Art produces creative flourish of wallets

Art buyers opened their wallets at a Tauranga auction last night and spent more than $30,000 on local paintings, mostly Dagley works.
The Sunrise Rotary Club produced nine Dagleys from four family collections at its Treasured Art auction - and six of them sold for an average of $4000.
Auctioneer Frank Vosper made sure the large audience was warmed up and Arthur Dagley's abstract Port Theme fetched $5500, his St Amand scene hit $4750, and his sculpture reached $4500.
Watching the proceedings at the Ingham-Sears showroom was Dagley's widow, Betty, and daughter Raewyn.
A signwriter by trade, Dagley died in 1998 aged 79 and has been described as the most underrated painter in New Zealand.
He was a prolific artist whose style kept changing over 30 years - from landscapes (Mauao) to seascapes (port expansion), religious pieces, portraits and figurative narratives.
During the 1970s, Dagley worked in an abstract style, often combining painting and sculpture.
He was a 1968 Benson and Hedges Art Award finalist and lived in Tauranga without a public art gallery or high-profile dealer galleries. He opened his own gallery from 1968-75 and then worked and exhibited from his home in Otumoetai.
Mr Vosper described the works on show as "very personal art" and said the result of the auction had been pleasing.
The Rotary club is exhibiting 64 paintings at Ingham-Sears in Totara St over the next two days and another feature is the display showing the range of Kate Jones Madill from her early work to the latest.
Proceeds from the art exhibition go to the Kiwi Can programme, which provides year one to eight students the opportunity to build confidence and learn valuable life skills.