A mucker through and through, that’s me. Like a magnet, new experiences in art pull me in all the time . . . I see something different and think to myself, “I could do that!” Yesterday I signed up for Kawai Ruapapa-Raranga: thie year I am learning how to prepare and weave flax/harakeke!
After a Sunday afternoon with the kaiako/teacher in her studio trying to make up for a missed weekend, I am sold! In the early evening I went and harvested some harakeke/flax, pulled it into strips and then wondered which big saucepan I could sacrifice to boil it . . . I think I need to visit a charity shop and find something. And I need some new blades for my knife and rubber bands to tie the strips into bundles, maybe some dye but I like a natural look. That’s it . . . minimum expenditure, the materials grow wild on my walk to the beach or along the roadsides!
Harakeke flowering on the way to the Waitohu Stream
So busy was I that it never occurred to me to take photos! But just watch this space . . . there will be some after every weekend!
Oh dear . . . I save the above as a draft instead of posting it so here are images of my very first attempts at weaving kete/baskets.
The next noho (a long weekend where you can sleep over) is early May and that’s when I learn how to attach feathers among other things. Yahoo!
Guess who will be looking for a freshly run over pukeko on the side of the road . . . does that sound ghoulish? If you saw the sheen of the plumage I’m sure you’d understand.I hope this image doesn’t have a copyright . . . I got it from google images.
The pukeko or swamp hen.
My next adventure? A week of diving into a workshop with the wonderful Jill Berry!
late start studio 