Review – This Way Up by Rhett Brown

This Way Up by Rhett Brown

Actually this is not a review of  This Way Up by Rhett Brown since I am prone to bias because I had a hand in the very early editing stages of the book. The purpose of this blog then is to encourage you to read the very raw and vulnerable account of a man in his […]

Dumb, or Dumber

The car - Photo Theresa Sjoquist

Pleased with the purchase of a new second hand car, I drove  it 1000 kms home.  It was as smooth as a sewing machine and the power was phenomenal.  I’d gone up from a 2.2 to a 2.4.  I particularly enjoyed the electric windows – a feature I never wanted in a vehicle because I […]

Opinion; Doing Damage with your skills

Photo Theresa Sjoquist

I have long held that no matter how vitriolic I may feel, it is important to never make that vitriol concrete in the real world.  Bad enough to utter unguarded mutterances into the ether, but to give them expression in black and white on paper or blog, is to extend and increase the vitriol and […]

Review – Yvonne Rust: Maverick Spirit by Peter Jackson

Review by Peter Jackson of the Northern Age – published 24 November 2011 Yvonne Rust was undoubtedly a Northland icon.  Prodigiously talented, she was synonymous with artistic expression, particularly as far as the non-arts community was concerned, thanks to the Quarry in Whangarei in her later life. But there was much, much more to this […]

John Madden – Underground Artist

Blackball mine winch room by John Madden

Profile of New Zealand painter, John Madden, based on Auckland’s west coast. His mentors include Toss Woollaston, Barry Brickell, Yvonne Rust, John S Parker John Madden is a painter based at Karekare on Auckland’s western coast in New Zealand, but he started his art life as a potter. Mentors, Yvonne Rust, Barry Brickell and Toss […]