Archives - Show All 
  • 2010
    • September
      • After the Earthquake
        07/09/10
        What a shaky few days we have had after our major earthquake early on Saturday morning. Today was the first day we were allowed into our studio and I was quite surprised to find that it was mostly alright - no damage to any work or to the looms either, so all good. However my corner of the studio

    • August
      • Finally - The Cutting Off
        09/08/10
        Last night was the night - the cutting off of Lace 2. It has finally happened! The tapestry is off the loom! Hoorah! We had a great celebration. Almost 50 people, friends and family turned up for this event on a very wet, cold miserable evening. But what a lovely time we had.

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      • The tapestry is fiinished.
        02/08/10
        Hooray! I wove the last of the heading and the last row of soumak knots yesterday and now the tapestry is finished. It is sitting on the loom waiting for the weekend when Lissie will cut it off. So I have a whole six days without any weaving to do. Good for my body probably but it will feel a bi

    • July
      • The Millennium Tapestry coming down from its place in the Mayoral Chambers
        28/07/10
        Yesterday morning the Millennium Tapestry was taken down from its site in the Mayoral Chamber of the Christchurch City Council. It is going to the Christchurch Art Gallery to be stored until later next month when it will be hung in its new place in the brand new City Council Building. I went along

      • Two more weeks to finish the Tapestry
        25/07/10


        On the weekend of the 7th August my daughter Lissie and her husband Ian and son Connor are coming to Christchurch. Lissie is going to cut the tapestry off the loom and we will have a celebration. It will be so good to have this tapestry finished. It has been on the loom for so long a

      • The Changing Fell Line
        19/07/10




        And now at last I can see Lissie's second eye. If you tip your head to the left and look at the work that way, the eye is quite clear. Hurrah!

        I am getting there. I went into the studio early today and worked really hard and on the left side I have only abo

      • More Progress
        17/07/10




        These two photos were taken on Thursday 15th July and as you can see I am moving up reasonably quickly. Yesterday I completed the second eye and moved up even further, so I am hoping that today I will complete the top of her eye - the blue secton to the left. I still have t

      • Another Progress Report
        12/07/10


        As you can see from this photo I am now working on the left hand side of the tapestry, building up the second eye. The last two mornings here in Christchurch have been very cold, minus 6 degrees centigrade yesterday morning and not much better this morning, so good frosts have covered t

      • The Changing Fell Line
        10/07/10
        These two photographs were taken yesterday the 9th July, showing more progress on 'Lace 2' Three days work from the last images.





        This photograph shows a close-up detail of the tapestry.



      • The Changing Fell Line continued
        05/07/10
        This photo was taken yesterday evening after another two days work since the last entry.

      • The Changing Fell Line
        02/07/10
        I have been working hard on 'Lace 2' over the last few weeks and progress is being made. I have decided to post images of my progress on this tapestry as it is nearing completion though probably still at least a months work on it to do. The fell line is the top line of the weaving and it

    • June
      • Anita's tapestry is finished
        21/06/10
        Anita's two weeks with me has finished and she completed her tapestry sampler and cut it off the loom last Saturday morning. She is very happy with her progress and looking forward to starting a new work at home. She took a frame home with her with a warp on it and a design all ready to start

      • Anita's Tapestry is Nearing Completion
        17/06/10


        Anita's time in my studio is fast coming to its end as it is now Thursdy evening and she is flying home to Australia on Saturday afternoon. Her tapestry is looking good with the last exercises to do tomorrow. Saturday morning will be spent in cutting off the tapestry and finishing

      • My New Student
        14/06/10
        My new student Anita arrived a week ago and has been weaving in the studio ever since. She is a new tapestry weaver and is learning the techniques on a sampler that is very reflective of her home country, Australia.



