OUTDOOR ART

Outdoor artwork has to be quite robust to withstand the elements and also has to be pretty firmly attached to walls, sheds and fences to withstand burglars.

We've always liked to decorate the outside of our houses with interesting bits and pieces that we've brought with us from house to house. Some of these get lost or damaged in transit and I notice, when looking to photograph them now, that I'm missing some really nice pieces. Hopefully they are still wrapped up in the basement from the time when we were overseas.

This Pacifica motif painting is painted on roofing iron. It is quite large and very hardy. We bought it years ago from the annual Auckland art show and had it in the outside courtyard of our Point Chevalier home. It has made the transition to the North really well and I affixed it to the garden shed.

As you can see from the larger photograph below it adds nicely to the outside view of the house and property. I'm well pleased with it.

This is also a large piece. It is a carving from native hardwood made by James Atutahi. He called it Piko Piko. We bought it from a local gallery soon after we came to Northland. It is very imposing and beautifully sculpted. While robust I don't want it to be too exposed to the wild weather and we keep it in the covered porch by the back door.

This little guy was given to us many years ago and has graced our houses in Christchurch and Auckland before finding a place outside the dining room exit to the side deck. I've always liked its whimsy and find it cheery.

We used to have lots of little interesting ceramics and I notice a few empty places here. With the storms we've had over the last year some might have been blown off (remember the deck furniture chair?) I'll have to have a look under the deck before The Old Girl discovers that some are missing. The antique barometer still works. It needs a bit of a clean up and the wood oiling. Note to self: do this before The Old Girl notices.

This ceramic sculpture is made up of old teacups and pots. It's quite funny and very bright. Some bits have fallen off it over the years but it has a good spot on the fence amongst the flax and ferns, It never fails to raise comments from guests sitting on the deck.

OK, it's not art but this little brass ship's bell (still working) has been on our houses for as long as I remember. I got it from an old wine and spirit merchants we were closing down in he 1980s (the barometer came from there as well as it has an Usher's Whiskies printed on it.

Once again not art, the terracotta chiminea nevertheless makes for a great feature on the deck. In Auckland we used to set a fire in it when having BBQs but up here it just sits. The Aztec sun motif matches the location well and while we don't get too many smokers here it is a good ashtray.