Denita Tizard

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! History of Halloween The Festival of Halloween is a celebration of the end of the fertile period of the Celtic Goddess Eiseria . It is said that when Eiseria reaches the end of her fertile cycle the worlds of the dead and the living interlap . This happens on October 31. Masks are worn to show respect for the Goddess Eiseria who, like most Celtic deities, does not wish to be seen with human eyes. The day also proceeds All saints day, which was at first the celebration of the start of a new cycle of fertility for the Celtic Goddess Eiseria . Couples incapable of producing children thus tried their luck on All saints day. I haven't been on my computer for ages the weather has turned into Summer and I have been enjoying the sun and getting into my painting and cooking. On Monday we went and had lunch at Cracked Pepper and while we were there I asked them if they wanted to change their art work, they were dead keen. So we came back pick a few pieces and went back a...

I got excited today when I got an email from the City Gallery in Wellington with their UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS. I was so happy to see form the 17th of November 2007 to the 10th of February 2008 Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning exhibition will be showing. The City Gallery is thrilled to present this long-awaited and spectacular exhibition. Hammond's luscious palette of inky blues, his signature use of emerald green and gold and his endlessly inventive combination of anthropomorphic birds, horses and hybrid creatures offers viewers a unique insight into his work. A Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna O Waiwhetu touring exhibition, sponsored by Ernst & Young. City Gallery Wellington Civic Square, Wellington, New Zealand Ph: 04 801 3021 email: citygallery@wmt.org.nz Open Daily 10am-5pm Free Entry So exciting!!!! Yesterday was cool Stefano called around and we went for a cruise in the wagon and I introduced him to the east side of Wanganui. We checked out the second hand shops and ha...

Today I had a visit from a lovely lady that I had meet threw the NZ art guild website. We went on a mission around the town to find some inspiration and get some photos. We headed down back streets and alleys looking for the perfect shot. The first place we found was amazing the sparrows were nesting and they weren't fussed with us being there. The light in the sky wasn't the best so we called into the glass studio and watched Brendon make a piece of glass. Headed down to the river, called into Bill's gallery to check out what was hanging on the walls, had lunch at Jolt and got to know each other walking all over town. We weren't sure what to do next so we came home and she checked out http://www.wanganui.org/ and picked our next location. It was the Winter Gardens, I was happy because my little sister had a statue in there that I hadn't seen yet so we headed up there and checked it out. It was cool we went and got some bread from the cafe and feed the ducks and sw...

I had a little visitor yesterday this cheeky bird. I had thrown out bread for them in the morning and he must have been wondering what was going on in here so he popped in for a nosey. He was cute and I thought it would be nice to have him flying around for a while until he started knocked over and breaking things. To my surprise Ralph wasn't fazed by our guest the bird flew up to him twice and landed next to him and he just looked at it and moved away. Normally he is mean to other animals. Poor Rat gets a rark up by him all the time. Shaughan just came back from taking Ralph for a walk and he said my bird had come to visit him when we went to go get a coffee from Mike. I had a fantastic day yesterday Mum came over and we went for a cruise around to Vanessa's and sat in the sun talking for a few hours. It felt like we hadn't done that in ages. Mum and I went and looked at a house to buy but it was in the worst street in Wanganui . It was worth the look and it would be n...

This time 3 years ago I was getting ready to open The Paint Pit. I had been seeing Shaughan for a week and life was fantastic and going at a frantic speed. I had talked to my Gran for the last time as just 1 week after opening the studio she passed away and left a massive whole in my heart, in many ways than one. I still missing her lovely voice and big cuddles. I will always be thankful for the time we spent together, love you Gran x. It has been a heck of a journey and I find it hard to see how I have fit everything into these few years! Oh how nice it is to have a break have a clear mind, relax and find new dreams. I just finished watching Orlando Clairmont find out who his father really was, Philip Clairmont on TV ones great art show artsville and it was fantastic! That programme always gets me excited! I have always like Philip's bright colours he uses in his paintings and I share his love of painting on hesium . Seeing him talk about his work and life, I gained a much bet...

