Toi Ora is a visual art experience designed to support our hauora (health and wellbeing) through visual art practices and processes.

Toi Ora reflects upon our indigenous knowledge and natural environment for creative content, and artistic inspiration. Whangaroatanga, unique to our cultural identity provides another layer of connection, artistic exploration and enquiry.

Join me for a fun paint date where I’ll share my love of painting in a relaxing, non-competitive, creative environment.

Whether you’re a beginner or experienced painter, I will walk you through the painting process step by step with all materials and equipment supplied – with support from E tu Whanau.

Explore with me, a range of drawing activities and painting medium, tools and techniques to energise your wairua, hinengaro and tinana. By the end of the paint date, you will leave with an original painting to share with whanau and friends.

Join me Tuesdays at Te Pokapu community Hub on Kaeo Mainstreet with support from Te Runanga o Whaingaroa, from 10.00 am to 1.00 pm with light refreshments supplied.

Dates: Tuesday 14th October, 4th and 25th November, 16th December

At our next paint date, we will explore our pepeha for artistic inspiration. Please bring along with you A4 photocopies of maunga that you connect to. I will demonstrate how we can use the painting process to represent them in an original painting to take home.

Task: Photocopies of maunga shot at different angles, in different scale (zoom in, zoom out) and different times of the day or night for changes in light and shade.

Activity: Make stencils of your maunga and explore negative and positive space using brushes, sponges and spray paint for effects. Explore negative and positive space to create the illusion of 3-dimensional space on a flat one-dimensional surface. Demonstrate the dualities of colour eg: black and white as tapu and noa as complimentary rather than opposing forces as a tool to manipulate 1-dimensional space in paint, pencil and ink effortlessly.

Venue: Te Pokapu – Community Hauora Hub

Date: Tuesday 14th October

Time: 10.00 am to 1.00 pm

Max: 7

Facilitator: Yazma Smith