        Don't you love the colours, rich reds, russets and or

      • 'Within the Square' The Travelling Suitcase Tapestry Exhibition 2010
        01/06/10
        The Travelling Suitcase Tapestry Exhibition is now packed up and on its way to the next leg of its journey in Dunedin. It was exhibited here in Christchurch in the Cloisters Gallery in the Arts Centre recently for two weeks and had a lot of visitors and a lot of positive comments. This exhibition

    • May
      • The Tapestry is Finished
        18/05/10




        Here are the last images from Helen's Studio Experience and workshop with me. She is now winging her way home to China. I asked her if she would write a little about her experience here in my studio and has given me permission to do with it what I want. So here is her

      • Progress on Tapestry
        16/05/10


        This photo shows Helen photographing her tapestry after working on it for the first week of her stay in the studio. Below is a closeup of the tapestry.

      • A Mini Exhibition of my Daily Sketches
        12/05/10
        A suggestion by tapestry weaver Janet Austen from America that I do an exhibition of my daily sketches resulted in a small exhbition of these works. I had the bright idea of showing them on the wall of the landing on our stairs up to the studio. This has worked well and the sketches are looking go

      • The work progresses
        11/05/10
        Helen is progressing well with her tapestry. She has an innate sense of colour and is developing the skill of mixing the strands of yarn to create the colour she is visualising in all parts of the tapestry.



        Riko visited the studio on Sunday afternoon with her husband Hugh and

      • My First Live-in Student has Arrived
        04/05/10
        My first live-in student, Helen Cadogan, flew into Christchurch yesterday afternoon and she will be staying with me in my home and studying tapestry in my studio for the next two weeks. She was pretty tired after travelling all the way from China to Christchurch but was happy to be in the studio fo

    • April
      • Irene's painting is finished and studio things
        26/04/10
        Well, it took me a while but Irene's painting of the Pohutakawa blossom is finally finished. I really enjoyed working on this painting and have decided that now I have started working with the acrylic paints again I really should continue with it.




        In the studio I

      • My first painting for Thirty years
        01/04/10
        At home I am working on a painting commissioned by my brother Peter for his daughter Irene. Irene is now living at Maraetai Beach with her husband Shaun and children Charlie and Emily. Maraetai Beach has many pohutakawa trees growing along the beach front so this paiting is of the pohutakawa bloss

    • March
      • Progress of Lace 2
        26/03/10
        Since my return from up north I have been working on 'Lace 2' again and am progressing well. I would love to have this tapestry completed this year if possible.



        I have been working in this right hand corner - a lot of colour blending and doesn't the little bi

      • A Neat Surprise
        20/03/10
        Before I came home from Auckland two weeks ago today, I attended the Professional Weavers Seminar which we have every year. The Professional Weavers Network of New Zealand Inc, has been going since its inception in 1991 at the International Weaving School in Picton where myself and Birgite Armstron

      • Back in Christchurch
        12/03/10
        Well, here I am, home again after three and a half weeks away in the North Island, visiting my kids, the four of them that live up there, visiting friends, Ross and Anna and also visiting galleries with a view to being able to show my work in Auckland. I am pleased to say that at this stage three

    • February
      • Two more sketches and a small tapestry
        04/02/10
        Here are two more pen and ink sketches, drawn the last two evenings. I made plum chutney the other night and this first sketch shows the jars of chutney sitting on my table.



        I was chatting to my eldest daughter Nicola while skeching these jars so they are almost a doodle.
    • January
      • A Sketch a Day
        31/01/10
        This year I made a New Years resolution to try and do one sketch every day so I went out and bought myself a small sketchbook and so far I have only missed two days, so feel that I am doing quite well. I decided to draw whatever was on my kitchen table each day. Some days there is not much on it so

      • 'Colour and Light' An exhibition by weaver Peg Moorhouse
        13/01/10
        Last night was a very exciting night for my 92 year old friend and weaver Peg Moorhouse. Her exhibition 'Colour and Light' was opened in the Mezzanine Gallery at CoCA (Centre of Contemporary Art). Peg has been weaving for many years and at the age of 75 purchased an Oxebeck damask loom f

  • 2009
    • December
      • Tapestry completed and other stuff
        20/12/09
        The small tapestry 'Sentinel' is now complete and ready to put in its frame. It will sit in a box frame which is how I usually mount the small tapestries.



