Denita Tizard

Well it has been a pretty full on week! Shaughan has the week off and we have been filling our days with loads of interesting things, like playing the Guitar Hero game for the Playstation. I must say I got a bit addicted to this game and had loads of fun rocking out for the few rainy days we had. Yesterday we were down at the beach at 7am fishing, can you believe it? I had to drag myself out of bed and it took a few cups of coffee before I could think straight. We didn't catch anything but I got some great photos with the light being perfect and it was so calm. It is always a nice morning in Wanganui on Saturday when the sun is shinning walking around the markets and talking to loads of interesting people. I bought myself a cool badge yesterday of a Tui and in the afternoon, when we took Ralph to the park, I lay under a tree with the most beautiful sounding Tui singing in it, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. I got a lovely parcel in the post from Nescafe yesterday with a m

Our Christmas party last weekend was lots of fun! Loads of people came up throughout the day. It was nice to see the kids taking full advantage of what was there to play with! It was a really hot day, we ate, drank and were MERRY! This photo is of John, John his wife Ronda and son Ben drove all the way from Levin to share the day with us, it was lovely to have them here! You may not know this but I love to cook, when I left school I went to hair dressing collage and then I headed off to a cooking course just before I moved to Queenstown, one of New Zealand's treasured places. So I thought it would be nice to share with you some fun recipes to make over the holidays and a few photos I took last Sunday at our Christmas Party. Chai Tea Recipe (This lovely little angel is Maia) Add together: 1 Tbsp fennel or anise seed 6 green cardamom pods 12 cloves 1 cinnamon stick 1/4" ginger root, sliced thin 1/4 tsp black pepper corns 2 bay leaves 7 Cups water 2 Tbsp Darjeeling tea, bring t

I took some photos of Vanessa yesterday and this was the coolest one of the little boy that is growing in her stomach. I took some more today at Mum's but she took her camera back and I don't have them on my computer yet. She looks amazing and produces such beautiful babies. We have been brain storming for a name but haven't found the right one yet any suggestions? I have been cruising around town dropping of Christmas cards today it was fun! I love the new car it sounds like a big cat purring. Wanganui has got into the Christmas spirit and there are heaps of happy people walking around, I love it! My message for the day was: Joy is the highest and most powerful emotion, and guilt is the lowest. Give any guilt to us so that we can turn it into joy. I went and meet the Wanganui Wananbees yesterday and got a good photo of them. They are fundraising and if your interested go to www.wanganui.org to find out more information. Last night we went out to our friends and ha

I have been a girlie girl this week and have got out all my stuff like the eye tint as you can see here I gave Rere's eye lashes a wee lift and it looks gorgeous ! I got my scissors out and cut my hair and even tried to go blond but the it didn't turn out because the product was too old. I miss working at KMS Haircare cause I had the best range of products. Midge called in yesterday which was a nice surprise he is playing at Vega on Sunday afternoon so we might go and have a drink and check it out after lunch. We are having a big Christmas day here on Sunday with our friends to celebrate Christmas which will be fun! Palmy on Monday was a very busy day we checked out what we need to set up the fish tank so we can have tropical fish and it's only going to be $250 a lot cheaper than we thought. The pet shop was so cool! They had huge fish swimming around in their tanks, we spent ages in there playing with all the cute animals, I could have so bought them all home with

My man was playing tunes yesterday morning and I couldn't help myself but to get this clip. He wasn't impressed as you can see. We have had a great weekend. Richie rich came up from Christchurch to hang out for the weekend. We went and had a lovely meal with friends at Stella and even had breakfast there the next day. We listened to the police scanner a lot it was pretty crazy for them here this weekend. I got my tarot out and gave Rich a reading which was fun as I haven't had them out for ages. It's weird when I was in Auckland and Rotorua I was always doing readings but since coming to Wanganui I haven't spent much time doing them, only doing them for my close friends when they are in need of some guidance. I have finally cleaned up my house and it's looking great I put a sofa back in my office space, after many people complaining that they didn't have anywhere to sit and that it didn't feel like my office anymore. I have been racking my head of wha

