Being challenged...

Being challenged...

and inspired by visiting collections and exhibitions.

Len Castle (1924 – 2011)

Len Castle (1924 – 2011)

The Gallery was sad to hear of the death of Len Castle, one of New Zealand's pioneering potters. Castle began working as a potter in the 1940s and was to become the leading light of New Zealand's pottery movement for over six decades. In the 1950s he worked with Bernard Leech in England and during the 1960s he began potting professionally, travelling and studying in China, Japan and South Korea.

Happy birthday Margaret

Happy birthday Margaret

Margaret Stoddart was born on this day in 1865 at Diamond Harbour. Here she is in 1909:

Not in my name

Not in my name

I saw this in Woolston the other day.

Neighbours

Neighbours

Does this look straight to you?

Playing to the Faithful

Playing to the Faithful

The 2011 Christchurch Arts Festival has been full of highlights, from theatre to dance to the visual arts. However, it's been the music that has made the biggest impression on me.

Host a brooch

Host a brooch

A number of Gallery staff are planning to take part in the final Host a Brooch event this weekend.

Roger's version

Roger's version

When Roger Boyce's one-hundred work series called The Illustrated History of Painting went on show at Christchurch Art Gallery last year (and served momentarily as a base for high-level pow-wows amongst Brownlee, Key and other members of the quakestocracy), plenty of people noted that the series could become a great book.

Meeting Douglas MacDiarmid

Meeting Douglas MacDiarmid

When I visited Paris after the Biennale, I enjoyed a memorable evening with New Zealand painter and long-time Paris resident, Douglas MacDiarmid. The Gallery bought a small work of his from the estate of Albion Wright about a year ago for the Norman Barrett bequest collection. They all knew each other, so it was apt.

Awesome

Awesome

Is this the coolest pen ever or what?

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