Studio Insights - December 2025
CREATE: What I’ve created/done & what I’m working on.
INSPIRE: What art has inspired me.
LEARN: What I’m learning to develop my practice.
PLAN: What I’m planning next.
“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
December was all about winding down and working on tidying up the last bits from my solo exhibition. I took an extended break in Seddon to paint my parents' house, which ended up being much more work than anticipated. As such, I decided to push out posting the upcoming exhibition documentary until January.
Table of Contents:
CREATE: Winding Down
INSPIRE: Space Station
LEARN: Collecting Art
PLAN: Quirky Fox Group Show
CREATE: Winding Down
With my solo show now officially done and dusted, I was feeling incredibly accomplished but also predictably a little lost. I didn’t quite let off the gas just yet; there was still a decent bit of documentation to sort through and post, but I also knew I needed a rest. My first order of business was to get lost in the forest. This is always my go-to after a big show to fend off the inevitable post-show depression after all the excitement. Being in nature makes me feel at peace again. While the time at my parents’ place was mostly spent painting walls, it was still a nice change of pace from the city.
INSPIRE: Space Station
December was another huge month for the Wellington creative scene. Thankfully, with my show done, I was actually able to get along to them! There were so many amazing things I wanted to talk about, but I’ll focus on an easy favourite - Space Station hosted at Fishcube gallery.
I was blown away by the extreme quality of work across the board, as well as the cohesive feel of it all. I especially loved this interactive spaceship piece, with controls for custom lighting and a motor to spin!
I don’t think there was a single piece in the whole gallery that I wouldn’t have been stoked to add to my collection - quite impressive with so many participating artists. I think this may be my new favourite exhibition of the year, even topping Skullduggery, which is quite the compliment if you are familiar.
LEARN: Collecting Art
During the month I also had the privilege of visiting the Space Station organisers, Tanya Marriott & Garry Buckley, at their ‘home’ to drop off a painting from my show. I use quotations here because it’s more of a crazy overflowing vault/gallery of weird and wonderful art. I know Tanya well from being a past student and staying connected through art events over the years, but I’d never visited here before. I spent most of my time walking around in absolute awe of their collection covering every wall, and helping brainstorm ideas to find extra wall space to hang more. I feel honoured to have a piece of my own make it into the mix.
When I questioned how such a collection was possible, I was surprised to learn that most were obtained through trades with other artists. They are both incredibly talented and prolific artists who have been working and creating in the industry for many years, so I can understand how that would work. Still though, I never knew so many artists would be willing to make trades for their pieces.
I dream of having a collection like this one day. I have only done a few small trades before, but I’m definitely open to more. Especially after my recent show, and the current economic climate, I have quite a stock of pieces that I need to get rid of. I’ll endeavour to try and get some more going this year - my walls are still severely lacking in other artists’ work!
PLAN: Quirky Fox Group Show
After the house painting took up much more time than I anticipated, I decided it would be best to push out the documentary release to ensure everything was clean and tidy just as I wanted. Keep an eye out for the final bits coming in January.
In February, I’ll be joining the lovely Hawera gallery ‘Quirky Fox’ for their group show titled Bubblegum Dystopia. Unfortunately after such a busy end of year, time crept up on me so I won’t be making heaps for it, but I’m excited to join regardless!