Bianca's wedding invite May 2008

Bianca is getting married (woohoo!) and wanted an art nouveau, Gustav Klimt-style wedding invite. I modified MacMurdo’s Wrens City Churches poster to make a gate to marriage, the bridal couple’s name on either side.

Raised bed veggie garden June 2008

I’m getting paranoid about global warming and rising food prices, so instead of following my cultural legacy of populating the garden with roses, I have turned to veggie gardening. I got these raised beds from kiwi backyard and have set about planting them with broad beans, kale, silver beet, leeks and broccoli.

Melissa’s PhD show May 2008

My clever sister exhibited in Sydney as part of her PhD. She asked me to make her a mini-catalogue (actually she probably would have liked a cloth-bound coffee table book printed in Italy) that she could give to the people who came to her show. Jonathan (my partner) proofread her thesis, so we’re integral in making Melissa a doctor.

Explorers, whalers and tattooed sailors June 2008

I have been working on more covers, this time for a book about adventurous times in early New Zealand. I like the idea of nineteenth century sailors getting tattoos in the Pacific Islands – makes them seem less like upstanding historical figures, and more like experimental alternative types. Apologies to people whose pictures I pinched, but these are just visuals, not the final product.

Cheongsam puppets June 2008

I found these cheongsams in the dollar shop and thought they’d make great…I dunno…puppets? I think I’m more fixated by puppets than Otto is, although he had a go at one of the faces. Maybe I'm processing trauma received at PN library Punch and Judy shows.

Massey, Massey Ferguson June 2008

I would love to say I spend my days creating beautiful works of art, but more likely I paint things for my sons. My two year old, Gus, goes to bed clutching his tractor, whispering Massey Massey ferGUSon as he falls to sleep. I try to replace it with the bear, but he won’t have it.