        Last week I travelled up to Blenheim with Penny Orme, a local arts writer, critic and curator. We visited Peg

    • November
      • My latest small Tapestry
        26/11/09
        I have now started working on a series of small tapestries featuring birds. I am about halfway through the first one. This tapestry is of seagulls swimming in the pond in the North Quad of the Arts Centre. I was out on the balcony one day when I noticed the seagulls swimming in the pond and then

      • Drawings I have been doing this year
        08/11/09
        I love to draw and have been doing so a lot more lately, working in my wee studio at home in the early mornings and evenings when I am not on my computer. My recent work is a series of conte and charcoal drawings on New Zealand native plants. The drawing below started me off on this series of wor

      • More of Threads of Light - Last day of Exhibition
        01/11/09
        Yesterday afternoon Wil, I and Koji took the exhibition 'Threads of Light' down after three weeks of its showing at Form Gallery. It is always a bit sad to see an exhibiton come down but we had lots of good feedback about the work and lots of people made special trips to see it. Wilson

    • October
      • Threads of Light
        11/10/09
        The exhibition 'Threads of Light' was opened on Wednesday night last week at Form Gallery which is situated in the Christchurch Art Gallery, opening out on to Worcester Boulevard. The exhibition features work by myself and Wilson Henderson. We have been working towards this exhibition f

    • September
      • I am back working on 'Lace 2' again
        18/09/09
        This last couple of weeks have been very busy as usual. I have been working on 'Lace 2' again and I can finally see the finish line. I lowered the tapestry and when I readjusted the cartoon, there it was -the finish line in sight. But there is still probably six months work left to do.

      • The exhibition at Selwyn Gallery, Darfield
        06/09/09
        Yesterday morning, the exhibiton 'Fibre and Form' was opened at the Selwyn Gallery in Darfield. It was a nice friendly opening on a lovely sunny Saturday morning.







        There was not a huge number of people attending but Wil and I were both very

      • A Busy Day
        04/09/09
        It has certainly been a busy day today. Wilson and I have been setting up our exhibition 'Fibre and Form' at Selwyn Gallery in Darfield. Darfield is a little country town in the middle of the Canterbury Plains and is about a 40 minute car ride from Christchurch. We arrived out there abo

    • August
      • Nina's tapestry ready to be delivered to her.
        15/08/09
        Ninas's tapestry is now completed, framed and mounted and ready to be delivered to her soon. I decided to frame this tapestry as I felt it needed the frame to set it off. It was just a little too small to hang on its own on the wall. I am really pleased with how it looks in its frame. Here

    • July
      • The Cutting Off
        18/07/09
        Here is a photograph of my grandaughter Esther cutting Nina's tapestry off the loom with me looking on and supporting the work as she cuts the warp threads.





      • Tapestry completed
        12/07/09


        On the last lap! here is a close up view of the work.



        And here is the finished work, waiting to be cut off the loom. I am really pleased with how it looks. From a distance the faces come together very well.

      • Two Faces finished
        06/07/09
        Well at last the hard part of this tapestry is now done. Both faces are complete and I think I have captured the likeness's well. Quite a lot of reverse weaving was done in these areas, and I had to be absolutely sure that the shapes in the planes of the faces were correct.

    • June
      • More photographs of Nina's tapestry
        24/06/09
        [more]

        Work is going well on Nina's tapestry and I have now had word from her that she is happy with the images I sent her of work in progress. She and her partner are away overseas at the moment. I think I have captured her personality quite well in this tapestry and I am now work

      • Work progressing
        15/06/09


        I have been working well on this portrait tapestry and here is an image of my progress to date.

