Gennie de Lange commenced art studies at the Wellington Polytechnic (1958-1960). In her search for a self-supporting career, she headed for Scandinavia to study leading edge design. Inspired by the colours and textures experienced during her travels, she returned to London in 1963, spending a year at the Hammersmith School of Art, before working at Chelsea Pottery (1965-1967). When the family moved to Texas, de Lange borrowed a kiln and began creating unique tile artworks. Returning to Christchurch at the end of 1968, her art practice flourished. In 1980, she returned to London undertaking post-graduate studies at the Middlesex School of Art. The family continued to travel widely, spending significant time in their 300 year old apartment in Sète, France.
Since her first group show, at the New York World Fair in 1967, de Lange has continued to exhibit widely throughout New Zealand in both dealer and public art galleries, including The Suter (Nelson), The Sarjeant (Whanganui), The Dowse (Upper Hutt) and Govett-Brewster (New Plymouth). Her work has been exhibited in England, France and Switzerland, and is in both public and private art collections, including the Auckland Museum, The James Wallace Collection and the Waikato and Christchurch art galleries.
With a career in the arts spanning over 60 years, de Lange has been a potter, fashion designer, author, and photographer. She is however, best known for her ceramic paintings created using a unique glazing technique. Working on high quality unglazed terracotta tiles, she paints many layers of glazes, some transparent, some opaque. The tones and colours (matt pastels before firing) are completely transformed after three days in the kiln. Through endless experimentation, de Lange has discovered how to handle these to their greatest advantage. There is a very painterly feel to the works and the glaze effects are rich, luminous and complex, with a jewel-like quality.