I am here 11,000 miles from home and the art college I am speaking at today feels very familiar. Same smell, same type of people. The resources do look pretty impressive though.
Kate Sellers shows me how she has been developing her own work using laser cutting. I visit different student spaces. Kate seems like a great teacher. She is originally from Lincolnshire in England. But worked at the youth hostel on Whedal Road in Cardiff. She met a New zealander while working in London and now lives here.
My talk goes well. Lots of questions asked. When I show my Wrexham work half the room of students faces light up. They have heard of The Hollywood star’s influence on the Wrexham football club. They marvel on my depiction of Hope Street in Wrexham. We watch Noah Bakour’s film on my practice.
I spend the rest of the day exploring Whanganui. It seems a very arty place. Artists have taken the over shops and created pop up and permanent galleries. A river twists through the town, giving it a slightly European feel. I walk back to my air b n b. But then realise I might be heading the wrong way. I get home about seven pm.
Kate picks me up the following morning to go to Whanganui Museum to the Costume and Textile association of New Zealand Symposium, where I have been invited to speak….