Richard Nunns Presentation

Richard Nunn's presentation will be held on Friday 11th July at 7pm, at the Chanel Arts Centre. Tickets are $10 each and need to be purchased in advance by contacting Pania on 03 5284115, 022 3752559, or via email: manysmalldots@gmail.com. 

Twenty years ago, Richard Nunns (then known to me as "Mr Nunns") was my high school English teacher. He took us on a road trip to visit famed New Zealand author Keri Hulme in Okarito, and was patient while we tortured Shakespearean English during hour-long readings of Macbeth. He was a fantastic teacher and one of the few I remembered from my high school years.

This photo is from the website: www.mauitheshow.com

These days, Richard Nunns is no longer an English teacher but a world renowned expert in Maori wind instruments credited with reviving a once disappearing Maori art tradition. He has spent the last few decades travelling the world, playing his flutes and other instruments in locations as diverse as the rainforests of the Amazon, the concert halls of Europe, and for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra here in New Zealand. He has ben honoured with a Queens Services Medal for services to Taonga Puoru, an honorary doctorate from Victoria University, and is an Artist Laureate of the Arts Foundation of New Zealand.

This photo is from Richard Nunns' website www.richardnunns.net.nz

And now, excitingly, he will be delivering a presentation of these fascinating Maori wind instruments in Motueka as part of the Winter Workshops. You can watch a Maori Television documentary about Richard Nunns here (it's about 8 minutes long):

Fortunately, it looks as though the venue will allow a good number of people to attend this presentation. So, keep an eye out for the yellow Winter Workshops registration form (hitting the streets of Motueka in May) and get in quick to book your seat at this undoubtedly fascinating event.

Bonsai Workshop

Che Vincent's bonsai workshop will be held on Tuesday 22nd July between 12:30 and 3:30pm, at Riverside Cafe on the Moutere Highway. Plants will be provided, but you will need to bring a pot for your plant. This workshop costs $20 to attend. Book your place by contacting Pania on 03 5284115, 022 3752559, or via email: manysmalldots@gmail.com.

This eagerly awaited hands-on workshop is a very rare opportunity to learn the fundamentals of bonsai. Although best known for his other-worldly sculpture and lamps, local artist Che Vincent is also deeply passionate and knowledgeable about plants. In this 3-hour session, Che will introduce participants to the basic elements of creating bonsai.

This bonsai was created by Rudi Julianto. Source: http://artofbonsai.org/galleries/julianto.php

In simple terms, this ancient Japanese art-form involves growing miniature trees in containers. The purposes of bonsai are contemplation (for the viewer) and the experience of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). While you won't become a bonsai expert during the course of this workshop, Che will provide you with the tree and the information necessary to continue learning, and growing your bonsai, at home.

Different styles of bonsai. Source: http://www.bonsaiempire.com/origin/bonsai-styles

This workshop also has limited numbers, so make sure you register as soon as those yellow Winter Workshops flyers hit the streets of Motueka in May.

For more information about Che Vincent, you can visit him at his website, or in his Gallery at Riverside Community on the Moutere Highway.

Chinese cooking workshop

In this Chinese cookery course, there will be no gluggy sweet and sour chicken, limp vegetables, or handfuls of MSG. This is the workshop for those of you who love Chinese food and want to know more about authentic Chinese cooking. In this unique course, participants will learn how to make traditional dumplings, buns, and pancakes - the kind of food Chinese people often eat, but is impossible to find in a classic New Zealand Chinese takeaway. Surprisingly easy and enjoyable to make, once Ryoko Takahashi has taught you these delicious recipes, you'll be able to make them at home whenever you like.

Photo by Ryoko Takahashi

This course will be a series of two hour evening classes, followed by a feast on the final day to which you can invite family or friends to enjoy your cooking.

Photo by Ryoko Takahashi

Tutor Ryoko Takahashi is a Japanese convert to Chinese cooking. Her love and knowledge of Chinese food is infectious.

Times and dates for this workshop and others during the Winter Workshops series will be available in May. However, I can sneakily suggest that you keep your Thursday evenings in July free if you would like to take part in this class. There are only six places for this class available, so you'll need to register quickly when the registration form comes out in May if you don't want to miss out.

Pitt Rivers Museum

This has nothing at all to do with the Winter Workshops, but seeing as you're interested in art, you might find this interesting too. The Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England, is probably my favourite museum in the world. The first time I visited this amazing place, I felt like I had stumbled across this marvellous, unexpected thing, that the whole world just HAD to know about. I couldn't believe that I hadn't known it existed before I curiously wandered through its doors.

So, what is the Pitt Rivers Museum? The Pitt Rivers Museum cares for the University of Oxford's collection of anthropology and world archaeology - or, in other words, the pillage hauled back home to England from all over the world by explorers and adventurers of far flung lands. It is a treasure trove of amazingness. Can I talk it up any further? Probably not. When I visited in 2001, it was a dusty, seemingly forgotten - though still magical - place. Handwritten labels described the items crammed together in glass cabinets - collections of shrunken heads from different cultures and continents all in one display case; or seed necklaces from a dozen different places jumbled together in another cabinet. All with handwritten labels tied on with bits of string.

But from the looks of the website, it has been spruced up quite a bit since then. Take a tour and see what you think.

