This afternoon it was to be “the last jam and jar”…a farewell to the former owners of The Black Sheep at Whakamarama. So ARTbop wants to thank Hugh, Peta and The Black Sheep team for their contribution to the arts, cultural, music and creative scene of the Western Bay of Plenty. I first met Peta Clavis with the urbane Marcus Hobson and talented visual creative Birgitt Shannon of ARTbop when we sat at The Black Sheep to discuss the possibility of an art exhibition…. Well much hard work went into what transpired. The regular Affordable Art & Artisan Fair –…
Author: ARTbop
A death, any death, disturbs the family flow, the dynamic, the daily pattern. Whether it is that much loved geriatric feline or that much loved geriatric Oma. It is a pebble in the smooth surface of the family pond. Love suddenly takes second place to the communication and subsequent social organisation death imposes on its survivors. And so it is when your long held, dependable association with your cell phone comes to an unexpected and abrupt end. It’s hurtful. How could they do this to you? Why in the middle of winter when it’s cold and wet? Why now when…
Sometimes the brief comments in Nick’s emails speak a thousand words… “I saw the movie Elvis with my Mother who was a big fan back in the 60’s The fact that she liked it says a lot”. Now here’s what Nick says:- If you are going to make a biographical film, the first thing you need is a very interesting subject and, preferably some parts of their story that others don’t know about. This is really the bare minimum and Elvis Presley is a very good choice. Baz Lurman’s film is, as you would expect from this director very flashy…
Bonjour mes amis ARTbop. Avis sur Nick:- Maison de retraite – The Villa. French Film Festival 2022. ARTbop’s Nick Scott went along to the Rialto, Tauranga:- One thing that the French do very well is comedy and the French Film Festival is a chance to find good examples of this. The Villa is a mix of types of storylines you have probably seen before tied up in the setting of a Retirement Home. A Young man on parole is given the chance to avoid prison by doing community service. Working with the elderly is not his idea of a good…
Siobhan heard the espresso machine hiss. She picked up a small translucent white beaker from the tray on the marble bench and waited while it slowly filled. In reality the house looked even better than it did in the slickly polished images of the home décor magazine the architect and the decorator had pressed her to allow. She walked to the window and looked out over the new tennis court and salt water pool. Not a sign of a cowshed or a tractor. The property epitomized rural affluence. A pinnacle. An acknowledgment of hard work and success. Siobhan rinsed the…
On the 6th February 2022 Queen Elizabeth II became the first English monarch to have achieved seventy years of service to her people. There are festivities planned. There are documentaries. Nick Scott reviews Elizabeth: a portrait in parts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXk7kAzNrII This is not a movie about the Queen, but about a girl called Elizabeth who became queen, had a family and held down a very important job. From the footage used in the film, you get a very personal look at Elizabeth’s life and it may remind you of your own or that of your friends. It shows her in a…
Those of you who are old enough to remember the whimsical style of Laura Ashley will think how can her designs and style be included in “alternative”; in a section where we’ve profiled Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood. Because when we start a new trend, a new fashion, a new style – it is the alternative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZqNEi8rwX4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChWkwTWbrC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYCa5rDLwN0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzEipuHUUhw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DefPlhDlyM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSD73cg9j6U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRd6U8yBvLo This article is compiled from videos and information available online. Rosemary Balu. Rosemary Balu is the founding and current Managing Editor of ARTbop. Rosemary has arts and law degrees from the University of Auckland. She has been…
She parks on the road in front of the dense, high, dark green hedge that protects her family home from the street. She opens the old gate. Not the new gate to the white and almost shiny concrete drive. She walks up the path, turns left, quickly walks up the two concrete steps and walks the short path to the many-coated steps of her home. They are a dark green. She knocks on the door of the former state house. Its front door still has all the panes of its original glass. They are strong and staunch like the house.…
Nick Scott our ARTbop Film Reviewer says: “A good comedy is what most of us could use today with such terrible images coming out of Ukraine”. Fortunately The Duke is not just a comedy but a very well made one. An English comedy set in England. It is a simple story concerning the theft of Goya’s portrait of the Duke of Wellington. The main character is played to perfection by Jim Broadbent. It’s as though the part had been written especially for him. He is well suppported by other characters including Helen Mirren as his long-suffering wife. Like most English…
John Baxter one half of the team of the White Picket Fence Gallery in Greerton can rightly describe himself as a musician, poet, and artist. ARTbop has added “and photographer” as photography is an aspect of the visual arts John has incorporated into his wider creative practice. ARTbop met John and Nicci Baxter through The Incubator Creative Hub. We’ve worked with John on ARTbop projects and had creative fun with both Nicci and John. One talent John didn’t include in his description is “maker/fabricator/set designer/banner maker…” The list could go on. John is one of those old fashioned creative…