique for many years.
In 1985 I began teaching art at Palmerston North Girls’ High School. Twenty-five years of art teaching and practice across a wide range of disciplines including painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, digital art and art history have given me a versatility of form and medium. My studies in geography, the sciences and philosophy are a continuing source of inspiration.
Exploring media and techniques has always interested me and in 2009 I began experimenting with encaustic. Molten wax paint is particularly challenging to work with, but the medium has great beauty, materiality and depth. Since 2017 I’ve been using cold wax medium, which, combined with oil paint, provides the depth and lustre of encaustic, but dries slowly giving one more time to work the paint.

Links:
Raemon's blog
Interview with Raemon