Ibo Mask, Nigeria (Pitt Rivers collection)

Mavungu, Democratic Republic Congo (Pitt Rivers collection)

Mummified cat, Ancient Egypt (Pitt Rivers collection)

Trephination tools, Algeria (Pitt Rivers collection)

 Many of the objects on the website are accompanied by descriptions of how they came to be in the Pitt Rivers collection, and provide a rich context. Worth spending an hour or two browsing.

"Discovering Nature" Illustration Workshop

"Discovering Nature" Illustration Workshop.
Highland Pipe Band Rooms, Recreation Centre, Motueka.
Tuesdays 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th July, and 12th August 2014.
6pm-9pm
$120 (plus materials like paper, coloured pencils, watercolours etc)

Even when we have taken ourselves off for a tramp up the mountain, or a day spent at a beach in the Abel Tasman national park, do we ever take the time to stop and really have a good look at the minute details in a shell, piece of bone or plant?

This workshop is a chance to allow yourself the time to explore nature and its many wonders, through drawing and painting. The medium will be watercolour and coloured pencil, eventuating in a concertina book. Although the class will be structured, I would like to emphasize that the drawing needn’t be, as it is also a discovery of your own style and interpretation.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you Kim Ireland. Kim is a talented illustrator who has devised a fantastic illustration workshop based around discovering nature. Using subject matter such as bugs, animals, skeletons, and shells, Kim will help you to hone your eye to the subtleties of tone, colour and form found in the natural world.
 

This image is from the book Natural History Painting with the Eden Project by Rosie Martin & Meriel Thurstan, Batsford, UK (2009).

Martin & Thurstan

This painting is by Jessica Mack, from http://blog.brownpaperbunny.com

This painting is by Elena from, http://community.how-to-draw-and-paint.com/

At the end of this series of five workshops, participants will have a collection of drawings and watercolours which they will then incorporate into their own handmade concertina display book.

Martin & Thurstan

"I have been drawing since I was 8 years old and have been passionate ever since. My love of art saw me through my school years in England, from G.C.S.E to my A levels, where I studied Fine Art/English and History of Art. I then found myself back in the Southern hemisphere, and continued my education with a Certificate in Fine Art and a Diploma of Illustration in Melbourne. Throughout my years of drawing, I have always found myself fascinated by nature, especially bugs and their amazing structure. I think through drawing you can really begin to understand the intricacies and complexities of the world around us."

Kim Ireland

Theatre workshops

Just when you thought the Winter Workshops couldn't get more exciting, I present you with Damara Sylvester from Inside Out Circus and Physical Theatre. Damara will deliver two workshops during the Winter Workshops programme - Improv Theatre, and Physical Theatre.

Improv Theatre is the art of coming to the stage with an open mind instead of a script. Each interaction is spontaneous; every story is fresh.

In this series of workshops you'll learn the basics of how to build a story in the moment and how to support yourself and your fellows actors to go with the flow! No previous theatre experience is necessary. Ages 15 to 115.

WARNING: May contain uproarious laughter!

Improv Theatre will be held on four consecutive Wednesdays starting on 21 May, from 7:30pm-9pm, at Community House on Decks Reserve, Motueka. The maximum number of places available in this class is 12, so get in quick to book your place. The cost of this workshop is $40. Contact Pania on 5284115,  022 3752559, or email: manysmalldots@gmail.com to book your place.

 Physical Theatre is the the means by which story, emotion and character is conveyed on stage through the body. Speaking, as a function of the body, is by no means excluded! This day-long workshop is an introduction to how to create “physical vocabulary” for the stage, with a focus on the ensemble.

All levels of theatre experience welcome...(0-lots) ...Great opportunity for professional development for Drama and Dance teachers.

Ages 16+

Tutor Damara Sylvester runs her own Inside Out Circus and Physical Theatre company locally, and is also a member of Nelson's Body in Space theatre company who perform monthly “Deep End” Improv Comedy shows at the Theatre Royal.

Contact Pania on 5284115,  022 3752559, or email: manysmalldots@gmail.com to book your place or for further information about any of the Winter Workshops.

Needlecraft workshops x3

I'm very excited to introduce you to Emma Marshall. Emma is an artist who is "Dedicated to injecting life into the art of embroidery through the creation of quality handmade toys and useful objects." Emma learned embroidery as a child and has been honing her needle-craft skills ever since. She is known for her beautiful handmade worry freaks and plush toys and is infectiously enthusiastic about fabric and needle-work.

Some of the stitches to be taught during Emma's Crewel Embroidery workshop

 For the Winter Workshops, Emma will be delivering three workshops. In the first one-day workshop, Emma will guide participants in creating their own modern crewel embroidery sampler. In the second one-day workshop, participants will sew their own "Worry Freaks" - which are small, hand-sewn, felt dudes with one-of-a-kind funky personalities.

Some of Emma's "Worry Freaks"

 The third workshop will be a full weekend and will take participants through the process of designing their own plush toy (see below), and then sewing it (using both machine and hand-sewing). People taking part in this workshop will need to bring their own sewing machine.

Who could resist this little guy?

 Keep an eye out for the yellow Motueka Arts Council Winter Workshops flyer, which will start appearing around Motueka in May. On the back will be the registration form for this, and the other, workshops.

You can view more of Emma's work on Facebook (where she is known as ASpankof Zanz).