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Original New Zealand art & hand-painted ceramics

Trouble & Strife creates fine art prints and transforms vintage ceramics inspired by the natural world. From upcycled hand-painted plates to detailed illustrations of NZ birds and landscapes, every piece lovingly crafted and made to be cherished.

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Prints

Woman holding framed dinosaur poster by New Zealand artist Lara Mumby-Croft aka Trouble and Strife

Posters

Lara illustrating a New Zealand Kea using Prisma artist colour pencils

Original pieces

David Bowie artwork on a ceramic plate by New Zealand Artist Trouble & Strife

Ceramics

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Portrait of New Zealand Artist Trouble and Strife in her Christchurch Studio

Lara is a New Zealand artist behind Trouble & Strife, known for her original art prints and handpainted ceramics. Inspired by nature, she divides her time between creating highly detailed illustrations and transforming vintage ceramics into one-of-a-kind pieces.

Meet Lara, the artist behind Trouble & Strife

Learn more about me and my practice

Detail of an original illustration of Elton John by Lara Mumby-Croft

Alongside her usual practice, Lara welcomes commissions, working with you to create a unique artwork. From pets and pop-culture icons to favourite birds and landscapes, Lara will create a one-of-a-kind artwork in her signature style to be treasured for years to come.

Commissions and custom artwork

Find our more about commissions

Kākābeak kaha

This is my favourite native flower, I love every stage of it flowering and even without flowers, those lovely leaves!
Also known as Ngutukākā.

I’m about to make A3 and A4 prints of this drawing and they’ll be available at

Kea in Flight

One of my favourite New Zealand birds! The original drawing now resides in Australia with a lovely customer I had the pleasure to meet at Homegrown Gallery.

Kea’s are truly remarkable birds and I hope to draw more in future. Th

Finally! My website is LIVE!
Only a month later than planned! Haha
It doesn’t quite feel real yet. Massive thanks to @jamesmumbycroft This would have taken twice as long without all the work you have put in. I am endlessly grateful! Head to ww

It’s always interesting to see what comes out of these test/mark making pieces…

#keainmotion #keainflight #abstractkea #abstractart #markmakingtest #watercolourandpencil #mixedmediadrawing

Yet another work in progress 😅

#kea #keawing #onawing #inflight #drawinginprogress #mixedmediadrawing

Back to drawing.
I’m trying to split my time between drawing 2 days a week and working on the ceramic plates for 2 days a week. This leaves one day for admin and prep for the website going live. It’s a juggle on top of life in general.

Monarch butterfly on retro plate.
I immediately saw a monarch when I first spotted this plate.
Quite a lovely way to get in the mood for springtime.

#monarchbutterfly #butterflyart #butterflyplate #handpaintedplate #plateart #troubleandstrifeceram

The Southern Blue butterfly, endemic to New Zealand. Unfortunately, this amazing species is under threat and its habitat has been restricted to the southeast side of the South Island. This is largely due to the Australian common blue butterfly which

Quite the departure from my usual subjects! 🤖
I have recently started working on a range of ceramics again. Some pieces were literally heading to landfill! It’s been ages since I worked on a ceramic plate, I’ve been meaning to get back

Kororā - Little Blue Penguin

I’ve had so much lovely feedback about this little fella (from my stories) that I’ve decided to share him here too. I made him for my son, who had been asking me for a while now to draw a little blue penguin

Follow me on instagram @troubleandstrifenz to stay up to date with my latest work, news and upcoming markets I will be attending.