Puke Ariki 10th Party

In New Plymouth we are fortunate to have world class museum, Puke Ariki, a kind of mini Te Papa.
It does tend to be a favourite fall back position if plein-air sketching is out.

 Today they were celebrating their 10th with a karakia, pipe bands, glee club, brass band, kapa haka workshops of pois, singing, hakas... sushi ninja, rock n' roll, reggae, story telling, make a card, weaving, knitting and anything else you wanted to poke a stick at.

We went up to the Te Takapou Whariki by the Maori section and watched the kapa haka workshops.  Much singing, dancing, stick-work and general fun

 

Then we went back down to hear the Gumboot Tango.  The full repertoire of foot stomping from 'Rugby Racing & Beer', Country Calendar, the Chesdale Ad, Crunchie Hokey Pokey Bar Ad, the old kiwi rendition of 'Nature' and more.

 



We were sorry to leave the party.

As an addendum, I was pleasantly surprised to see last week, my book on Tombow sketching had reached the ethereal heights of the Japan Tombow Pen & Pencil Company Facebook page.  Not that I understood totally, as it is all in Kanji.  However below is a copy of their promo picture.  You may faintly know almost all of my drawings utilise Tombow ABTs (Art brush twin) as a kind of 'Clayton's' water colour.

In a blatant self-promoting move, here is the link to the book http://www.blurb.com/books/3782653-a-pen-full-of-light.

The big market for Tombows is scrapbooking, although some artists seem to have a handful, especially greys for graphics.  I noticed Urban Sketcher & painter Adebanj (Alade) regularly uses greys.  I've been promoting Tombow ABTs for their sketching ability.

I was disappointed to hear the Australian/New Zealand Agent - Pelikan Artline are no longer intending to distribute them.

Although the book has reached eight countries, I don't think I can quite give up my day-job yet.
However I had fun compiling.