Local Focus: Mere Keating and a decade of artist open studios

This year's Artist Open Studios marks a decade of showing work in the rambling Whanganui building otherwise known as "Bricksticks".

Weaver Mere Keating has been exhibiting there since the beginning. Working with flax, she uses traditional methods learned from kuia in the Far North.

"I had actually taught myself to weave mostly out of books from the library," Keating said. "And they were kind of smiling to themselves and having a wee cackle."

When she asked why they were laughing they told her they could tell she learnt to weave from a book.

"When you learn to weave from a book, it's mirror fashion. From then on I started to weave properly and I've never really looked back."

Keating's highly sought after hats are made from scratch the traditional way, from the carefully manicured flax in her garden studio.

"They taught me how to recognise flax, how to cut the flax properly, how to soften it, just all the little basics and a few techniques and tricks for weaving which really stood me in good stead all the way through my weaving career."

Keating's work has a unique look, is often colourful and uses some unlikely tools including a pasta maker and a shearers comb. She also creates woven pieces for film, recently fashioning sandals to feature in the short film Hinekura.

"The sandals, they were made for walking when people went on a long walks going over the rough ground, they're just practical."

Inspired by a trip to Japan she has been experimenting with different weaves, and wishes the natural fibre was used more widely.

"In Japan they are very practical and they have baskets for everything. I imagine in pre-European times it would have been the same. Colonisation came along and it just stamped out the value of those products, particularly in the 1920s when DuPont came along with plastic and that was the end of fibre."

Keating's rural studio is quite a trek from downtown Whanganui, so this exhibition is a chance for city people to see her work.

The Open Studios continues this weekend, with artists reporting sales from last weekend are well up on previous years.

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