This is Wilson he is such a spunk! One of the best holidays I have had was in the Pacific Islands crusing around all the Islands. It has infulenced my work a lot and if I had to choose a subject that was my favourite to paint it would Pacific style. I would love to live there and would be very happy living in a home on a white sandy beach. I love the rawness of the Island lifestyle. I found all the art work I saw there was special as I don't think the artists had lessons on how to paint and they were painting from the heart. I find paintings with spirit just have that little bit extra more! For the past few days I have been drawing on a black pad with gold pen and I'm really happy with them and hope to use the drawings in my paintings. I thought it might be nice to enter them into the wanganui review next year as something different. I have also been thinking about entering a photo. Last night we got woken up again by the boys downstairs this time it wasn't by music they h...

It's a beautiful day here in Wanganui the sun is shinning bright and there are loads of people out enjoying the day. This photo is a painting I did for Shaughan a year ago. I have a wall in the house which is just for us, I think every couple should have a wall to hang things on it to show their love. We also have a photo wall in the kitchen, by accident I went into get some photos printed and we ended up laminating them and they cost a margin of the price as getting big photos printed and they are waterproof, bonus! Yesterday our friend Dave came over for the night and we had a great afternoon. I took him for a wee tiki tour around town up to the gallery and tried to find a farm for him to buy. It would be so cool if he lived around here! He is a treasure. He bought over a beautiful lamb roast and we had a lovely night catching up over a few drinks. He left pretty early this morning to play golf with his mates, oh what a wonderful life we have. My little sister called in with lun...

Photo of the day: I took this photo a few years ago of Shaughan fishing at South Beach. It was a beautiful night and can't wait for the fish to come back so we can spend more nights down there enjoying nature. Last night I got to watch an amazing programme on the Maori Channel about a NZ Author - Jacquie Sturme . For those of you lucky enough to watch it will understand the spunkiness of this lady. When people talked about her they all said they couldn't stop looking at her beauty and I have to agree, how lucky are they to have had her working in the Wellington Library. The programme was about her life as a writer , being a woman, Maori, her strong intuition, struggle and being the wife of James.K.Baxter. It must have been hard to see all the doors for her career right in front of her but having to wait to find the key to open them. My favourite part was at the end when she talked about the reason why she writes. It wasn't for the publishes, the money, the audience it ...

Little Rat has found herself a spot in the house. I sat on her the other day, it was dark and I totally didn't see her sitting here. She is a cutie! Ralph has been chasing her around and causing her a bit of stress. She used to live in the gallery and since she has moved up here he doesn't like it he gets totally jealous. It's funny when she is sitting on my knee he comes along and wackes her with his powerful tail. But she loves being up here as she gets to sleep in our bed sometimes. I feel in love with the 300 zx yesterday! I called around to Nessies and took her for a cruise and it got my blood pumping being a twin turbo it's really fast and the stereo system rocks. I had some mean beats pumping and I felt excited oh and it's sound is so horny . I tried talking Shaughan into keeping it and selling my car but he was already in full swing of selling it. BUGGER! Nessie was working in her studio when I called around and was finishing off her paintings for h...

I was looking through some of my photos and this one cracked me up. It was taken in my home in Rotorua with Josh, me, Ralph, Chevy and Chanz. The boys were drinking coke! Chanz and I lived together and had so much fun I think we bought some extra rarkiness to Rotorua. She is one of the most talented artists I have ever met and I love her dearly and feel blessed to have had her in my life. Josh and his Mum Kate came and stayed with us for a holiday and we had a fun filled time as you can see. That house just brings back great memories. We had a big thermal pool and a big bath that we used to have people come and use all the time. We painted murals on the fences, it was choice! We even had a thermal pit were we cooked food in. We even had our own lake access which was the best place to go and meditate so quite and peaceful. Being so close to Auckland loads of my friends used to come down and stay, I miss that being in Wanganui is a bit too far for them to come for the weekend. And it doe...