      • A Portrait Commission
        11/06/09
        For the last four or five weeks I have been working on a commissioned double portrait. Nina gave me a few casual snapshots of herself and her partner and from those I created a design concept for the portraits. I selected the faces from the photographs, enlarged them and simplified them on the com

    • May
      • 'Mysterium' at CoCA
        14/05/09
        I was thrilled when the monofilament woven work 'Mysterium' was accepted for the Anthony Harper Award exhibition at CoCa,(Centre of Contemporary Art). It is good to be able to show a work more than once. This work was woven for the Professional Weavers exhibition 'Light Waves' a

      • Southern Muster
        03/05/09
        The exhibition Southern Muster is currently on show in the Mair Gallery at CoCA. It is an exhibition featuring a number of top craft/object artists who are practicing in the South Island. The
        exhibition was curated by Penny Orme who invited each participating artist to submit two works for t

      • New Drawings
        01/05/09
        Over the last three months I have been working on three large drawings featuring New Zealand plants. They are worked in conte, and charcoal and I am quite pleased with how they have come up.



        The New Zealand flax is not at all like the European flax from which linen is made.

    • April
      • Lace 2 - A long term tapestry project
        28/04/09
        Here are some images of the progress of the tapestry 'Lace 2'. This work has been on my loom now for some time, almost two years I think and in that time I have spent about nine months weaving on this tapestry. I am just over half way, just past the first eye. The tapestry features my

      • More images from 'A Common Thread'
        18/04/09
        Yesterday I travelled back to Timaru to attend the NZ Tapestry Network meeting and whilst there also visited the PWN exhibtion again and took some more photographs.



        Here is a close up view of Wilson's lovely table setting. It is unusual in that it is made up of three lo

      • A Common Thread
        16/04/09
        Early this week Wilson, myself and Alison Francis from Auckland travelled down to Timaru to hang the Professional Weavers Network of New Zealand exhibition 'A Common Thread' in the Function Centre of the Landing Services Building. This wonderful old stone building is one of the oldest in

      • Our Official Opening for the Studio
        12/04/09


        Last Wednesday evening we had an official opening for our studio as we are now all settled in and working well together. It was a lovely gathering with a number of our friends coming to help us celebrate our new space. This photo shows some of our friends and visitors. Gwen on the righ

    • January
      • The shift is Completed
        23/01/09
        Well, it is finally 'done'. The shift into my new studio is complete and yesterday was the first day that I could actually sit down and weave for about three weeks. It has been a long hard job with ten years of 'stuff' having to be sorted in my old studio, shelving units all p

      • State of Chaos in Studio
        10/01/09
        My studio is in a state of chaos at the moment as I am in the middle of shifting it all into another space. I am moving with my friend Wilson Henderson into Anne Field's studio space and will be sharing with them. It is all a bit of a mission as this new studio space is smaller than what I ha

  • 2008
    • December
      • Exhibition at CoCA
        04/12/08
        Well, it has been quite a while since I put my last entry into my blog. My main focus over the last few weeks was getting my work completed for the exhibtion at CoCA. It is all now finished and the work is hanging in the exhibition. The opening was just over a week ago and it has taken me all thi

    • October
      • Tapestry workshop in Palmerston North
        25/10/08
        Last week I was in Palmerston North teaching the Manawatu tapestry weavers colour and design in tapestry. We had a great week, very full on, and the students produced a lot of work and hopefully learnt a lot. They were quite out of their comfort zones with some of the design exercises that they ha

      • Work continues and Paradise ducks
        04/10/08
        I have been working hard in my small studio at home on the small tapestries for my exhibition in November. These small works are a spinoff from my 'Beachcomber'tapestry which was in the 'Land' exhibition in Canberra last May. Beachcomber has sparked a whole new series of work,

    • September
      • A Tapestry in the Contemporary Art Collection
        27/09/08


        Last weekend I went to a breakfast given by the Friends of the Christchurch Art Gallery where Julia Morison and I talked about our collaborative tapestry 'Raiment'. The tapestry has been put up in the Contemporary Art Collection at the Christchurch Gallery and it looks really

      • Work Continues
        14/09/08
        I have been working on the second 'Underfoot' tapestry for two weeks now and it is going quite well, though not as fast as would like it to. The most complex part of this tapestry is in the beginning of it so hopefully the next sections will go along a lot faster. I did not cut 'Und

    • August
      • New Work
        24/08/08
        Somce the cutting off of 'Musicians in the Square' I have been working on a new series of tapestries, drawings and photographs. I have an exhibition booked at CoCA for the end of November so am working hard on this series entitled 'Underfoot' to produce enough work for the exhib

