Art activities at the Sculpture Gardens

All weekend there will be drop in art activities at the Kaipara Sculpture Gardens. The Gardens are on SH16 just north of Kaukapkapa and consist of a garden centre, sculpture trail and cafe.

Sarah Harrison will creating items for an installation based on the book Where the Wild things are written by Maurice Sendak. You can let you imagination run wild from 11 - 3 on Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday Sally Lush will be creating flowers from recycled plastic bags and paint. These will be added to the Sculpture Gardens displays for all the see.

Both activities will be held in the cafe and are by gold coin donation.  They would be a great beginning or end to a walk through the sculptures. ( there is an entry charge to the sculpture trail but the garden centre and cafe are free)

Andrew Denton's work on show

Andrew's giant meccanno works were inspired by his father's love of meccanno, and are made of steel.

His large birds were the result of cutting down some palm trees at church and going to dump the cuttings in the forest. When he looked at them he could see their potential and took them home and created the Jabberwocky.

Andrew's work will be on show in the pop up exhibition at the meeting room at the Memorial Hall in the main street on Helensville, Arts in the Ville headquarters!

Flax weaver in residence

Heather Steadman  will be weaving her beautiful baskets all weekend at the Helensville Museum.

Heather studied raranga (weaving) for one year at the Waikato Institute of Technology and at marae from Kawhia to Rotorua. She worked on her weaving for four days a week and learned to care for and harvest harakeke (flax) for kete, strip the muka (fibres) and  traditional dye techniques using bark and mud. Also taniko (finger weaving with fibres) and tukutuku panels. She enjoyed teaching the basics and creating her own designs. She ran the TCAC (Titirangi Community Arts Council) Upstairs Gallery in Lopdell House for two and a half years before having her daughter. Heather has continued her studies in Not For Profit management and Community Development and believes that we all have the capacity to create and that it is an intrinsic part of our wellbeing.

look out for the woolly mammoth

During our weekend of colour, creativity and fun you will be able to spot Wim around the town, I am sure she will be visiting the Mustangs at the show grounds on Sunday between 11 and 2 and at some point trying her hand at wood carving at the musuem. Who knows where else she will be spotted. She would be more than happy to pose for a selfie.

Kura has been busy creating this colourful creature ready for a weekend of fun.

Wood bowls

Along side the paintings we will have in the pop up exhibition we will be showing a collection of beautiful wooden bowls by Peter Daymond-King

Woodturning

I like to make useful articles with generally simple but hopefully elegant shapes and little if any embellishment so that the decorative features of the timber take precedence and are shown to best advantage.

I do not harvest wood but use a range of native and exotic timbers from trees which have been felled for other reasons and rescue timber destined for firewood or occasionally scavenge beams from demolished buildings.

My introduction to turning was to work the treadle on my father’s lathe while he was turning stone over 65 years ago and I have been fascinated by the process ever since.

Jayne Thomas

The wonderful, textural paintings of Jayne Thomas will be on show in the pop up exhibition in te meeting room at the War Memorial Hall all weekend.

Jayne says :- My artwork is about beauty and colour bought together simply in a figurative way.

 

I enjoy building up then peeling back layers of the paint, sometimes stripping it right back off the canvas until I reach a balance between chaos and calm - the accidental and deliberate.

 

My materials of choice are encaustic and oils.  It is the richness and mobility of these products that I find so seductive.  They give me freedom to push the paint, build up colour with glazes and enabling the surface to create itself.

 

My works are an expression of people, our complex layers and uniqueness.

 

Mad Wood Carving all weekend

We are lucky to have the amazing Denise living in Helensville, She will be carving at the Helensville Museum all weekend, with a block of wood for you to have a go yourself.

Denise has been carving for over 20 years, and specialises in figurative work. I was heavily influenced by medieval carving such as you see in churches all over UK, and loved the way a story could be told visually in a small piece of wood...and if you could get hold of a large piece of wood....Wow!!! I carved and sculpted full time in wood and stone UK, which I left in 2007. I mainly work in wood these days, and love finding what story or characters are hidden in the wood.

Whimsical Garden

For the 1st time this year we have a garden full of art open for visitors to see.

The Whimsical Garden/ Home was originally built for Andrew McLeod, son of Isaac and Janet McLeod who arrived in Helensville in 1862. It had 2 owners before it was purchased as a convent for the teaching of nuns of the St Dominic School in 1932. Many local children went to the convent for music lessons and a grotto in the garden contained a shrine for the Virgin Mary.

The home and garden are now owned by Nick and Tracey Roberts and their 2 children Imogen and Bryony. It is a special place full of history. Music and religious icons are still an important theme, with piano steps and a " confessional" within the garden. It is full of other interesting and whimsical garden features that reflect the eclectic artistic interests of the family, from mosaics to flowers made from plates to a full size 'small space' birdcage.

William Robert Boyd to open new studio

A brand new studio will be open for the 1st time for Arts in the Ville. William Robert Boyd has been busy painting walls as well as canvas's to be ready for the October weekend.
William is a self taught painter using Acrylics to create large, colourful works. In 2007 he was awarded the KG Fraser award at the Royal Easter Show for the most outstanding painting out of 1200 exhibits. William has lived in Helensville for 2 years and is delighted to be involved with the local art scene in the town. We are delighted to have him!

