ARTbop is pleased to have Katikati creative Birgitt Shannon contributing art information and news for that district. Birgitt tells us that Bethlehem Weaver Rawinia Gray is to be the featured artists at Katikati’s The Little Blue House from 23rd -27th March 2015. Here is the exhibition and artist’s information from Rawinia:
Kia Ora my name is Rawinia Gray and I live in Bethlehem, Tauranga, I have strong whanau connections to Kati Kati.
On Monday 23 March to Friday 27 March 2015 from 10am to 5pm the whare taonga will be at The Little Blue House in Kati Kati for a week of: sharing Maori Art Knowledge with others, showing through exhibition Maori Art I have created, a creative weaving week using flax, pingao and kie kie. You can also experience making a Poi (a ball on the end of a string) and hear the uses of Poi in days gone by.
I have been weaving with natural fibres, flax leaves and fibre, kie kie from the bush and pingao from the beach for the last 20 years. My passion is weaving kete (baskets) using coloured strips of flax which I dye. Flax leaves striped into pieces, the green surface removed using a mussel shell exposing the soft white fibres or the leaf soften with a knife and woven in different directions incorporating other mediums. Flowers are a big part of my life.
Weaving korowai (Maori cape), woven over a lengthy period of time, but giving a weaver great satisfaction on completion. Potae (hats), Piupiu (a skirt) woven from flax and dyed in mud are taonga (treasures), knowledge for all peoples of New Zealand.
During the Cruise Ship season October through to April, myself and husband Lance run a Marae Experience in Tauranga. We share our Maori art culture with overseas students, New Zealand students, anyone who wants to know. Throughout the year I weave and Lance will carve stone, pounamu, artists living on what we create, living in our house and house truck having nature at our door steps.
Artist Profile: Rawinia Gray
Ko Mauao te Maunga
Ko Tauranga te Moana
Ko Ngati Hangarau te Marae
Ko Rawinia Gray taku ingoa
My mother Mona was brought up at Tahawai, a farm opposite Willoughby Rd here in KatiKati by her grandparents Gus and Te Aorewa Rolleston. Mum met dad, Charlie Tutaki, a school teacher at KatiKati District High School, and so our family life began living at Homewood Homestead.
My name Adrienne Rawinia Tutaki, those initials spell “ART” artist in the making, my dad would always say.
My artist journey today is working alongside husband Lance Gray we share the knowledge of Maori Art with others.
23rd – 27th March, a week at the Little Blue House,
I will exhibit Maori Art I have created,
Sharing a week of weaving with natural fibers: flax, kie kie and pingao,
Kete (baskets), wall hangings, and puti puti (flowers) woven with lots of colour
Sharing knowledge of the Poi – a ball on the end of a string,
A songbird fluttering through life on a journey, gathering knowledge, sharing experiences, weaving together fibers, creating a nest for my life and others.
Kia Ora Rawinia Gray mobile 0272296382 204 Moffat Rd Bethlehem Tauranga
email daddygray54@hotmail.com