    • July
      • 'Cutting Off' Musicians
        30/07/08
        Last week saw the last of the weaving of 'Musicians in the Square'. This tapestry had been on the loom for quite some time as I had to stop working on it to weave 'Mysterium'. 'Musicians in the Square' is the fourth tapestry in the 'City Life' series and fea

      • Lightwaves Exhibition at Pataka Art Museum
        19/07/08
        The Professional Weavers Network of New Zealand's exhibition 'Lightwaves' was opened at Pataka Art Museum and Gallery on Sunday 29th June. Here is a sample of some of the works on show in the exhibition.

        Photo 1: Trish Armour's lovely tapestry 'the Dance of the

    • June
      • The 'Adoration of the Magi' tapestry
        25/06/08


        The Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Puna O Waiwhetu has over the last few months, been showing an exhibition of the works of William Morris. This exhibiton 'Morris & Co' has been very popular and people have travelled from all over New Zealand to see it. The best work in th

      • I am now settled in my new home
        12/06/08
        Here is one photo of my new home looking from the lounge into the kitchen. I am finally starting to feel that this new place is home and am also feeling good about it. It has been a hard few weeks and it is so good now to feel more settled. I still haven't put many of my art works on the wal

    • May
      • Tapestry Symposium in Canberra
        23/05/08
        Wow! It is a long time since I put an entry into my blog. I hadn't realised that it was so long. Life has been rather hectic for me lately, what with having to find somewhere else to live and my trip to Canberra to the Tapestry Symposium in early May. I received notice to vacate my flat in

    • March
      • Roberta is Leaving!
        12/03/08
        Tomorrow morning I will be taking Roberta out to the airport and waving her goodbye. She is flying home to Denmark after spending almost three months in my studio.

        We have got on very well and she has been a great help to me, talking to visitors who come in to the studio so that I can

      • Progress on 'Mysterium'
        09/03/08
        I have been working hard on 'Mysterium' my work for the Professional Weavers' Network of NZ exhibition 'Light Waves'. I am just on the halfway mark with this transparency weaving. It has been a bit of a challenge, but I am now really pleased with how it is looking.
    • February
      • An Invasion of Kids
        12/02/08
        A couple of weeks ago my son Mike, his partner Penne and their five children along with Mike's friend Mark came to Christchurch and stayed for ten days or so. I really enjoyed their visit and spent some time doing the 'granny' thing, having one child a night to stay with me. My wee

      • New Work for Professional Weavers' Exhibition
        10/02/08
        The last few weeks have been exptremely busy, so much so that I have not had much chance to write my blog page. I have had visitors and family staying which has been very enjoyable and I am now back seriously working on my latest project. There are now actually four unfinished projects in my studi

    • January
      • My Apprentice Weaver
        15/01/08
        A few weeks before Christmas I received a telephone call from Roberta, an American lady who has lived for 56 years in Denmark. She was wanting to spend time in a tapestry studio as a helper-apprentice-student and asked me if it was possible for her to come to Christchurch and work with me. My spur

      • A Friend at Work
        13/01/08


        My friend Ross Malcom is visiting from Auckland and spends a lot of time on my front verandah working on his latest piece of jewellery. Ross is a contemporary jewellery maker using the found object as his inspiration. He has work in some of the major contemporary galleries which special

      • A Christmas Holiday
        02/01/08
        This year I spent Christmas with my kids in Hamilton, in the North Island of New Zealand. All my kids live in the North Island except for my eldest daughter Nicola who lives in Hobart with her husband and three children. We had a lovely family gathering at my daughter Elissa and her husband Ian�

  • 2007
    • November
      • A Drawing for my Sister-in-law
        29/11/07
        I recently completed a drawing of my sister-in-law's first grandchild, little Hayley who was born just six or eight weeks ago.
        Marilyn (yes she has the same name as me! I often tease her about pinching my name when she married my brother Tony) gave me a two photographs of Hayley which I

