Tylee Cottage residents' show

The beautiful Sarjeant gallery is hosting this exhibition of past and present work by every artist who has taken part in their residency programme over the past 21 years. Here are just a few pics - Greg Donson speaking at the opening, Matt Couper's work in the dome, Mark Braunias' work in the dome, Gary Freemantle's petrol pump work, Lauren Lysaght's installation in the dome, and Peter Ireland's two painting works.

the capital and one tabby cat

Spent a couple of days getting reaquainted with Wellington. A lot of the buildings have changed in a short time. But the famous bucket fountain is reassuringly the same, although I've never seen a pink chicken paddling in it before. When it started getting dark, I noticed how seductive the shopping strip is...

... and Napier (with one white dog and one black dog)

And of course everyone knows there are a lot of beautiful art deco buildings in Napier, so I'll leave the pictures of those up to thousands of other people.... I met these two very well behaved little dogs at Paper-Works gallery.

Autumn road trip to Hastings (with one white dog)

Autumn is the best time of year for a road trip I reckon and of course the weather in the Hawkes Bay was fabulous as always... Waipawa was looking pretty good, but I was really impressed with the heritage area of central Hastings. The character buildings are being beautifully restored. And yes, the dog is from the Norsewear art award poster.

Road trip to Roadshow (with one black dog)

We drove down to Waikanae for the opening of the Real Art Roadshow. We stopped off at Himatangi Beach to visit Alison, Pam, and the cute little hairy Penny shown here sitting on my knee.

Real Art Roadshow opening

Before the show goes on the road, the official opening was held at Mahara Gallery in Waikanae. This collection has been put together to tour every secondary school in the country so that art students in particular, but the wider community also, can experience art up close and personal, rather than as reproductions in books. The show is stunning, just about all painting, but apparently designed for this aspect of the art curriculum. Obviously there are restrictions with touring an exhibition in a truck, but if the venture is well received, the plan is to put more trucks and artwork on the road. It would be great to see a photography truck too with, say, Yvonne Todd, Boyd Webb, Laurence Aberhart, Ann Shelton, Fiona Pardington, Ava Seymour, Darren Glass, Ben Cauchi, Fiona Clark, Anne Noble, Ans Westra, Andrew Ross, Peter Peryer, Janet Bayly, Gavin Hipkins, Wayne Barrar, Fiona Amundsen and more!
Seen here are Fiona Richter (the collector with the vision) seated between Robyn Baker and Rob McLeod, works by Kelcy Taratoa, Martin Basher, and Reuben Paterson, then bottom left is Seung Yul Oh and Miranda Parkes, bottom right some young viewers with works by Joanna Braithwaite, Matt Hunt, Matt Couper and Dean Venrooy. There are something like 65 works altogether, but to see them all, you'll have to check out the show which closes 8 July.

UCOL students doing it for themselves

Because they haven't had an art school gallery this year, some students got together and organised an exhibition in their flat. Seen here are the fabulous Deb and Trevor (and that's Deb demonstrating her moving skeleton), and more art from the show. If anyone has the names of the other artists shown here, add a comment or send me an email (details on profile). There was even a performer who could drink and juggle at the same time. Great show.