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NEWS<br />
12 The <strong>North</strong> <strong>Canterbury</strong> <strong>News</strong>, <strong>January</strong> <strong>30</strong>, <strong>2020</strong><br />
Hamish takes plunge into art world<br />
By SHELLEY TOPP<br />
Two decades away from art,<br />
working labouring jobs to ‘‘pay<br />
the bills’’, has beeninspiring for<br />
Amberley’s Hamish Reid.<br />
The hiatus hasgiven him a<br />
fresh perspective for his artwork<br />
and the selftaught digital artist<br />
openedhis firstsolo exhibition,<br />
Qwerky Werks ,atthe Art on the<br />
QuayGalleryinKaiapoi late last<br />
week.<br />
Hamish watchesalot of<br />
YouTube videos to help in the<br />
learning process. He alsostudied<br />
art at Christchurch’s St Andrew’s<br />
College and then did an art<br />
course at the former<br />
Christchurch Polytechnic.<br />
But with limited opportunities<br />
to earn money from his artwork<br />
at the end of his polytechnic<br />
course, Hamish looked<br />
elsewhere to earnanincome.<br />
‘‘The time awayhas beena<br />
good thing,’’ he says.<br />
However,hedidn’t alwaysfeel<br />
that way. ‘‘Mylife was abit like<br />
themovie GroundhogDay.Get<br />
up,eight hours of slog, come<br />
home, slump into my armchair,<br />
watch the screenfor afew hours,<br />
andthen go to bed. Rinse and<br />
repeat. Very unsatisfying.’’<br />
Eventually,hetooksome time<br />
off for himself and hisfamily and<br />
began drawingagain. He also<br />
established hisown illustrations<br />
business,PKME Innovations,<br />
from his Amberley home.<br />
‘‘Art is avery feastand famine<br />
type of industry. You havetoput<br />
yourselfout there to get a<br />
response,’’ he explains.<br />
In an effort to do that,he<br />
createda2019 calendarcalled<br />
Noah’s Lark for the 2018<br />
Christmas market.<br />
‘‘It is my take on whatmight<br />
have happened on Noah’s Ark.’’<br />
American cartoonist Gary<br />
Larson,creator of The Far Side<br />
cartoonseries,was an inspiration<br />
for Noah’s Lark.<br />
The calendar sold well, despite<br />
limitedmarketing, and gave<br />
Hamish the impetus to become<br />
seriousabouthis artwork again.<br />
His wife, Amanthea, and their<br />
three children havesupported<br />
his decisionand often provide<br />
inspirationfor his art. ‘‘I bounce<br />
ideas off them all of the time.’’<br />
Hamish’s art is amixtureof<br />
real life and figmentsofhis<br />
New direction<br />
... Amberley<br />
artist Hamish<br />
Reid at the<br />
opening of his<br />
first solo<br />
exhibition,<br />
Qwerky<br />
Werks.<br />
PHOTO:SHELLEYTOPP<br />
imagination. His work, Black and<br />
White,began with something his<br />
children said about panda cows.<br />
The image shows nose to nose<br />
communication between apanda<br />
and ablack and white cow,with a<br />
magpiesitting on the cow’s rump.<br />
The panda and cow are on a<br />
grassyknoll in front of an<br />
aquamarine oceanbackdrop.<br />
The image reflects Hamish’s<br />
love of colour and pays homage to<br />
black and white animals.<br />
Art on the Quaygallery<br />
manager Jackie Watson noted the<br />
numberofred dots, confirming a<br />
sale, on some of the works at the<br />
show’slaunch. It wasan<br />
indication of the quality of work,<br />
she said. ‘‘Have agood lookatthe<br />
work. It really is stunning.’’<br />
The showends on March 4.<br />
In brief<br />
Concert planned<br />
An outdoor concertwill be<br />
held in Rangiora’s Victoria<br />
Park this Sunday. Music in the<br />
Park is being hosted by the<br />
Waimakariri Community Arts<br />
Council. It will feature<br />
Lyttelton folksinger Amiria<br />
Grenell,the Bow StreetDuo,<br />
from Christchurch, the Oxford<br />
All Stars,homegrown talent<br />
from Oxford, and the Glass<br />
Heart String Choir.The<br />
concert will begin at 3pm and<br />
finish at 7pm.Itisafree, with<br />
agold coin donation<br />
appreciated for the Kaiapoi<br />
Food Forest.<br />
Lost and found<br />
The followingproperty has<br />
been reported as lost: Abrown<br />
wallet (Rangiora), aLexus<br />
keyless entry blackkey<br />
(Rangiora), aMitsubishi<br />
Outlander keylessentry key<br />
(Rangiora), blackframed<br />
prescription spectacles<br />
(Woodend area),alime green<br />
wallet (Rangiora), purplerimmed<br />
prescriptionglasses<br />
in ablack Specsavers case<br />
(Kaiapoi), abrown wallet<br />
(Kaiapoi/Oxford), and agold<br />
bezel wedding band<br />
(Rangiora). The followinghas<br />
been handed in: Polaroid<br />
sunglasses (Rangiora),ateal<br />
Oppo mobile phone (Rangiora),<br />
an iPad (Amberley), a<br />
blue/white mountainbike<br />
(Rangiora) and akey on<br />
London keyring (Rangiora).<br />
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