Last night we were sitting just watching TV when we heard all this noise outside. So we went to see if everything was ok and we saw 5 cop vehicles out there the police had arrested 2 men and there where 2 other people looking a bit upset. I don't know what happened but it was a bit of a shock to see. We see so much stuff going on out our window! When we move I think we are going to get a bit of a shock and miss all the action. A few months ago we had the dogs and heaps of cops out there, we see people getting pulled over, accidents etc. Yesterday we went and saw Nelson I got it a day early so it's his birthday today, better to be early than late. He is coming to pick us up soon and we are going to check out their new church that is being built. There is something wrong with the organ, which Nelson plays so Shaughan is going to go and give him a hand to fix it. I bought myself 6 new Cd's 'Godskitchen' I'm just a bit of a lover of music! I went to their website ht...

It's been a few days since I have written in my blog sometimes life just gets a bit crazy. This photo is my first piece made with BRT clay. I love using this clay as you don't have to worry about air bubbles and can pretty much do anything you like with it. Yesterday my sister, who is pregnant, hence the photo, came over with her lovely children for a beautiful lunch in the sun and we got to hang out and catch up, which I loved. I managed to throw the vacuum around the house and cook a beautiful meal before our friends Tony and Nick came over for dinner, I love cooking! We had a great night chatted, ate, drank and even played Cluedo , Tony was our champ for the night. I got a lovely surprise when Shaughan came home he bought a laptop and I just love it! I have been wanting to try out Vista since it came out so this morning I have been having a play and I really like it. I'm not sure if Shaughan agrees with me and I think XP will be replacing it? The speech recognition ...

This photo of Jesus at the beach is one that Shaughan and I made together. I love being creative with him. Last night I went to the committee meeting for the Art Society and one of the ladies said you can't work with other people when being creative I had to say that I disagreed with her comment. Just look at some of the artists that do work together like Mike and Otis, the two guys who do the living sculptures etc. Shaughan and I have produced some great work together. Like this painting of the Rasta Man, we both think it's cool and have had people want to buy it. I never have a problem if people want to paint on my paintings as I know that you can always paint over it or make something from what they ave done if I don't like it. The meeting was great as we got to talk about lots of things and with new committee members it will take off. I have put my hand up to write the newsletter every quarter which I have been wanting to do for a few years now. Sometimes you just have ...

It was a fantastic day yesterday we took Ralph to the beach and got some fresh air. The mountian was out which always is so special to see. Then I got stuck into painting the toilet. I have about 1 or 2 more days for it to be finished. We bumped into Stefano and invited him up for dinner it was yummy we had steak with loads of fresh vegies. We watched Die Hard 4 its a pretty cool movie. When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music. And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet Cucumber Raita Serves 4 3 small cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and diced 2 tablespoons lemon juice1 teaspoon cumin ½ teaspoon dried dill 1 pinch salt 2 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt Place the cucumbers in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice, cumin, dill, salt, and cilantro and toss gently. Add the yogurt and combine w...

I watched Death Proof today by Quentin Tarantino what a fantastic movie! When it got to the middle I thought I might turn it off and do some work but I kept on watching and I'm glad I did. It's like power to the woman hahaha. If you get some spare time have a crack if you can handle a bit of blood then you like this movie, it's nice and simple. Last night we watched Blades of Glory it was pretty crazy but I didn't like it as much as Death Proof. I took young Ralph for a walk along the river and we had fun me throwing the stick in the river and him fetching it and eating them but not bringing it back. I must teach him to play fetch the normal way. I came back home and Shaughan had been out and was the happiest boy he had the best day. He had swapped the Merk for a ute and a Holden so we went for a blat in the new vehicles, filled them up with gas and I had fun blasting the stereo and the sub. Shaughan's funny a real wheeler and dealer we only have 4 vehicles in thi...

I can't believe we just lost to the French in the world cup semi! That ref was shocking! If the forward ball had been picked up on Frances 2nd try we would still be in with a chance to win. As for Luke getting sent off for that French man running into him that just wasn't right! And were where our penalties? Hello! I would be so embarrassed if I was to sit down and watched the reply if I was that ref. I do have to say that the french did defended well. My hopes are now for the Fijian's to get in there and kick on butt and show the world what the Pacific can do! Shaughan is totally bummed and has gone to have a shower maybe even a cry? I can hear the bells ringing in the square it's kind of weird cause the bells sound sad at least the sun is shinning and we can go an do something cool today. I'm sure there will be a lot of sad people around. All the support the All Blacks get from the whole country is wicked! If we as a country could have positive support for each o...

