Whimsy & Frivols

Located in rural Manawatu, Whimsys & Frivols is the collaborative adventure of two mature artisans with a collective professional art experience of over eight decades. Their creativity extends to painted mirror frames made of solid wood and crafted with attention to detail to impart an heirloom status and make them a loved object to be passed down in your family.

The artists share a background of art studies in England and America and teaching as well as a great admiration for the decorative applied arts in all its diversity.

They marry the functional and decorative as practiced by the English Bloomsbury Group and the William Morris firm of Fine Art Workmen. After retirement from eight decades collective work as art professionals, the two began meeting regularly to experiment with a variety of projects in the feast of decorative arts practiced today.

Because there was at hand a vast supply of wood remnants from the erection of a barn dwelling, this material was an obvious choice for the initial projects, which included a variety of toys.

An awareness of the early treasured household objects, brought by pioneering families from Europe to Australasia to often rather compact cottage interiors, influenced decisions to work on an intimate scale allowing portability. It was felt these factors still have resonance today in our mobile society. The decorative painted enhancement of the frame, working with Resene testpots, was felt to imbue the object with a sense of special occasions and uniqueness providing those links reminding people of specific times and spaces.

Sharing an appetite for art history and image collecting, they have collected a vast repository of visual stimuli to develop from manuscript illumination to textiles and ceramics.

The first released range of mirrors is available from Olive Café, 170 Cuba Street, Wellington or contact Susan Artner by phone 06-329-2624 or email.

Artist's gallery
A wide range of artists are using Resene paints in their work, on everything from interior paintings to tactile artworks and mural masterpieces.

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