closed today... but not for long I hope

Yesterday's news of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand made me think of this lovely city that I visited in January. The City's Art Gallery still standing even if It had become the HQ for Civil -Defence.

Christchurch Art Gallery

This contemporary building fared well... unlike a number of the cities older stone civic buildings and of course the homes of many.

The foyer of the gallery today operating as HQ

Geographically a stunning region this map shows two extinct volcanoes and makes for incredibly picturesque travelling. Unfortunately the fault-line in the region is such that locals are mentally prepared for the fact of earthquakes... as much as one can be. By all accounts physical injury was not
great, but loss is significant and many will no doubt struggle.
The Govt turned away foreign aid saying the civil disruption is not at the same level of critical emergency some countries suffer despite the size and severity of the quake. It is spring there... but given Christchurch can turn on a freezing day in the midst of summer I know there will be a lot of people missing their warm cosy beds in this southern region close to the mountains and ski-fields!

aerial view

This map was found here.

In February I wrote a post on the wonderful Christchurch Arts Centre where I met some of the artists with permanent studios there. Read the post here.

Tapestry by Marilyn Rea-Menzies

Whilst there I enjoyed time in Marilyn's studio talking with her whilst looking at her extensive body of work - both tapestry and pastel drawing. Visiting on her blog tonight I was delighted to see the tapestry she'd been working on in January was being cut off the loom at a special studio party in August. Read that post here. It was great to see a celebration taking place - so much work goes into a tapestry ...it needs to be "launched"!

Here's Marilyn on the left

Cutting the warp threads

the finished work!

More of Marilyn's work....

from a series of drawings on native new zealand plants.

Marlborough rock daisy I

native manuka - what manuka honey comes from

The Koromiko - a native NZ hebe

Iris berries

Go to Marilyn's contact page if you want to contact her (buy a work even?)

Im sure all visitors here would, like me, hope that Marilyn, Serena and everyone over there is fine and wish everyone our best with the work to get life back on track!

Serena Williams at work in her studio (see art centre post)

Whilst looking at the gallery site I found these works from the permanent collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery.

Buck Nin: The Mamkus circus 1975

John Pule: Nuka Lafalafa 1994

Colin McCahon: Tomorrow will be the same but not as this is 1958-1959

Bashir Baraki: Triptich landscape, Canterbury

Euan Mcloud: Plateau 3 1992

conversations at the Christchurch Arts Centre

I am cramming today with posts on the NZ trip.  There are several reasons for this. One is that I met various people whilst visiting and I dont want to lose the connection with those experiences by getting too busy and letting all that go. If things are not written down they are pretty well soon gone. The names of things for example - I could not remember the tree's name in an earlier post today that carpeted the ground with its red blossoms. Also I have some wonderful things coming up that soon will completely absorb my attention - so this is a concerted effort to make sense of the past 2 weeks and complete the experience before all attention goes off in another direction altogether.

Below is a series of photos taken in the studio of artist / tapestry weaver Marilyn Rea-Menzies. On Sunday I was in this lively cultural precinct exploring the Arts centre and nearby Galleries, Museum and Botanical gardens and weekend market. Normally this would simply be too much for one day but the unique thing about Christchurch is that these venues are in a block of each other and by getting to the centre by 9.30am, and taking a good strong coffee, I was able to keep going till dinner at 6.30pm and have a quiet night to recover.

The conversation started with a ceramic artist and led to the studio of Serena McWilliam who works in contemporary textiles and botanical drawings. Whilst there Marilyn came in and the conversation veered to where she was located in the centre before she departed. 

So... later on whilst visiting Marilyn I took the images below. The first image shows Marilyn at work on one of her smaller Tapestries. On her left is the working drawing and below that is a close up of the work in progress. Following that are 2 large pastel drawings from her recent series on native NZ flora. The studio photo only captures one corner of her busy work-space. it was a delight to be able to explore this vibrant studio and discover all kinds of material - the longer one was there - the more there was to find! I was thoroughly engaged in Marilyn's process and her work ethic, her love of what she does and the energy of her work are a true inspiration. 

The large tapestry is something Marilyn has been working on for some time for a relative. Commissioned works and projects vie for her time and this busy artist also attempts to draw every day -  you can see much more of her work at her website and blog! On the blog top right you will see links to Christchurch's gallery and contemporary art gallery. A big thank you to Marilyn for a wonderful exchange!

The next images are from my conversation with artist Serena McWilliam who was most hospitable when I found my way to her studio Sunday morning at the Arts Centre. Her botanical drawings were quite wonderful - a year ago she made a trip with several other artists to Stewart Island where she was able to respond to this unique environment with her studies for botanical drawings. Stewart Island is at latitude 47 degrees south (the infamous "the roaring 40's") and is below the South Island (I must check exactly where) and 85% of the island is now a National Park. No doubt this trip was  very special for an artist given to fine botanical drawing. Thanks to Serena for her engagement on Sunday morning! Below: The work Serena is carrying out here is from the fibre/textiles aspect of her practice.

Photo of Serena in her studio - from Marilyn's blog.