Native Creative

Right then, here we go. I'm Aly Bennett (a sixth generation NZ European with Scottish ancestry - note the red hair... okay, it's dyed alright!) and I live with my Dutch husband Harm and our two children - Tomas (4) and Liddy (2) as well as our English Pointer dawg - Koko. (Actually we're not officially married but a wedding is in the pipeline at some stage!). 

We live in beautiful Lake Okareka in the Rotorua Lakes district and are lucky to have a gorgeous view of the lake with the majestic Mt Tarawera standing sentinal in the background. The morning sun sparks the mountain to life and when the sun is setting in the west it morphs from orange to pink to a dusky lavender. The birdsong in the mornings - particularly from the Tuis - is a wonderful announcement of each new day.

Harm and I both work from a studio at home so can share a pot of tea, bounce ideas off each other and sing along (badly) to 80's music. Harm is an Interior Architect and Cabinetmaker and in typical Dutch fashion can put his hand to anything with finesse. He never ceases to amaze me with his skillful abilities in fixing and creating.

Check out the beautiful paper storage unit he tailor-made for me which means I can store all my various papers within their colour ranges:

We drive a 1988 Landrover Defender which is our only motor vehicle and Harm proudly rides his pushbike into town (25km return up a BIG hill) when he needs to commute. 

I've just finished fine-tuning this website and will be (fingers crossed!) uploading it to a live server tomorrow just in time for my One Night Hang exhibition on Friday night. I'll post photos of the event in my next blog.

Righto, I'd best get to bed so I'm not too bleary-eyed tomorrow when we take the children to see (and pat!) the lion cub at Paradise Valley Springs.

aly