Next stop Napier

On the 4th of February, I flew north from Christchurch to Napier, where I had a wonderful stay with a newer guild member named Maggie, who has an airbnb in the lovely town of Havelock North about a 20 minute drive south of Napier.

It was much warmer there than it had been in Christchurch, I think it was about 90° on Tuesday when I arrived, but then cooled off to very comfortable temperatures in the mid 70’s over the next few days.

On my first day, Maggie took me to Birdwoods gallery and cafe to see some beautiful artwork from Africa in the shop made with tea bags, and to have a coffee and take a walk in the sculpture garden out back.

The canvases had used tea bags glued in a grid and painted with geometric patterns in white, black and silver paint.

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They were really cool!

Each afternoon Maggie took me and her dog Pipi on gorgeous nature hikes.

When we stood on this bridge and looked down in the water we saw a large eel swim past.

The beaches in this area are not sandy, they are made up of small pebbles and the flat part of the beach front drops off very quickly at the water creating strong under tow conditions, making it not very safe to swim.

I love seeing all the happy bees in NZ, they are more abundant and seem healthier than in the US.

I stayed an extra day in the nearby town of Hastings, this area is the region where most of the stone fruit and apples are grown, with a huge fruit export business to the United States and Japan.

The building shown here is a gorgeous example of the art deco architecture in this part of New Zealand, The reason there is so much art deco period architecture is because the area was rebuilt after a large earthquake in 1931.

You can see more pics of the art deco architecture in Napier and the beaches north of the city from my last visit to Napier in October 2017 here.

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I had a nice big class in Napier for Tea & Ephemera. What a great group of adventurously creative ladies.

Wow, how perfect to have fresh warm scones, clotted cream, jam and tea provided for our morning tea break!

It’s always so fun to see how differently everyone used the variety of images and media available during the day.

and here is my flag bunting gift hanging on my dining room bird wall at home. 😁❤️

In my next post I take a bus southwest to Palmerston North.

Keep creating,

Judy

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I’d love to spark your creativity at one of these upcoming events:

I’m not sure how many of these events will take place due to impact of the corona virus, but I’ll post cancellations and updates as they occur.

2020

May 27-31 Woodland Ridge Retreat, Menomonie, WI
Tea & Ephemera and Painting Imagery with Textile Paints

Australia!!! Cancelled

Berry, AU- June 27, 28 Berry Quilting Retreat 2 day Tea & Ephemera

Adelaide, AU- July 2, South Australia Quilters Guild Lecture

July 3, 4 Exhibition with the South Australia Quilters

July 10-16 Quilt Encounter 3-day Paint & Printapalooza, 2 day Tea & Ephemera

Brisbane, AU- July 18, 19 Queensland Quilters 2 day Tea & Ephemera

August 11-13 Calico Cutters, West Chester, PA
Tsukineko Inks and Tea & Ephemera

August 31 Color Theory lecture Pioneer Quilters Guild, Loomis, CA

September 26 River City Quilt and Fiber Art Festival, Sacramento, CA Tea & Ephemera

October 18-24 Hudson Valley Quilt Retreat, Greenville, NY
Paint and Printapalooza

ABOUT JUDY
Judy is an artist, explorer, image wrangler, knowledge seeker, instructor, speaker, creative alchemist, and purveyor of inspiration, helping others channel creativity on a daily basis.