      • Progress on New Tapestry
        20/11/07
        I have been working well on the tapestry 'Musicians in the Square'. I have been weaving for five weeks now, and am about one third of the way through it. As you can see in the photograph the colours are bold and strong and are working well together. The tapestry is being woven on its s

      • A Surprise Visit
        17/11/07
        Last week I had a lovely surprise visit from my Irish cousin Margaret Rea. Margaret and I are both descended from Hugh and Margaret Rea from County Down in Ireland. Our great grandfather's were brothers. My great grandfather James Armstrong Rea was born at Hillhead Farm in 1842 and he decide

    • October
      • 'Cityscape' Tapestry hanging in the studio
        28/10/07
        I have just hung the tapestry 'Cityscape' on the back wall of the studio. Here are two images of how it looks.






        This tapestry was completed earlier this year and it features the shopfront window of Max's clothing shop in Cashel Mall, Christchur

      • New Work
        25/10/07
        Since my return from Australia I have been busy setting up my big loom for a new tapestry. I have been weaving now for almost two weeks and the tapestry is well on its way. This image shows the first week's work.



        The tapestry is another one in the'City Life' s

      • Some Pics from my time in Hobart
        18/10/07
        I had a lovely time in Hobart with my eldest daughter Nicola, her husband Paul and their three kids, Kate, Liam and Briar. My third daughter Kellie travelled there and back with me too. This photograph shows the view over Hobart from their home. They live in Sandy Bay overlooking the city.
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      • Teaching in Hobart
        17/10/07
        Whilst in Hobart I spent three days in the second week teaching Cate and Robbie who are both fairly new to tapestry. They had visited my studio in Christchurch a few months previous to my trip and were both interested in learning more about tapestry weaving so we organised to have the workshop at m

      • I'm Home from my Teaching Trip
        09/10/07
        Well, I have been away in Australlia for three weeks and have been home a week now. I spent two weeks at my daughter Nicola's home in Hobart, Tasmania and had a lovely time with her family and also with my third daughter Kellie who came to Hobart with me. Family time is precious for me as I d

    • August
      • Lace 2
        30/08/07
        "Lace 2' is growing!! I have been back working on this tapestry for the last three or four weeks and at last it is looking as if I am getting somewhere with it. I am about six inches away from halfway now. I love working on this piece. It is very fine for such a large tapestry, 13 epi

      • Exhibition at NG Gallery
        21/08/07
        The last few weeks have been very busy for me as I was preparing for this exhibiton before I went to spend a week in Hamilton for my daughter's 40th birthday. The exhibiton was due to be hung the day after I returned home from Hamilton so I had to make sure that everything was ready before I l

    • July
      • Kidsfest Tapestry classes
        03/07/07
        This week is the week of the Kidsfest classes which are held every July in the school holidays. Christchurch children are able to experience all sorts of activities as well as arts and crafts I have had my first class of three 8-9year old girls.



        These three girls, Zoe, France

      • Drawing Classes
        01/07/07
        Every Saturday afternoon for the last seven weeks I have taken a small class of three students for drawing. This class is an extension class in drawing for distance learning students for the Diploma of Ceramic Arts at Otago Polytechnic. I have been taking these students for three years now and hav

    • June
      • Tapestries in CoCA exhibition
        14/06/07
        I was really pleased a couple of weeks ago when my tapestries 'Black on Black' were accepted as finalists in the Anthony Harper Award exhibiton at Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) here in Christchurch. I have been a working member at CoCA for a number of years now, and this exhibition is

      • My Studio
        07/06/07
        I took some photographs a couple of days ago of the studio and how it is looking at the moment. There are two looms with work on them and it is looking a very busy place. A week or so ago (when the big tapestry 'Watching the Rerun of an Ancient Programme' went away to Ashburton) I reorga

    • May
      • Tapestry in Exhibition
        28/05/07
        Yesterday Brian and I travelled down to Ashburton to see the tapestry 'Watching the Rerun of an Ancient Programme'. This tapestry was a collaborative work with Michael Armstrong, an artist living in Timaru. Michael's work is on show at the moment in an exhibtion at the Ashburton Art

      • New Work
        22/05/07
        I have been very busy the last few weeks. A new work has been started on the same loom on which 'Cityscape' was woven. This work is titled 'Ferns' and is a fairly colourful abstraction based on the ferns found in our native bush. The tapestry measures 55cm across and will be a

    • April
      • Small Portrait Tapestry Finally Completed.
        25/04/07
        The small portrait tapestry for my client Bruce Finnerty is finally completed. I worked hard last week to try and finish this wee work and here it is at last - ready to go into its frame.



