Collectible creatures

1 September 2008
Dianne Holtom has been coming to King Street Artworks in Masterton for three years now and says it’s made heaps of difference to her life.

She has always been an arty person but before she started coming to King Street Artworks, she spent most of her days doing housework or gardening. “Just the usual sort of life stuff,” she says.

Now, she has the opportunity to socialise with like-minded people, learning as she creates. She describes King Street Artworks as a place where you can laugh and joke, share ideas and, above all, relax and feel safe.

“You can forget about your outside worries,” Dianne says.

When she first started coming to King Street Artworks, she took up pottery. She had done it before at school but because of the huge cost of setting up clay equipment, she had never had the opportunity to carry on.

Sell-out exhibition

She loved making pottery and produced work that she exhibited in her own solo show at Gallery 21 and in the annual group show at Aratoi, Wairarapa’s Art and History Centre. The exhibition, held in June/July this year, was almost a complete sell-out for Dianne.

After the pottery making, Dianne started exploring her Aboriginal roots through painting and etching. Again, her work was exhibited in the local community. The response was fantastic and she received a great review in the local newspaper. At the time, she said: “It was a great chance for me to explore a part of my culture that I had only just found out about.”

Eager to learn new skills, Dianne participated in a needle-felting workshop at King Street Artworks in 2008 and found her niche. She ran with the idea, creating a myriad of highly detailed and collectable creatures that have found critical acclaim.

“I find felting very relaxing and I am amazed at what is possible with simple fibres. I’m also thrilled that other people really seem to like my work and are buying it.”

Dianne’s goal over the next year is to raise her profile as an artist in the community. This from someone who, a few years ago, spent her days looking for something to dust.