Christchurch Heritage - Part 1

A week after the first earthquake in September 2010, I went for a walk around the city to survey the damaged buildings. I ended up taking photos of the beautiful old buildings that appeared to have survived unscathed. There had been lots of coverage in the media about the buildings that had been badly damaged, so I wanted to show the other side of the story, and wrote a post about the ones that had survived.

After the February earthquake struck, I wanted to go back and take updated photos of them showing which ones had still survived, and which ones had succumbed. This has taken a lot longer than I anticipated, due to the time it's taken to reopen the CBD, and life in general has also got in the way. I was back in there a couple of weeks ago, and took these 'after' shots of the first few buildings in that post. I will do a follow up post in a couple of weeks showing the remaining buildings featured once I get a chance to photograph them.

Our City O-Tautahi, or the former Municipal Chambers building has some significance to me as the building I did my very first market in. As you can see, a lot of work has gone into stabilising the building, so hopefully it will be restored.

The former Public Trust building is one I used to walk past every day when I worked in town. I recall it being extensively refitted, and so hoped some earthquake strengthening was done at this time. It turns out some was, but apparently that wasn't enough, as the owners are currently trying to get permission to demolish it. This hasn't met the criteria for CERA's section 38 notice, so they are now deciding what to do with it. Apparently it can be saved, so fingers crossed the money is found to make this happen.

I have noticed on my travels that a lot of the old Public Trust buildings are of a similar style, such as this one that survived the Napier earthquake. Let's hope our one in Christchurch has the same happy ending!

Shand's Emporium has always been a favourite of mine, as it appeared to defy the progress around it and remain. Unfortunately it hasn't been quite able to do this now, as a new development in the area requires the space. The owner was keen to preserve it, and last I heard, had offered it free to a good home, even willing to pay the relocation costs. While researching this post today, I found it has found a new owner, and may be relocated out to Redcliffs. It is shown here where it has been moved out of harms way until it can be taken to it's new home. I look forward to seeing it repaired and returned to it's former glory.

In a few more years time, I would love to bring you some more photos showing these buildings repaired and restored. In the meantime I will update you on the other buildings featured in my original post.

Three years on

It's nice to be back in Christcurch again this year for the anniversary of the devastating earthquake that rocked our city three years ago. Although some of the details of that day are beginning to fade, it is something I will never forget. We went into the memorial service in the botanic gardens today, it was a lovely spot for it on a hot day.

Last weekend I retraced my footsteps from the moments before the earthquake for the first time since that day. This has only been possible for the last six months or so when the red zone cordon was finally taken down. There are still quite a few fences and shipping containers still up - though times are changing, and some are around new buildings.

Here are some photos I took, to document what it is like now. I couldn't retrace my exact path due to the fences and shipping containers that are still up, but this is fairly close. The phrase that come to mind afterwards was 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

I had parked in the carpark at the Crossing, and bought some sushi for lunch which I still had with me, which came in handy later on.

 Cashel mall - Glassons and the Westpac tower once stood here.

 High Street.

It was nice to see some signs of life returning to this part of High street. This heritage building has been restored to it's original beauty, and the new Strange's building next to it appears to be progressing well.

The site of the old Ruben Blades building which was badly damaged during the quake.

High and Manchester street, with the containers holding up what's left of the Excelsior facade.

The site of the old ANZ chambers building, which completely collapsed during the shaking. This one one of my favourite buildings, so it was sad to hear of its fate.

McKenzie & Willis building on Tuam street. There were wire fences in front of it on the day - I remember thinking as I walked along side them after crossing the street if you were supposed to walk right next to them... little did I know.

After popping into Harakeke, I walked back up the other side of High street.

Standing at these lights waiting to cross, I didn't realise at the time I would be one of the last people to see the old ANZ chambers building still standing.

 Majestic House on Manchester Street.

Bedford Row - after where I'd been the previous for the previous ten minutes, this wasn't a bad place to be for the quake.

As I remember the terrible events of that day, my thoughts are with those that lost loved ones, those that were injured and those whose houses and businesses were badly damaged. I don't think anyone comprehended the scale of what had happened, I couldn't. I remember thinking that it would be a lot longer than last time before we were allowed back in the central city, but I was thinking it would be months, not years. I have wanted to do an update on the buildings I showed in this post a week after the September quake ever since then. I've got some updated photos, so once I have the rest, I will do a post with them.

Three years on, I hope that those who are still struggling with insurance issues get some answers and closure soon, so they can move on with their lives.

