From the continued success of the Mahurangi Artist Netwok Trail, several of the Artists decided to open a gallery for the Artist Network. We're called the Mahurangi Artist Network Gallery and located at the Workshops in Matakana.
As one of the Artists with work in the gallery I volunteer to help run the gallery and hopefully sell some work!
For the seventh year I have been a part of the Mahurangi Artist Network Trail. Over two weekends in early February artists open their studios to the public. It has become a huge event now in the Warkworth area and people are coming from as for as Tauranga to visit the artists.
It's great to be able to talk to people about my work and mostly people are impressed by my whimsical style and my bright bold colours. I had many great comments.
It also gave me time to do some work on my glazing projects.
Photo 1. Warkworth Town hall housed the trails 'Showcase' so visitors could have a taste of what work is out at the studios.
Photo 2. Set up of my display in the studio.
Photo 3. My work bench and pug supervisor, Taoʻ.
Photo 4. Working on one of my glazing projects.
Once again I was invited to exhibit at the 2025 Art Saloon at the Fo Gaung Shan Buddhist Temple in Flatbush. The exhibition was a successful event for the artist and the organizers. The staff and helpers at the temple are so professional and friendly, it a joy to be involved. I also carried out a ceramic demonstration, creating one of my vases while visitors to the temple watched.
Photo 1. Picasso's Bull I. Sake set
Photo 2. Picasso's Bull I, II and III
Photo 3. Indented orbs
Over the past few months I have been busy beavering away working on pieces for a couple of upcoming exhibitions. Firstly the “Art in the Oaks” exhibition in Warkworth which runs from the 9th of August to the 11th of August 2024 and then the Fo Guang Yuan Art Salon. This is the annual exhibition held at Fo Guang Shan Buddist Temple in Flat Bush and this year runs from the 12th of October until the 30th of November 2024.
Here a few pictures of my latest pieces. The first is called “Orange Swirl” and continues the theme of combining organic elements with my ceramics. The second picture is of “Red and Gold Crossed Orbs”. The third picture is of my larger “People Pods” and the the last is a collection of the smaller “People Pods”
I was lucky enough to be invited to display pieces again at the Art Salon, at the Fo Guang Shan Temple in Flat Bush. This is the second year I have exhibited here and this year I ran some demonstration classes also Here are some pictures from the 2 weekends in October / November.
It has been a busy couple of months preparing pieces for 2 exhibitions. The first is at the Art Salon at the Fo Guang Yuan Art Gallery in Auckland, where I will be exhibiting the following pieces.
The second exhibition is at NZ Sculpture on shore where I will be showing the following pieces.
The studio is now pretty much complete and has been a great place to work in.
I now have the sink bench installed and a large storage cupboard for all my glazes and supplies.
I have also set up a display area and have my work permanently displayed.
Here are a few pictures of the finished space.
The studio is pretty much complete and I am now focused on pieces for a couple of exhibitions. The first 2 photos are of a piece called Golden Kauri. This will be one of 3 pieces that will be shown at NZ Scuplture Onshore, which is an annual event held at Fort Takapunu in October / November each year. The next 2 photos are of some of my organic bowls (Eucalyptus and Fern) which are being shown at the annual Art Salon at the Fu Guang Yuan Buddist Temple in Flatbush. The final 2 photos are my Organic Golden Twig bowls which will also be at the Art Salon.
What a strange 12 months we have had, with torrential downpours, a direct hit from a cyclone and trying to build a new studio in between the deluges. Thankfully we are now on the home stretch and will start moving in this weekend, with just a few finishing touches to be done. It all kicked off with a tree that was swaying in heavy winds and was threatening the garage. We had this cut down and realised that with it out of the way, that this would make a great space for a studio. Many hours of digging then ensued to create a large and flat enough space before we put the foundations in. The studio itself came as a kitset which was relatively easy to put together, however we only just got the roof on before Cyclone Gabriel hit the next day. Electrical work was then completed and then the past month has been spent building the deck, painting and making the space habitable. I am really looking forward to moving out of the drafty garage, into this new space and creating some new masterpieces!
I have spent the past couple of months working on an installation for NZ Sculpture OnShore, which unfortunately has had to be modified to an online exhibition only due to Covid 19 restrictions. The exhibition starts on the 5th of November 2021 and here is a link to their website https://www.nzsculptureonshore.co.nz/
“Never to be seen” was inspired by a recent trip to Rakiura / Stewart Island and a 3 day walk in the National Park.
Whilst walking I was admiring the amazing ferns and trees and thinking about how I could use the organics in my ceramic pieces. We heard from locals that Kiwis were everywhere and that they could be seen at dusk and dawn. But alas we didn’t see any. I now think they are a myth and are “Never to be seen”.
It wasn’t my intension to make this piece Kiwi looking but the clay often takes on a mind of its own. The organics (fern fronds ) were not collected from Rakiura, but are from my own garden.
Now the busy Christmas and Easter periods are over, I have finally found some time to post some pictures of my latest pieces.
Here is my latest sculptural piece called “Charred Aechmea” which is part of the Life Pod series. I recently displayed this piece at the mARTkana event and it was good to hear the positive feedback about this piece.
Here are a few pieces that have just come out of the kiln. These showcase some of the new glazes that I have been experimenting with. I really love the deep green glaze which came out better than I expected. The last picture is of a new large piece I am currently working and hopefully I will be able to show off the finished piece in January.
Here are a few pictures of my latest work hot out of the kiln. There are some new additions to the Ikebana range along with pieces that will be added to the sculptural and small works collections. I hope you like them as much as I do.
Cheers
Blair
Another great weekend with over 50 people visiting my studio over the 2 days. It was nice to meet a bunch of great people and talk about my ceramics with them. Here are a few pictures from the weekend and one of my latest work fresh out of the Kiln.
I had a great weekend as part of the Mahurangi Artist Trail, with over 70 people visiting my Studio. It was great to meet so many interesting people and share my passion with them. I am looking forward to next weekend when my studio will be open again for people to visit.
