Chance to collaborate and craft

CARING AND CRAFTING: Patsy Matete loves spending Tuesday mornings at Gisborne Care and Craft Centre. She is working on her second rug-hooked mat. Her first can be seen in the background. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

Arts and crafts arose in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and its mass-produced and banal decorative arts.

But modern-day practitioners such as Patsy Matete know of the therapeutic value and the camaraderie of arts and crafts.

Mrs Matete is an enthusiastic member of Gisborne Care and Craft Centre where, over the past three years, she has made a rug using the traditional method of rugcrafting or rug hooking.

That is despite having a disabled hand.

Every Tuesday for the past two years, Mrs Matete has diligently worked on her rug.

“I love it,” she said

“It keeps my hand working.”

She also enjoys meeting up with her art and craft friends each week.

Gisborne Care and Craft Centre supervisor Dot McCulloch described Mrs Matete as an inspiration.

“She keeps at it, every Tuesday.”

The Gisborne Care and Craft Centre is a volunteer group for disabled and unwell adults. The group meets every Tuesday morning in St Andrew's Church Hall for a variety of crafts, most of which are for sale.

Mrs Matete is now working on her second rug. Her first is for sale to support Gisborne Care and Craft Centre.