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Classy art exhibition in Art Deco house
October 18th, 2010
By David Armstrong
Motueka artist Peter Walker has opened the doors of his renovated Art Deco house at 62 Poole Street to exhibit the hobby which has long been his passion - 22 beautifully executed paintings with mainly atmospheric themes.
Two rooms and the hallway of the house he shares with his wife Babs are decorated with Peter's paintings, all of which are for sale. Over the weekend about 40 people visited to enjoy the works, and the exhibition will run daily (10am to 4pm) for the remainder of October.
The architecture and building materials (such as heart rimu floors) of the house lends themselves to the purpose of displaying art works. Other rooms in the house (not part of the exhibition) are decorated with some of Babs's artistic works - watercolours and montages of textured natural materials.
Originally from Lincolnshire in the UK, Peter and Babs settled in Motueka two years ago after touring New Zealand for two years in a motorhome. Before retiring, Peter was a draughtsman but he'd had a passion for painting since the early 70s. Through that period he sold many works to galleries and dealers for goodly sums, but he never tried to make a full living from it.
His paintings, he says, are inspired mainly by his appreciation of the weather and deeply held concerns about climate change and what we're doing to our planet. "My art is meteorology based and I like to incorporate the weather in the form of skyscapes and rain and light," he says. "I aim to capture an atmosphere within the painting, to try to get a depth of feeling in them."
Many of the pieces for sale show this atmosphere exquisitely, with moody (often stormy) clouds suffused with luminescent glows overlooking bleak and beautiful (mainly) New Zealand landscapes and flora. Three abstract pieces featuring brightly coloured globes also draw their worlds into energetic spirals (see photos below).
Both Peter and Babs can't speak too highly about Motueka and say it's a "huge privilege" to be able to live in such a lovely part of the world.
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