Rose Tinted Florist in Ponsonby Central recognised how nurturing and cathartic it is to do work on a floral arrangement, especially from flowers and foliage foraged from your own garden.
Paintvine is another way to let your inner creative loose. You can enjoy learning to paint while drinking wine and sharing the experience with friends and family without leaving your bubble. The fun evening of painting and drinking wine with friends is now an online or on-demand affair and there is even an option for kids. It is the perfect birthday party activity for self isolation or some family Mother’s Day fun.
Paintvine sends you out all the gear you need to paint to each of your crew. They set up a time for you to all join on an interactive Zoom or Crowd Cast with their expert artist and you all create masterpieces in the comfort of your own home.
A contemporary pou from local artist Natasha Keating could be the perfect choice for a memorable gift. For your mother or someone else special. Her paintings and drawings of wahine reflect the place Maori women have in the present, the now, with an eye toward a strong and healthy future.
Keating works on recycled native timber and part of her process is to connect with the mauri, the ‘life-force’ inherent in these discarded pieces of wood. “From what once were great ‘toa’ of our forests, children of Tane Mahuta himself, to floorboards, weatherboards, furniture, firewood, they come into my hands. I am only adding to the story, connecting my story, ‘our’ story, ‘her’ story,” explains Keating. There is both beauty, pain and a sense of deeper enduring strength in the women Keating paints and draws.
“The wahine I create are very vaguely self-portraits. They reflect what is going on in my life, my family, my community at the time of being made. However, she can be whoever the viewer sees her to be. The viewer will connect with a look, with a feeling and recognise something or someone.” Works by Natasha Keating – the team at Kura Gallery is operating online and on the phone during Alert Level 3 offering both collection and contactless delivery services.