        I am really pleased with this work. It is a good likeness of Bruce and though it is a v

      • Completed Tapestries
        20/04/07
        Marie and Heather were the first two students to send me photographs of their completed tapestries. Heather photocopied her self portrait photograph and cut two copies into strips, one horizontally and the other vertically. She then wove the two together to create her design. This formed an inte

      • Workshop with Manawatu Tapestry Weavers
        19/04/07
        Two weeks ago I spent five days in Palmerston North teaching my workshop 'Deconstruction, Reconstruction - Portraits in Tapestry' to the Manawatu tapestry weavers. The workshop was organised by Heather Adlam and took place in her home. Luckily she has a large house with plenty of room as

    • March
      • Eklektika Exhibiton
        19/03/07
        Last week the Eklektikans held their seventh exhibition in Gallery 'O' upstairs in the Arts Centre of Christchurch. The Eklektika Group is a group of originally nine artists who all showed their work at CoCA (Centre of Contemporary Art) members' exhibitions and a number of us had had

      • Professional Weavers Network of New Zealand Seminar
        07/03/07
        Last weekend the Professional Weavers Network Seminar was held here in Christchurch at Cracroft and we all had a great weekend.For the last few months a curatorial and exhibiton committee have been working on a concept for our next major exhibition which will probably happen in 2008/09. The respons

    • February
      • Try again
        24/02/07
        Here is another try to get this photograph posted.



        Wow! It worked this time. Hurray!

      • The Cutting Off!
        24/02/07
        'Cityscape' is finally off the loom! I cut it off two days ago and am now working on the finishings, which do seem to take an awful long time.



        Don't I look pleased to be doing this? I was too, actually!!! It is a very good feeling to have a tapestry complet

      • New Contact
        20/02/07
        I have recently made contact with Donna and Neil Hitchcox who live near Timaru. Donna is a tapestry weaver but she also weaves fine scarves, shawls etc.using the best mohair, and alpaca yarns that they produce on their property. They have set up a new business selling their lovely products and th

      • Almost finished!
        13/02/07
        The progress on 'Cityscape' is going well. I have about another week's work to do and it should be finished. So all good. The colours are working well too and I am looking forward to seeing the whole work when it comes off the loom. Here is an image of the tapestry as it was two da

    • January
      • Busy times in the Studio
        25/01/07
        The last few days since I got back from my holiday have been very busy. A number of visitors, mostly tourists but also one or two friends and people I know. A few days ago Serena and I had a visit from Bev Furness from Auckland. Bev spent a week in my studio about three years ago learning to weav

      • Back from Holiday
        24/01/07
        Well, here I am, back to work after a lovely time over in Westport. Brian and I spent a few days wandering around the Buller District. We went to Karamea and walked to Scott's beach which is an hour up the Heaphy Track. Walking through the native bush is just awesome, very good for the soul.

      • More Stuff!
        11/01/07
        I am going to be going away for nearly a week - over to Westport to my nephew's wedding and staying on for a few days. I was born and bred in Westport and some of my siblings still live there. I have not been home for over two years now, so it will be good to spend some time there.

      • Work in Progress
        10/01/07
        I have been working quite steadily on the tapestry 'Cityscape' and am pleased with its progress. It has to be completed by the end of February at the latest as it will be sent to the Norsewear Awards in March.

