Our Place: Artist Susan Harrison-Tustain

Euro zone Artist Susan Harrison-Tustain and her husband Richard live in a Mediterranean-style house in Oropi that reflects the philosophy behind Susan's artwork - timeless, earthy and engaging.

We chose to build because we wanted something that reflected our personalities. We are inspired by regions in Europe such as Provence and Tuscany and love to take people on art, photography and wine-appreciation tours there.

The look is timeless. I don't follow trends. Like my paintings, I want to capture an enduring appeal. Murray Pederson built it to a plan by husband Richard and Rick Bettison of Amaghi Design. On the internal walls, Richard Guthrie created the undercoats and first mottled paint layer. Then I went over that to age it. I wanted real cracks, cast shadows and adobe walls. Creating the hood above the stove was fun. I mixed up a strong plaster and scraped it on with a trowel. I added to the rustic appearance by enhancing the cast shadows from the plaster.

The oak kitchen has the feel of a French farmhouse. The cabinetmaker, Oceanside Cabinetmakers, had some antique oak that had just arrived in the country. The impression I wanted to create was one of separate handcrafted pieces of furniture "placed" in the kitchen.

Some of the things we have in here, like the large dinner setting and silverware, are part of the prize Richard won on Sale of the Century 20 years ago.

There is a grape and vine theme throughout the house. The wrought-iron light fittings in many rooms and stair balustrades were handcrafted by Martin Weygang. Sadly, Martin has since passed away, but his handcrafted art lives on. In a beautiful personal touch, [Martin] created a vine leaf with a tiny jewelled ladybird. He had noticed I used to include ladybirds in my floral paintings. This touch is precious.

We love to throw open the bifold doors that run the full length of the front of the house. They open to a garden of "many rooms" around brick courtyards. There is a swing under the walnut tree for our granddaughter Imogen and we picnic together there. I tell her that fairies live in the walnut shells and use the leaves as blankets.

In the entrance foyer, we have a small Persian rug that is "magic". Imogen stands at the front and we sit on the back and fly out of the open doors, pick up the fairies and then float up through the clouds.

In the hallway I have on display my painting, Sunday, featuring a misty Mount Maunganui beach. The atmosphere is a lazy Sunday kind of day. Our pristine beach has been besieged of late - but the Kiwi spirit is enduring.