Aratoi

The Masterton Art Club’s history reaches back to 1921 when a meeting was called to set up a ‘sketch club’, and a committee of nine women was formed.

Twenty years ago in London I met a Polish man who could not comprehend the level of waste that he was seeing all around him, especially in his job in an East End mountain bike shop.

When he turned 33 – a significant age in many spiritual traditions - Matthew Couper embarked on a unique rite of passage: he created a painting depicting each year of his life to date, from growing

There was probably never any doubt that Robèrt Franken would become an artist. Born in The Hague in the 1946, he came from a family of artists stretching back five generations.

An A & E Consultant at Masterton Hospital, Daniel Schual-Berke's medical skills are both his vocation and a ticket  to indulge his passion for photography: he has visited Antarctica eight

Well-known Wellingtonian guitarist Jonathon Harper is no stranger to Aratoi – he has been playing in Wairarapa since the days of the Wairarapa Arts Centre.

Last month I stopped in at the Hastings City Art Gallery, where I saw a superb show ‘Secret Garden’ (on until 10 March).

I did not expect to be talking about shearing and fencing at Catherine Manchester’s exhibition opening last Friday, but the artist was remembering her time working in Wairarapa during her 20s.

Curiouser and curiouser

The Crystal Chain Gang -Fancy Fool's Flight Decades ago, at about this time of year, guests might be welcomed with a slice of Christmas cake and glass of wine from a crystal decanter - a potent