        The colours in this tapestry are working well. I am mixing the co

      • Happy New Year
        03/01/07
        Looking at my blog page this morning I realise that it is past time for me to add a new entry. Happy New Year to all my readers whoever you may be! I have had quite a lovely laid back time over the Christmas and New Year period with a few days out of the studio. Yesterday my friend Brian and I we

  • 2006
    • December
      • A Mini Exhibition
        09/12/06
        The three textile artists in the Artists Quarter, Sue Spigel, Serena McWilliam and myself have displayed our small brooches, pendants and bracelets in a mini exhibition of these miniature textiles. We have all worked pretty hard over the last few weeks preparing the work for this display and are pl

      • Miniature tapestries to adorn the body!
        01/12/06
        I have been working quite steadily on weaving more of the miniature tapestries to make pendants and brooches out of them. Here is an image of some of them. The designs for these three came from the windows of the Christchurch Art Gallery. The gallery has a whole frontage of windows which reflect t

    • November
      • Another Try with Photo of 'Cityscape'
        27/11/06
        Here goes with another try to put up a better image of 'Cityscape'. I have just downloaded some more images into my computer so hopefully this one will be better.



        This image shows where I am up to at the moment with the weaving.

      • City Life tapestries
        27/11/06
        I have been working on a series of tapestries entitled 'City Life' for a wee while now. The first tapestry in this series is 'Exhibition Opening' which was first shown in my exhibition
        'Primary Connections' at CoCA in January 2005. The second work is
        '

      • Serena's Studio
        23/11/06
        I am posting here a photograph of Serena McWilliam in her studio in the Artists Quarter. Her studio is diagnonally across from mine, and Serena does beautiful work. Her specialities are machine embroidery, botanical drawing and printmaking. The main focus of her work comes from nature, from plants

      • Visitors to the Studio
        10/11/06
        The last two or three weeks have been quite busy with visitors passing through the Artists Quarter and coming to see the artists working. I have had a number of people coming into the studio interested in the tapestry and other work. I have sold two of my brooches which is really encouraging me t

    • October
      • Tapestry Brooches
        30/10/06
        Well, it is a quite some time since I last made an entry into my blog pages. I have been very busy in my studio working on the 'Cityscape' tapestry but also working some days on weaving small tapestry brooches. This is an attempt to create some small works for the Christmas market. Bro

      • One Day Workshop
        12/10/06
        A couple of weeks ago I had two students for my second one day workshop. The students were Alice, a 12 year old girl from down south and Margaret, her aunty from England. We had a very good day and Alice and Margaret came really close to completing their small tapestries.

        The photogra

    • September
      • Work started on City Scape
        30/09/06
        Here I am again! I am finding that I seem to be writing in my blog only once a week, but I guess that is okay. I have had a couple of letters from my blog site and that is great. If any reader of this blog would like to e-mail me on any issue I bring up then please do. I enjoy the contact with

      • Starting New Work
        20/09/06
        Well, it has been a few days since I last wrote an entry into my blog. I have had a few days out of the studio this last week as my daughter Nicky and gandaughter Kate have been staying with me. Nicky and Kate live in Hobart in Tasmania and it was so lovely having them come to stay. Nicky is a ly

      • Finishings
        03/09/06
        I have been working this week on finishing the tapestry 'Picnic' which features my son's children. We had been on a picnic in the Bird Gardens at Katikati last February when I caught this image on my camera. I loved the way I caught them all with their hands in their mouths - just on

    • August
      • A Warning to Artists
        26/08/06
        Well, this last week has been a bit of a disappointing one in that I thought I had made my first sale from my website. Great excitement initially. I had been in contact by e-mail with a lady from London calling herself Katherine Cole and asking me to send her three drawings which she had seen on my

      • Commissioned Tapestries
        22/08/06
        I am writing today, about commissioned tapestries after posting the image of Kevin Hickman's tapestry yesterday. This photograph shows Kevin and his wife Joanna, his father Tony Hickman and myself holding the tapestry just after Kevin had cut it from the loom. The 'cutting off' cerem

      • Commissioned Work
        21/08/06

      • Hullo to my Readers
        19/08/06
        Well, here we go - my first attempt at writing a blog. Many thanks to Ian, my son-in-law, for putting this page together for me and also for all the work he has done on my website over the years. He designed the website and set it up for me so that I could change the images and add to them when ne

      • First Test Entry
        18/08/06
        Test