My life has been total madness. I can always tell when things are crazy cause I don't write in my blog and my house looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a month. My mission for today, cleaning the house. Our exhibition 'Our Love' went off with a bang! We had loads of people come and join us our local MP came which was a nice as he is a lovely man and we are lucky to have him here in Wanganui ! Bobby came up from Wellington which was heaven sent as he helped us a lot. Thanks Bobby. We are all talking about having an exhibition next year, the three of us with Bobby in Wellington. I can't wait to get to a bigger town to show off our styles. Maybe it could be New York the next year after that? ROCK ON! Rere did well in the exhibition and sold 3 of her pieces. We all had great feedback so we are very happy with our efforts Click here to read our story and see the online exhibition, bear in mind the photos don't do justice for the paintings. After the exhibition op

Rere , Raywyn and I headed out to Mere and Pete's yesterday and had a beautiful peaceful morning at the Mangamahu Hotel. A few weeks ago on Sunday (TV programme) Mere was interviewed about this painting, that I am standing next to in the photo, by New Zealand artist Phillip Clairmont . It was about the fuss of it being sold and how some people thought that Phillip didn't sign it. In the programme they showed a photo that had been taken of the painting after his death and you couldn't see the signature but as you can see in this photo it doesn't look like it is signed either and the photo was taken with a good camera so maybe it was signed and the camera didn't pick it up? We had a lovely morning out there and I'm happy to say that Mere is going to open up the house for the Open Studio weekend so others can go and enjoy her home and check out this famous painting. Mum is going to join in with her so you check out my Mums work as well while you are out there.

Paula Ann Signal aka Rere, Stefano TeVaga aka Steve and I aka Dee are great mates who have been bought together through our love for the arts thanks to our beautiful friend Marie Dobson aka Maka. One beautiful day we were sitting around and chatting about were and what we want in our futures and exhibiting together we thought was a natural progression for our friendship. So here we are in the raw sharing our love with you. We started out thinking we could have an exhibition in a month because the timing would be perfect for when Stefano and I had our last exhibition together, which Rere was apart of the tropical delights and they kindly played for us at the opening of the Pacific Sky exhibition. Once we had decided to do this it was all on! We ran around trying to find venues and we thought we had cracked it at the Yellow House Cafe but it fell through at the last minute when we realised that they weren't willing to meet our needs. So we decided that the right venue would come and

I have been playing on vista print this morning and made some postcards to pop around Wanganui over the summer for the visitor to pick up. I had so much fun making them and am looking forward to them arriving! A few weeks ago I made a calender of Shaughan and I and when it arrived I was so happy with it that I ordered more. I have been listening to classical music this morning for a change and am loving it. I feel very light and fluffy. Tomorrow I am working my first day at Catch and I'm excited. Shaughan has been working on his weekends so I thought if I work a day for him we could spend more time together. My message for the day was: Do not be afraid to be powerful! Ask us to release you from any such fear. I found a great quote: I AM ME In all the world there is no one else exactly like me. There are persons who have parts like me, but no one who adds up exactly like me. Therefore everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it. Virginia Sati

Last night we went on our romantic picnic at Basin Reserve. It was were we got married. I cooked lots of beautiful food and we sat talked and ate in the sun, it was heavenly. We had a few birds come and chat to us. My camera is playing up, it's been used to much, so I didn't get a good photo of this kingfisher but you can see how close he was. There was also a sweet singing Tui . We called into our friends on the way home and ended up having a few wines, played pool and had a spa. How lucky are we? So it was a perfect date night. Kev suggested that I write them all in a date book and yesterday I found a book called the artists date book that I bought and hadn't used so I changed it to our date book and have started writing all our Wednesday night dates. It's going to be a fun book to read through when we are old. I thought I may start an album too and have an exhibition in the years to come. Life is good! I am happy with the paintings I have for the exhibition, I stil

I have had to have a break from my computer for the past week and got stuck into painting for our exhibition which opens in a few weeks. In the weekend I got to sit on the beach and painted the mountain . It was the most perfect day the sun was shinning and there was no wind. I found some driftwood and twine to make an easel and Shaughan turned a stump over to use as a table and a beautiful smooth rock was my pallet. I did take canvas out there but found a piece of wood instead, I just I love painting on boards that I find at the beach. I am happy to take other creative people out to the beach to paint if you want to come with me. I also like making natural sculptures while I'm there and when I left my beach side studio I was happy with the sculpture I left. Shaughan threw in a few fishing rods but he had no luck. A guy who put his long line out was a happy man, catching an 11kg snapper, it was a big mama about 50 or 60 years old, Shaughan reckons. That fish is on a boogie boa