A drawing a day

Some time ago I mentioned in this post that I wanted to get back into drawing again. This was something I did quite a lot of when I was younger, but as with many things, it dropped off the radar. So last week I decided to make a commitment. I declared on Facebook that I was going to do a drawing a day, and post the results this weekend.

Portraits are one thing I've always enjoyed drawing, so my wee man and muse was an obvious model choice. This is the first time I've drawn a baby, so I took a photo first, as I didn't think my skills would be up to a life drawing!

For day two I picked some flowers from the garden to draw. This one is a cornflower - not sure that you can tell!

I didn't get a chance to draw something on day three (and the only day I missed, I might add!). On day four I was in the shop, so I drew one of my owl candles that was there.

Day five is a flower from a magazine – I think it was a fejoa.

Day five is a tomato fresh from the garden (I'm noticing a theme here!).

Day six is of a candle that has burned down after I tested a new prototype. The lighting wasn't great for drawing, there were some harsh shadows so I haven't captured it quite right.

Making myself draw something every day has been good - I just found whatever was at hand, which meant I chose things I might not normally have thought of. I will try to keep it up now, and spend a bit more time on them and brush up my skills. I think there maybe some more baby portraits before I'm done!

Which one do you like the best? Let me know in the comments!

Small and sweet for Valentine's day

Valentine's day is a great time to connect with your special someone or to indulge yourself with a little me time. We have a great selection of candles to set the scene, and to celebrate Valentine's day, we have a 25% off sale on soy tealights, floating candles and melts. Sale ends 13th February.

Small candles like tea lights and floating candles are great for creating atmosphere. Find some little dishes or saucers to put tea lights on, or fill a bowl with water and rose petals and add floating candles.

Tea Party

The Rose in Thorns tea party is back, just in time for some Christmas shopping. If you want to shop in a relaxed environment and enjoy tea and cupcakes served on fine china with good company, then come along! It will be held on the 1st December at 3pm - 5pm at my home in Northcote. If you would like to come, just register here and you will be sent address details a few days before the event. You can also rsvp to the facebook event if you wish.

Our full range of candles will be available, so you can take a look over them at your leisure. I will have some candles lit so you can see them in action, and there will be some great specials on clearance items.

Manderley Home and Garden Festival

Next weekend you'll find me at the Manderley Home and Garden Festival. It's an event I always enjoy attending, due the the lovely setting and atmosphere. There will be a great selection of food stalls, live music and dancing and the homestead will have three rooms open to the public.

There will also be a large selection of stalls hand-picked for their quality and originality, so it is a great event to start your Christmas shopping in a relaxing environment. It's on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th November from 10am - 4pm each day at 3875 Christchurch/Akaroa Highway, Little River. Admission is $15, with children under 12 free.

Evolution

So my blogger dashboard tells me this is my 150th post – hopefully it lives up to that milestone!

As the saying goes, the only constant is change. My life has changed quite a lot over the last few years, and the last few months have been no exception. My wee man is growing and learning at a rapid rate, and it's definitely a fun journey to be part of. While on leave I seemed to keep stumbling upon lots of different artists, which inspired me to get back into drawing again. I haven't made a start on that yet, but I hope to find some time soon. I used to draw people quite a lot when I was a teenager, with a strong lean towards the heart throbs of the time. (I'm guessing that Dear Colleen must have gone through a similar phase herself, with her ever expanding collection of dishes tea towels!) I even managed to put a couple of drawings of Brad Pitt into my Schoot Cert art portfolio. I'm still not sure how I managed to get that past my art teacher! Since then I have mostly focussed on painting, as I thought it was a natural progression, but I would quite like to try drawing again. Here are some of the drawings I did way back then, including the School Cert specimens. Points for anyone who can identify any of the three featured at the bottom!

My workspace also keeps evolving. Last year I posted some pictures of what it looked like after I'd finished setting it up. Since then, it's been entirely redecorated, and I kept posting teasers saying I was going to put some new pictures up. Here are some I took in early May – it's changed again since then, but I still have some more plans for it, so new pictures are going to have to wait!

The room was repainted after earthquake repairs, and I had decided some form of 'duck egg blue' would be nice, and found the perfect shade. So I also painted the cabinet to match, as it needed some updating, and also it's own repairs after being knocked over from the fishtank. The busy 1970's carpet also had to go, so we found a wool carpet in a nice neutral brown, and then we had to get new curtains, as the pink ones didn't go so well!

The room changed again not long after that, to make way for the spare bed which had been in what became the baby's room. It has now gone in favour of a sofa bed, which means I no longer require the couch, which is my pride and joy. I'm not quite sure I can bear to part with it just yet, so it's future remains unknown at this stage.