Group Hug

Last night was the opening of 'Group Hug' at the Rayner Brothers gallery. The show is a collaboration of ceramic works between Mark Rayner, Paul Rayner, Matt Couper and Mike Marsh. It was so popular, I could hardly get in the door when I arrived.

riverbank memorial

While work on the new riverside pathway is being undertaken, it's great to see that the memorial to Tania McKenzie is being protected and maintained. “No shadow can extinguish her light”. It's the tragic murders of so many young women in this country which has inspired my work for the Vent8 exhibition.

Spirits, Ghosts & Gremlins

Spirits, ghosts and gremlins is the theme of the next group Vent show at Thermostat Art Gallery. This is a detail of my work 'Rose Requiem' for the show. The opening is 5.30pm Saturday 1 August. All welcome!

Japanese culture in Whanganui

Thanks Maddy for organising a visit to the Nagaizumi Wanganui Sister City Friendship Centre to experience a traditional tea ceremony. We were also given a tour of the exhibition room featuring images and cultural items from Nagaizumi. Our host Naofumi Kanemaru was very charming and informative. You must book in advance for the tea ceremony and it is advised to speak slowly on the telephone - (06) 343-1945. We even found a Japanese magazine with the Topp Twins on the cover. True cultural exchange.

studio

I've been spending a lot of time in the studio lately. More to come on that soon. The little brown dude is a ceramic by Mark Rayner.

public sculpture outside Te Manawa

On the left are Elizabeth Thomson insects and on the right, a Paul Dibble sculpture.

a car where there shouldn't be a car

Just outside of Napier we saw a group of people and an ambulance on the side of the road. I didn't want to photograph the crash victims, but this is where they had come from.

some Gisborne street art...

Thirty-three exhibition

Matt's exhibition 'Thirty-three' is now on at Paul Nache gallery in Gisborne. Mark Braunias is also showing his work 'Negatives'. Here are a few pics of the install, the opening, and the after party complete with resident dj.

from floods to fire

The picture at left is from the Gisborne Herald, photographed by Paul Rickard. At right is my photograph of the aftermath. The Adair Building housed Dick Smith Electronics and the Food for Thought cafe.

Gisborne rain

It was a pretty wet trip up to Gisborne. There had been heavy rain in the area for weeks, so there were a lot of slips and wash-outs on the roads. The road crew had obviously been hard at work dealing with it all though, and the roads were kept open. Coming in to Gisborne, the vineyards were completely flooded, and boats were looking like a good idea.

showing some favourites...

on the road to Havelock North...

On the right is Our Lady of Lourdes church in Havelock North, by architect John Scott.