Neville in Nelson

One of the most wonderful benefits of attending the collaboration in Whangarei is the professional and personal connections I made that I know will last a lifetime. I got travel companions for various parts of my post-collab trip around the country, and the warm hospitality of many of the collab participants. I've already written about Hans and Lillian, whose gorgeous sustainable estate provided much-needed decompression time directly post-collab. Now I will share a bit about another new friend who - along with his gorgeous family - opened their home to me and my fellow traveler as I arrived on the South Island.

Neville Parker is an artist whose energy cannot easily be contained - and I mean this in the best possible way. His smile and playfulness in the studio are infectious, and had a huge impact on my experience (and that of any others with whom I spoke) at the collab. It's always fun to see people you meet at these events in their "native habitat" afterwards, especially with their partners and/or other loved ones. Turns out Neville is one of those intensely present and genuine people whose persona does not alter based on his surroundings. He and his wife of more than 25 years, Suzanne, along with their 9-year-old daughter, Emma, dog (Fergus - named after another of the collab artists) and cat (Eddie) have the most wonderful dynamic to observe, and we got to be honored participants for two days.

Neville is currently channeling his significant energy into transforming their land in Upper Moutere (near Nelson) into a sculpture park and art center, with the potential for gallery space, residencies, small collaborative events and more.
The land also bears lush fruit and nut trees, the abundance from which has sustained us for days after leaving (thanks, Neville!).

His own work is fantastically creative. You can see the most monumental piece I have seen of his to date (5.4m high!) entitled Velvet Stampede here. Below is a photo of a smaller piece he worked on at the collab (Neville fabricated the fish from flat sheet steel).

Neville is also quite active as an artist sharing his passion for making in his local community. You can read a little about one of his projects - and see a great photo of him and Emma - here.

I feel very fortunate to have been able to get to know Neville and his family, and look forward to seeing his many dreams for his site come to fruition.