Paula Ann, Stefano & Denita warmly invite you to the Opening of ‘Our Love’ exhibition @ 6pm Saturday the 1st of December 2007 @ Cracked Pepper Café, 21 Victoria Ave, Wanganui Exhibition running till January the 31st 2008 CAFE OPEN EVERYDAY Visit http://www.paintpit.com/ after the 1st Dec 2007 to view their exhibition

Carolyn and I had another fun weekend in Mangaweka . This photo is of little George, he is so cute, he tells the funniest knock knock jokes. Carolyn and I stayed the night after the glass casting workshop and gave them a hand to get ready for their big weekend next weekend. It will be a cracker and I wish them the best of luck for the closing of the festival. http://www.wekaart.co.nz/ I have made a slide show of the time we have had there click here to view. Today has been bloody beautiful! The sun was shinning bright and the sky was a gorgeous colour. We headed out to the Mole, were the river meets the ocean, Shaughan threw his fishing line into the water but there was no fish caught. Ralphie had a wonder over the dunes and is now asleep at my feet. I nearly bought him home a girlfriend from the weekend but I think I will wait until we move into a house with a bit of land. Mum just called in and we looked at the family tree that I have been building and she is going to get all th

I had a lovely phone call from Coke one of the people on the course last Saturday. She wanted to buy this painting "Always" for her husband. It's nice to start the day with having a phone call like this! Oh I also had another wonderful phone call, Gwennie rang me from England which was so great. We talked away for about an hour, man my ear was hot when I hung up. She is happy as and hopefully she will pop over for a holiday next year. I really want to go and visit here in the next few years too! She was telling me about all sorts of things she has been up to and I can't wait to go and see them with my own eyes! Love you Gwennie x It really was a busy day with lots of things happening. I have 2 new artists, Ixia and Azarn on www.paintpit.com they both come from France. I spent loads of time playing with facebook it's such a cool website! The thing I like about it the most is that it is for your friends. Myspace is great for meeting people but facebook is gr

Carolyn, Lorelle and I headed up to Mangaweka yesterday and had a busy day learning how to cast glass. We had a lovely group of about 8 woman and we all got stuck in and enjoyed Maree teaching us her techniques. I loved sculpting in wax and can't wait to get back up there to see if the moulds worked. At the end of the day we were all exsasuted but we had all made a mould and were happy with our results. This photo is of a mould that leaked when the mix was poured into it but that was no problem as Maree showed us how to hand build a mould. Maree and Drew have worked extremely hard on their Fakes and Forgeries exhbition and the galleries are looking great. There were some great fakes which NZ artists had done, it's going to be hard for Goldie to choose which ones are the best! As you can see in this photo we had a beautiful day. My message for the day was: We want to surround you, and we truly wish to give you help. Your joy brings us enormous happiness. Last night the city wa

Here is one of my new paintings it's called WHY? I have been thinking about so much over the past week and WHY was one of my biggest questions. I really don't understand a few people I have meet and wonder why they do the things they do. The world could be such a beautiful place for everyone to enjoy and I don't understand why these people don't try to create happiness around them, instead of living in drama. Another thing I have been thinking about is Jealous people. I don't understand why they get so obsessed with it. While obsessing with jealously for others they forget to live their own lives. It's like they have a fear that their own life could never be as wonderful as the person they are jealous of, and in some cases they try to destroy that persons happiness. It makes me wonder if these people are right in the head! I know one thing for sure is that they aren't very happy with what they have! I was reading the last Woman's Day mag and in the he

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! History of Halloween The Festival of Halloween is a celebration of the end of the fertile period of the Celtic Goddess Eiseria . It is said that when Eiseria reaches the end of her fertile cycle the worlds of the dead and the living interlap . This happens on October 31. Masks are worn to show respect for the Goddess Eiseria who, like most Celtic deities, does not wish to be seen with human eyes. The day also proceeds All saints day, which was at first the celebration of the start of a new cycle of fertility for the Celtic Goddess Eiseria . Couples incapable of producing children thus tried their luck on All saints day. I haven't been on my computer for ages the weather has turned into Summer and I have been enjoying the sun and getting into my painting and cooking. On Monday we went and had lunch at Cracked Pepper and while we were there I asked them if they wanted to change their art work, they were dead keen. So we came back pick a few pieces and went back a

