Under lowering skies on a wet Saturday I scuttled from my car into Mary Sullivan's courtyard garden at her beachside home at Haumoana.
A miserable day; good for nothing much except playing about creatively with hot wax, a heat gun and splashes of colour.
The technique of encaustic wax painting was practised by Romano-Egyptian craftsmen back in the 4th century BC it but has not been a commonly used medium in recent times.
This beautifully translucent medium is growing in popularity as artists rediscover the technique that encompasses colour, collage, texture, fusing and blending with applied heat and allows the artist to present images in a layer of mystery.
There were six of us and we chatted over a coffee and hot scones in Sullivan's front room before we ducked out to the garage studio where we were introduced to the encaustic wax set up.
None of us had any knowledge of the technique we were about to be taught but we were very eager learners, fascinated by the unfamiliar medium.