Art

There is currently an arts festival taking place in Oamaru and this weekend there is an event called “Meet the Maker”.  So this morning, after watching the All Blacks beat Argentina in the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup, we hopped in the car and drove to a place with the rather quaint name of Flag Swamp to visit an artist called Nic Dempster.  We thought it was just down the road, but it was actually 50 minutes away.  However, it was worth the drive through the towns of Herbert, Hampden and Palmerston.  The artist was a rather engaging young man and we enjoyed viewing his paintings.  We might even buy one.  Afterwards we drove back to Oamaru and visited McLean & Co, who use heritage looms and locally sourced wool to ethically produce traditionally woven and stitched textile products.  They weave the fabrics on a very rare and unique Hattersley Domestic Weaving System.  It is possibly the only intact original one left in the world.  It was fascinating to see the looms that make up the system and how they work.  As well as taking photos of the looms, I also took a photo of a beautiful iris in the garden. 

This evening we went to see the Roger Fox Big Band at the Oamaru Opera House.  We expected an evening of jazz but found that it was a collaboration between the band and King Kapisi, who is a hip hop performer.  The music was good but it was spoiled by the hip hop, especially as the music drowned out the hip hop words, which were so fast that it was impossible to know what was being said.  Rather disappointing.