She gave me a ridiculously reasonable quote and asked if I could supply photos of the couple.
Two weeks later I returned to collect my gift which depicted the soon-to-be marrieds cycling through a Renaissance scene which even featured a three-dimensional gold column in the foreground - all mounted inside a Capstan Navy Cut tin.
The newlyweds were delighted with their gift and I was proud to be able to give them an artwork by a Whanganui artist made especially for them.
Since then I have collected a few Julz Coffey artworks of my own.
They are absurdly low priced and as much as I love being able to acquire bargains, I question her willingness to part with the fruits of her labour for such low profits.
"I don't spend a lot of money on materials and I love creating them," she says.
"I would rather that they go to people who love and appreciate them than just to those who can afford them."
It is true that she produces her work at a reduced cost because many of her pieces are created from found and abandoned objects.
Smooth sea glass sourced from local beaches, the severed tops from a picket fence, old scrubbing brushes, toothbrushes, bolts, screws and tins are neatly stored in her garden studio where she works with her Dachshund, Fritz, keeping her company.
Picket fence pieces make ideal canvasses for a portrait series.
Photo / Bevan Conley
"I find things on the street, on beaches and in secondhand shops.
"I see potential in objects I find and they often inspire a series of works."
It is about saving the planet by repurposing abandoned objects but the messages are conveyed in witty and whimsical ways.
"I was born creative and to me, every day is an opportunity to use that creativity to make something new out of something found.
"When it's hard to paint a face, I make something out of recycled materials."
There is a stack of journals in her studio which are works of art in themselves.
Coffey combines her skills as a painter and fibre artist with her recycled pieces and her love of literature is incorporated in her work.
She sculpts small ceramic heads which are mounted on recycled objects for her series entitled Somewhat Forsaken.
"I use wire, fibre and paint to create little characters who all have a story.
"I visualise them from the objects I find."
Each character has a short story attached to a little wooden plinth.
The sawn-off pickets have become canvasses for the series she calls Miss Pickets inspired by the Nancy R. Julian book The Peculiar Miss Picket.
Her painted and mixed media portraits of women ( and the occasional dog or donkey) all have names along with a tantalising quote or two.
Coffey studied art with Wellington-based School of Creativity and Art, The Learning Connexion when she was in her early 40s.
Born in Kaiapoi, Canterbury to a mother who sewed, carved and whittled, Coffey says her creative urges were inborn.
"My father was also a creative person who was really good at repairing and repurposing things and he inspired me.
"But when I left school and told him I wanted to become a bohemian artist, he said I should get a good government job to give me security.
"It was the attitude of the times and I don't resent him for it."
Dachshund Fritz is muse and guardian to his artist mistress.
Photo / Bevan Conley
She abided by his wishes and became a hospital administrator.
"I've always done creative things and my husband John has always supported me in doing what I enjoy.
"Since I've retired, it has become my joy and passion."
For seven years, Coffey was the main driver and organiser of the Fibre Arts Symposium in Whanganui.
She resigned from that role in 2017 although she is still a participating artist.
These days, Coffey is very content working in her studio with Fritz keeping watch but says she still loves to collaborate.
"I belong to a group of women artists and we've named ourselves Artspeak.
"We meet once a month and visit galleries or just talk about art."
She has been a participant in numerous group shows including the very successful One Coffey and Two Sugars exhibition with her son Juan and grandson Leuka in 2018.
"I'm now getting ready for a guest artist exhibition at the Red Door Gallery next month.
"It will coincide with my birthday and I'm turning 70 so it is a special event."
Julz Coffey's exhibition will open at Red Door Gallery, 88 Putiki Drive on February 9.