Gallery to be part of weekend

A new gallery space in Helensville, showing the work of 3 very different artist will be open all weekend at 87 Commercial Rd, Helensville

Curtis Davies has amazing upholstery.
Bold and bright head boards for children and adults along side furniture repairs and updates.
www.furnitureupholsterer.co.nz

 Wendy Fraser with her fantastic wood carving.
Having seen wood carving in her Grandmothers house as a child, Wendy was inspired to have a go, this has turned into a life long passion and the results are just stunning

Jo Oram show her glass and silk painting.
Jo started painting on glass in 1997 and in 2002 started playing with silk painting. She is inspired by the colours of nature and enjoys making functional art, the colours of her work are just breath taking.
www.naturespalette.co.nz

Moth in Pop up space

A local Helensville business, Moth,  that produces beautiful, screen printed products will have a display in one of your pop up exhibitions. The exhibition will be held in the Meeting Room at the War Memorial hall in the main street of Helensville.

Jeff Thomson open studio

Jeff Thomson will have his studio open on the Saturday of Labour weekend Oct 22nd
His amazing and inspiring work space holds many examples of his metal sculpture and he will be on site working for you to talk to about his work. Jeff has work in private and public collections world wide, we are so lucky to have him living and working in Helensville.

Patiki Gallery

Patiki Gallery, housed at the Helensville railway station. Open Sat & Sun 10am-3pm.
Featuring contemporary Maori, new and preloved art.

 

Sarah Artea

Sarah Artea will have her amazing artwork on display during the Arts in the Ville weekend. A pop-up gallery will be set up in the meeting room at the war memorial hall.

Mike Rowland

Local Artist Mike Rowland will open his studio for the whole of labour weekend this year.

Mike paints using oils and acrylics on canvas and board. His subjects range from streetscapes, portraits and nature. Sometimes Mike chooses to mix fantasy with documentary.

Mike has exhibited extensively so it will be a real treat to be able to see inside the studio that produces this stunning work.

Dancing Poppies

Illusion N'est Ce Pa

Mother and Daughter to open studio

A creative mother and daughter will open their studio for the 1st time for Arts in the Ville.
Jacky and Georgia Black create anything from Fashion to Jewellery to Paintings. It promises to be a very interesting stop on your tour around Helensville over Labour weekend.

Hat Maker

Myra from Marmalade hats will again have her amazing studio/show room space open. Visitors will be able to see a display of finished hats as well as talk to Myra about the various processes she uses.

Leda Daniel open studio

Leda Daniel will be one of the artists to open her studio over the Arts in the Ville weekend.

Four Seasons by Leda Daniel

Mixed media on Canvas

Leda Daniel was born in Argentina, where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.
In 1990, migrated to New Zealand  and now lives in Helensville with her husband and 3 children.
Participated in many exhibitions in Auckland and Tauranga and was part of the founding committee for the Helensville Art Centre.
Leda is currently working on a new series of paintings called “Perspectives”, which will be exhibited in the Helensville Art Centre in December. In this series she continues to develop her passion for colour whilst exploring  different techniques and textures.

Funky Knitter

The amazing Annie who works in our local library by day and creates amazing knitted creations by night will be knitting at the Helensville museum during Arts in the Ville. We asked her about her knitting history and this is her story.

I’ve am a knitting addict. It started small, in the distant recesses of memory – somewhere between the ages of five and seven. Then, the knitting stopped. And started again. And stopped. And started at 17 years, and has kept going. First ‘major’ project: golf club covers for my then-boyfriend. Then baby clothes – always baby clothes. So handy having a large family to knit for. Along the way, I realised how much I hate sewing, so taught myself how to knit in the round. Prefect for sewing avoidance! Then came the socks addiction – first a challenge, now just something I do. When all else fails, and I can’t think of what to give someone: I knit them socks. I hate going to meetings when I can’t knit. All that wasted time. There are projects I could be working on. If the cat allows, my happiest time is watching a doco on TV, knitting, while reading (thank goodness for the library’s eBooks collection – downloaded on my phone, which sits happily on the arm of my chair). And, yes, I can pay attention to all three.

Pop up yarn bomb

This is part of the Arts in the Ville team doing our first pop up yarn bomb to advertise the October weekend. The bus stop looked great with its winter knitting wrapped around it.

Yarn bombing about to start

The 3 organizers of Arts in the Ville have been madly knitting to add to the pile of yarn bombing. Watch out for pop-up yarn bombs around town to get you in the mood for a weekend of creativity over labour weekend, Oct 22nd-24th

New Studios open

We are lucky to have more artists opening their studios for this year's Arts in the Ville.
One of these is Tin Shed Yarns. A must visit for anyone interested in Wool, spinning or knitting.

I will be updating this blog as we confirm our artists and nearer to October I will have details of where the maps will be available .

Mark October 22nd - 24th in your diary for a weekend of creativity in Helensville.

Tin Shed Yarns Helensville studio

Tin Shed Yarns.

Tin Shed Yarns put to use in this beautiful shawl.

Kaipara Coast Sculpture gardens

 

We have just had a fantastic morning at the Kaipara Coast Sculpture gardens and they are very keen to be part of Arts in the Ville this year. Plans are underway for a great weekend.

Knitting has started

The knitting for the yarn bombing has started. I know it's a long time till October but we don't knit that fast.
We are starting to sort artist, studios and gallery spaces so watch this space as the months pass to keep updated.

 

Arts in the Ville 2016 is going to be bigger and better than 2015!