Isaac du Toit

This artwork in Pukerua Bay is in a (mostly) quiet, secluded bush setting. It sits at the edge of the Waimapihi Stream on a path through the Koawa Ngaro Reserve, a small gully known to locals as Secret Valley. Despite its proximity to the Pukerua Bay train station, State Highway 1 and housing, this sculpture sits quietly amongst the trees with birds like Piwakawaka (New Zealand fantail) flying around it. The title of this artwork “Discovery by Inspiration” seems to directly refer to this secluded location off the beaten  track. However Waanders said that that name was chosen by another Pukerua Bay local and his preferred name for the work is “The Ties That Bind Pukerua Bay Community”. This title also references the theme Ties That Bind in a 1985 multimedia competition at the Wellington art gallery. If you follow the path through the Secret Valley you walk past it. When this gully, once a local dumping ground was revitalised Waanders “recycled” a huge unwanted non-native macrocarpa tree

This sculpture titled “Woman of Words” by Virginia King depicts writer Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) who lived in Wellington as a child. Mansfield left New Zealand aged nineteen, never to return, but many of her short stories reference her childhood. The sculpture was commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust. At 3.4 metres this larger than life sculpture towers over the footpath. Made of stainless steel sheet with laser-cut quotations from Katherine Manfield’s own writing, the reflective, shiny surface of the figure looks very at home among Lambton Quay’s tall skyscrapers completely surrounding Midland Park. According to the artist’s own website “the sculpture is positioned head turned and looking back along Lambton Quay, the former shoreline of Wellington's Harbour, referring to Mansfield's intense reflection on past events”. During the day when the light is shining down the sculpture creates a long shadow across the footpath. At night the sculpture is lit from within

By   Annelise du Toit  and  Isaac du Toit   (Illustrator) When a cat decides to explore the empty, scary old house next door, he discovers that it is not quite as empty as he thought. Written by ten-year-old Annelise du Toit and illustrated by her older brother Isaac du Toit using diorama sets, this story explores what it means to be curious and the danger of trespassing. Published by Quirky Quail Press 2021 Wellington, New Zealand ISBN: 978-0-473-59341-4 (Paperback)

 William Allsworth, The Emigrants , 1844 The emigrants, 1844, London, by William Allsworth. Purchased 1992 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa.  I find this work very atmospheric with mountains looming in the background, a stormy ocean and emigrants preparing to travel to a country on the other side of the world, far away. Their dark clothing, the misty background and the way the people stare out at the viewer create a spooky feeling. Originally I thought these were settlers who had just arrived in New Zealand with all their belongings but after reading the information on the Te Papa website I now know that this is the family about to leave and the artist has taken the liberty of setting the painting in Scotland whereas the ship they travelled to New Zealand on left from Plymouth.  This painting shows James Mackay, his wife, six children and two nephews on the shores of their Scottish Highland home. There is a triangular composition with James Mackay at the top of the