wilderness

This is Whatipu - another wild, west coast beach. It's about an hour's drive from the city and on Sunday, apart from a few people fishing, it was deserted. It was great - walking on the black sand in the wind on an (almost) empty beach. How was your weekend?

ANZAC Day

 'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 31-B1460'

Because this year marks the 100th anniversary I thought I'd share this photo of my grandfather, Thomas. The photo was taken in 1916 soon after he joined the New Zealand Army. He was 21 years old.

untitled

These are fabric works made by French artist Louise Bourgeois. I think they are beautiful. They remind me of spider webs and umbrellas. Louise was known as "Spiderwoman" because of the giant bronze spider sculptures she made. I was lucky to see one in New York many years ago.
Apparently you can visit her townhouse - which has been preserved just as she left it - in Chelsea, New York.

The images are from the book Louise Bourgeois: the fabric works by Germano Celant. 

Further images of her work here.

Reading: The first bad man: a novel by Miranda July

easter in the forest

These decorations were inspired by Evie Barrow's easter garland. I cut out simple shapes (eggs, flowers, carrots) from my granddaughter's drawings, glued them onto card and hung them up with string. Although she did the drawings over several weeks and then I did the rest, it felt like a project that we'd done together. I'd forgotten how much fun doing arty things with children can be. I used to make stuff with my own kids all the time and it's so nice to be doing it all over again.

Reading: The life-changing magic of tidying by Marie Kondo

west

This is Muriwai - a wild, west coast beach famous for its black iron sand. We visited on Friday hoping to make the most of the last of the warm weather with an autumn swim. I wasn't brave enough to get into the cold water. So we sat on the clifftop looking out to Motutara Island and ate a picnic lunch and watched the surfers.

Reading: We three go South : the 1890 diary of Ethel Richardson's trip to the Sub-Antarctic
Viewing: Judy Millar : the model world showing at Te uru Waitakere contemporary gallery
Watching: The Americans season 3
Eating: feijoas - fresh from our trees

the lawn