Of course I didn't go to Wellington just to look at the tulips.
Two weeks ago now, Andy turned Sixty.
Even on his birthday he can't help being Handy;
here is my first attempt at a birthday portrait - Andy at the kitchen sink after breakfast.
There were plenty of distractions though, as there always are in a city so doubly blessed with natural beauty and cultural extravagance.
Henry Moore's Bronze Form is a jewel in the Arts crown.
I am always enchanted by the enclave of Arts and Crafts gardeners' buildings in the Botanic Gardens;
and the little gazebo set beside water at the edge of indigenous woodland.
In the children's playground an old tree stump has been given new life
Catching up with friends in the city I finally placed an enigmatic façade;
I used to admire this Art Deco detailing from Elwin's desk on the sixth floor of DeLoitte House. I could never work out where it stood in the street scape until this recent visit. It stands on the corner of Brandon and Featherston Streets.
Another handsome building in Brandon Street is this one, with its decorative metal panels.
Metal of a different ilk featured in Stainless (by Judy Darragh), an installation at the Dowse Art Museum. The stainless steel kitchenware is just visible in Andy's reflective photo. Something about the concentric discs and Andy's stance with his pocket camera, as well as the rectangular, reflected frame brings to mind a photographer using a twin lens reflex camera.
There's some kind of resonance there with the era of popularity for that type of camera alongside a sixtieth birthday.
And what of that elusive birthday portrait?
Really this is it in my eyes.
Happy Birthday Handy Andy.
