Todd Corporation Art Collection

Dad received a book from John Todd of the Todd Corporation Art Collection. His painting "Something to Hide" is part of the collection. Wellington art dealer Peter McLeavy was the consultant for the Todd collection, and in 1975 he bought the painting on behalf of Todd Motors. Some of the other artists in the collection are Colin McCahon, Robert Ellis, Don Binney, Michael Smither, Pat Hanly, Stanley Palmer and other New Zealand leading artists. Dad knew and has exhibited with the artists in the catalogue so it is good to be in the collection with them.

A close shave

After work a few days ago I was running around Seaside Park coming onto dark. A helicopter was circling around the park. I did not think much about it. Then an undercover police car turned up. I didn't have much to think about this either. There were some other people around, including kids, all playing in the park and minding their own business about the helicopter and the policeman. It was now pitch dark as I began my final lap. I was nearing the end of it when mum yelled out, very upset, "run Matt". I ran to the car and jumped in. It was already moving. I looked around and suddenly another few police cars were on the scene. They herded everyone towards the end of the park. We were not allowed to leave at all. Mum had asked the police if it was still safe for me to run, and the answer was no. It was a tense situation. We did not feel safe and we had no idea what was going on as we sat in our cars in the corner. It could have been anything. An armed person on the loose? An escaped prisoner? It was an anxious time. Finally the police came and told us what the problem was. There was an unexploded bomb in a car on the side of the park. The bomb was on the right hand side of the road, and we were to drive on the left hand side of the road as fast as we could and not stop. We did this, tense all the way. In doing so we shot past thirteen police cars, an ambulance, the bomb squad and TV1 and TV3 news cameras, as well as a large bunch of locals and police dogs. Now we were safe. At home, I reflected on the fact that I have had some serious near death experiences, much more serious than this. Dad has too, and this has had a big influence on his art. I will talk about these at a later date.

Queens Birthday Weekend

Holiday weekends are a special time in the gallery for us because we are the only gallery open on the day of the holiday. We see all sorts of different people. The first long weekend after we opened, Labour Day, October 2007, a lovely woman from Sydney walked up from Queen Street to find we were the only gallery open and bought the first of dad's Maori paintings, "Our Time", as well as prints and drawings. "Our Time" is Pukaki, the great Maori chief from Ngati Whakaue Rotorua, lying in the sand dunes. He was carved around 1820 and has been returned to his home in Rotorua.

The Gallery Today

For the first time ever we have had a young woman traveller in from Lithuania. She was an architect who said that what made New Zealand different from the rest of the world was our Maori culture especially the art and carving. So she loved dad's work. We see all kinds of creative people in the gallery. We had a Maori poet in today and a Tongan graphic design teacher who is coming back to talk to dad. Dad gives help and advice to artists all the time.