Whangamomona
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A year ago Tracey asked if I'd be interested in looking after Dolly Gray in the Republic of Whangamomona on the Forgotten World Highway for three weeks straddling Christmas 2024 and January 2025.
Why not? First we take Whangamomona and then we take Chateau d'Orquevaux, ne c'est pas?
Reining in my wild splashy tendencies, working on the small stainless steel kitchen bench at Dolly Gray I made these 18 x 24 gessoed boards, a few 30 x 30 cm pieces on black or manila or coloured handmade paper, mostly acrylic paint and ink. Then I repurposed a fabric roll cardboard tube into Whangamomona Totem and a cleaned up, sandpapered and painted a rusted out enamel Perfectly Imperfect Wholey Holey Bowl all while meeting and greeting people from around the world, issuing Republic of Whangamomona passports and stamps, and selling Dolly Gray wares.
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Perfectly Imperfect Wholey Holey Bowl
Pulled from Brent's scrap metal bin, washed, sanded, painted and varnished at Dolly Gray in the Republic of Whangamomona |
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Jewelled Mountain, Rich Mountain, Blue-Green Mountain
Acrylic on cardboard
All 25 x 18 cm
Acrylic on cardboard
All 25 x 18 cm
Holy Places, Cross, Sun Scream. All 18 x 25 cm
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Grow Good Things
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Fields of Gold
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Little Landscape Tryptich
Acrylic paint and oil pastel
3 x 18 x 25 cm
Acrylic paint and oil pastel
3 x 18 x 25 cm
Left to Right: Light Behind Eyes, Love's Shapeless Garden, Waiting In The Mosque Precinct. All on paper, approximately 30 x 30 cm
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This Is A Gang Patch
[Gaza decolonise]
Acrylic black paper
30 x 30 cm
SOLD
[Gaza decolonise]
Acrylic black paper
30 x 30 cm
SOLD
Clockwise from top left: Circle, X, Open Space, Untitled.
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Bad Religion
Acrylic paint and ink and oil pastel on hot pink hand made paper
30 x 30 cm
Acrylic paint and ink and oil pastel on hot pink hand made paper
30 x 30 cm
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Below: Botanical contact prints and additions, i, ii, and iii.
Acrylic paint, oil pastel All 25 x 18 cm |
Top left: Open Spaces
R: Window Lower Left: Untitled Below:Red Riding Hood and the Wolf All 18 x 25 cm cardboard 
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Above: Untitled
Above left: Untitled Lower left: Untitled All Acrylic paint and oil pastel on 18 x 25 cm cardboard |
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The Whangamomona photos were all shot on a 600m stretch from the Hotel to the campsite in the late evening light. |
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Untitled [Botanical]
Acrylic paint and oil pastel on cardboard 18 x 25 cm and bookmarks 
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Little Inky Graffito
Acrylic paint and ink on paper Approximately30 x 30 cm Last of the Whangamomona output 
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Big thanks to Whangamomona Republic people who helped make my time so warm and easy despite the weather - George, Mai, Vanita, Shay/Che (sp?) Richard, Vicky for coarse sandpaper for the Perfectly Imperfect Wholey Holey Bowl and more, Nick who got my car going again, Gina, Marg, Matt, Ceri for lavender filled hearts, John Herlihy for Presidential chat, Amy, Shel, and of course, Brent and Tracey of Dolly Gray and the Garage. And thanks to friends who popped in on their way to or from Tahora - Marion R, Maria, Marion L, Marion P, Dale, Dixie, Tricia, Rick, Kerry and Debb; and visits from Thomas and Ale, Chris and Don; my cousins Annette, Wendy and Arthur, my nephew Dylan, Natasha and little Artyom; Vanessa, John, Caitlin and their friend John. And all the lovely buyers and just browsers from nga hau e wha/all directions at Dolly Gray.