I got excited today when I got an email from the City Gallery in Wellington with their UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS. I was so happy to see form the 17th of November 2007 to the 10th of February 2008 Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning exhibition will be showing. The City Gallery is thrilled to present this long-awaited and spectacular exhibition. Hammond's luscious palette of inky blues, his signature use of emerald green and gold and his endlessly inventive combination of anthropomorphic birds, horses and hybrid creatures offers viewers a unique insight into his work. A Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu touring exhibition, sponsored by Ernst & Young. City Gallery Wellington Civic Square, Wellington, New Zealand Ph: 04 801 3021 email: citygallery@wmt.org.nz Open Daily 10am-5pm Free Entry So exciting!!!! Yesterday was cool Stefano called around and we went for a cruise in the wagon and I introduced him to the east side of Wanganui. We checked out the second hand shops and ha

Today I had a visit from a lovely lady that I had meet threw the NZ art guild website. We went on a mission around the town to find some inspiration and get some photos. We headed down back streets and alleys looking for the perfect shot. The first place we found was amazing the sparrows were nesting and they weren't fussed with us being there. The light in the sky wasn't the best so we called into the glass studio and watched Brendon make a piece of glass. Headed down to the river, called into Bill's gallery to check out what was hanging on the walls, had lunch at Jolt and got to know each other walking all over town. We weren't sure what to do next so we came home and she checked out http://www.wanganui.org/ and picked our next location. It was the Winter Gardens, I was happy because my little sister had a statue in there that I hadn't seen yet so we headed up there and checked it out. It was cool we went and got some bread from the cafe and feed the ducks and sw

I had a little visitor yesterday this cheeky bird. I had thrown out bread for them in the morning and he must have been wondering what was going on in here so he popped in for a nosey. He was cute and I thought it would be nice to have him flying around for a while until he started knocked over and breaking things. To my surprise Ralph wasn't fazed by our guest the bird flew up to him twice and landed next to him and he just looked at it and moved away. Normally he is mean to other animals. Poor Rat gets a rark up by him all the time. Shaughan just came back from taking Ralph for a walk and he said my bird had come to visit him when we went to go get a coffee from Mike. I had a fantastic day yesterday Mum came over and we went for a cruise around to Vanessa's and sat in the sun talking for a few hours. It felt like we hadn't done that in ages. Mum and I went and looked at a house to buy but it was in the worst street in Wanganui . It was worth the look and it would be n

This time 3 years ago I was getting ready to open The Paint Pit. I had been seeing Shaughan for a week and life was fantastic and going at a frantic speed. I had talked to my Gran for the last time as just 1 week after opening the studio she passed away and left a massive whole in my heart, in many ways than one. I still missing her lovely voice and big cuddles. I will always be thankful for the time we spent together, love you Gran x. It has been a heck of a journey and I find it hard to see how I have fit everything into these few years! Oh how nice it is to have a break have a clear mind, relax and find new dreams. I just finished watching Orlando Clairmont find out who his father really was, Philip Clairmont on TV ones great art show artsville and it was fantastic! That programme always gets me excited! I have always like Philip's bright colours he uses in his paintings and I share his love of painting on hesium . Seeing him talk about his work and life, I gained a much bet

This is Wilson he is such a spunk! One of the best holidays I have had was in the Pacific Islands crusing around all the Islands. It has infulenced my work a lot and if I had to choose a subject that was my favourite to paint it would Pacific style. I would love to live there and would be very happy living in a home on a white sandy beach. I love the rawness of the Island lifestyle. I found all the art work I saw there was special as I don't think the artists had lessons on how to paint and they were painting from the heart. I find paintings with spirit just have that little bit extra more! For the past few days I have been drawing on a black pad with gold pen and I'm really happy with them and hope to use the drawings in my paintings. I thought it might be nice to enter them into the wanganui review next year as something different. I have also been thinking about entering a photo. Last night we got woken up again by the boys downstairs this time it wasn't by music they h