East Cape Magic

David Trubridge and I always joke about his walks on a beach, that they clear his mind, and cause a lot of work for me as a result of his mind clearing!

My equivalent of that is the escape that my family and I have when we go to the East Cape. This is a special place: spiritual, removed, slow paced, refined, wild, stunning and gentle. I absolutely love it.....On our last trip there we were travelling (slowly) to a local fishing competition to mix with the locals and listen to some stories. We were driving past an old building and my eye caught a spec of colour and design that captured my attention. 'Stop' I said to Stuart, a frequent occurrence, generally to take a photo. We parked and I pushed Stuart through to door to see if we could take a peak at what appeared to be a workshop. A smell of Totara filled the air, and we were suddenly in this totally mesmerizing environment of a local artist. He is a carver, making all the local work for his Iwi, and some commissions. His passion is painting, and as such, the walls are covered with stories of his life and his impressions of the modern world, in particular the religion that influences him. I was absolutely flabbergasted, and started plotting. A few days later we returned and bought one of the many disks that hung from the ceiling. I asked him whether he would be interested doing more, to which he said "yep - just send me the cardboard and the paint and I'll whip them up"...my intention was to take them to New York for ICFF this year, but we delayed our appearance until 2010 for obvious reasons.

In the meantime, our piece of cardboard hangs in the living room, reminding us to stay true to our passion we have for the East Cape and Eastern Bay of Plenty, and the mana we feel from being taken into the local community.

I will let all know when we have them in our gallery in Parnell, and finally take them to New York - can't wait for that!

Piha Day

Recently, some visitors from the South Island gave us an opportunity and reason to visit Auckland's wild West Coast. While they were up, here in Auckland, it was a particularly bleak and cold weekend. Biting, cold Southerly winds. Heavy, featureless grey skies.
We are spoilt for beach and sea here in Auckland, with two harbours and a multitude of city beaches where the sea is gentle and pohutakawas provide a friendly green embrace. But when the weather was like it was that particular weekend, it calls for something altogether more raw, a place wild and rugged. Piha beckoned.
Piha on the fringe of the Tasman Sea, a small ribbon of iron sand wedged between the cold deep and the towering Waitakere Ranges. On that day, the wind ripped across the beach, dragging sand low and fast, flattening the roiling white surf and clearing the beach of normal strollers and fossickers. Only the hardy were there.
We walked and talked, admired the angry sea, the flat sky and the closeness of the bush. Eventually, faces rubbed raw from the wind, we retreated to the car. Refreshed and alive.