I had a fantastic day yesterday! I counted and we had 33 people come up here yesterday and have fun. The first group did lots of painting and had lots of fun doing that! The second group did some painting and played on the musical instruments for the whole session which was fantastic. They were great and shared with each other. What wonderful children they were they had something special about them and all had some spunk. In this photo I had said to say Wanganui rocks which they did with a small voice and then the said naki rocks and the voices came with great force, it was funny! They are going to come back next holidays and I'm looking forward to their return. I will upload some more of the photos I took onto my photo album http://paintpit.dotphoto.com/ I had Mum and Carolyn come paint more of the Mona we are doing for the Mangaweka festival and it's starting to look fantastic. I still have some work to do and will get onto that today. I have been reading Deepak Chopra...

I have had a pretty busy few days with people visiting and getting ready for 25 kids coming to paint with me today. It's very exciting I love it when I get a group of kids coming to paint. We are going to paint big paintings of our surroundings. Yesterday I had some great news we have Carlotte Shophia Fazzini-Jones joined our family yesterday around 2pm. Amanda is well and our little girl is perfect too! Grandpa Vic was over the moon and is looking forward to holding her in his arms! She looks so peaceful! It's exciting when a new addition comes into the family. The next one is Nessies in April and I think she will have a girl too! I got emailed this photo yesterday from a trip Carolyn and I took to Mangaweka yesterday. We have planned to go back there next month and do a glass casting workshop which will be fun! The people in Mangaweka rock! I'm having a few friends over tonight to have a few drinks and finish our paintings for the festival they are having. Anyway I bet...

I get sent these emails and enjoy reading them here is the message for the week from Ian: BEING POSITIVE IN SPITE OF YOUR PROBLEMS So you think you've got problems? Consider Brian Hise.. Brian Hise had more than his share of bad luck in July. When his apartment in Provo, Utah became flooded from a broken pipe in the apartment above his, the manager told him to go out and rent a water vacuum. That's when he discovered that his car had a flat tire. He changed the tire and went inside again to phone a friend for help. But the electric shock he got from the phone so startled him that he inadvertently ripped the instrument off the wall! Before he could leave his apartment a second time, a neighbor had to kick his door down because by now water damage had jammed it tight. While all this was going on someone stole his car! But it was almost out of gas so he found it just a few blocks away. He then had to push it to a gas station where he filled up the tank. That evening he atte...

I'm so excited, yesterday we went to go and get rego for my car and ended up getting that and 5 massive canvases. Which has worked out perfectly as I hadn't hung any paintings in my studio and they are now lined up on a wall waiting to be painted. I have been thinking about painting big paintings since we were in Auckland and we called into see see Chrisy at unitech were most of the art students were painting on large canvases and I so wanted to come straight back and start working on some. I haven't decided what I'm going to paint I have been thinking about the 7 sins and if I do choose this topic I will go purchase 2 more but I have also been thinking of keyholes as that was what my gallery was called and I like the idea of peeking though to see something. The days of the week also come to mind as I could use my numbers. I think I need to go and get 2 more? It was funny walking back cause we had them stacked up on top of each other and had to walk through the mall an...

That month flew past so quickly! I love writing in my blog! I couldn't wait to get to my computer and it's like 6am. I didn't turn my computer on yesterday so that maybe why I couldn't wait? I mixed up all the old paint I had and it gave me a pinky colour and I painted one side of my studio and got some of the other side done but ran out of steam, hopefully I will have it finished today or tomorrow. It's amazing what a lick of paint will do. I have started rearranging everything as closing the gallery I have had to make room up here for everything to fit. I'm still not sure where the framing gear is going to go and how I am going to store the hundreds of paintings I have? I am lucky that I have a spare room to set the dark room up in but that will be last. I decided to have a party the end of October and want to have the place looking wicked. We haven't had a good party in ages! It gets so cold up here in winter. I'm the luckiest girl! My beautiful husba...