By VANESSA BIDOIS
A colourful mural destined for a Tuwharetoa marae sits halffinished in the home studio of Turangi artist Te Maari Gardiner.
Recuperating from eye surgery, the graphic designer and illustrator of more than 60 books is surprisingly upbeat about her career's uncertain future.
The mother of four needed the cataract operation to get her driver's licence and is unsure whether the mural will be completed.
"I've found it very freaky because I mightn't be able to work again. I've got to wait until my eyes settle down and I get glasses fitted," she explains.
Born in Tauranga and raised on the south-west shores of Lake Taupo, Gardiner studied graphic design in Christchurch in the early 1970s.
A tutor encouraged her to specialise in children's books, and on her way home for a holiday, she called into the school publications unit in Wellington.
"A senior art editor gave me a couple of poems," she recalls. "I've been illustrating ever since."
Gardiner is dedicated to the production of quality Maori-language resources for children.
One of her most recent works, Te Wao Nui a Tane, is a multi-media book and compact disc for children which combines her intricate illustrations with waiata by acclaimed composer and performer Hirini Melbourne.
The publication, which won the New Zealand Post Children's Book Award for non-fiction, incorporates purples, yellows, light greens and oranges in a distinctive Maori style.
According to Gardiner, the win shows that the mainstream literary world has come of age.
"My younger kids went through kohanga reo and kura kaupapa Maori so it's been about producing enough resources for the new generation of Maori readers.
"It's my preference and there are a lot of other illustrators who pick up on the other stories."
Gardiner continues to be involved in Maori art development at a national level and is a key supporter of the cultural aspirations of her hapu (sub-tribe) in Tuwharetoa.
A nine-year stint on Te Waka Toi, the Maori arts board of Creative New Zealand, gave her a broad overview of the national scene including the practice of ta moko, or traditional Maori tattoo.
She says she has always known that she would one day carry the facial moko, and an arts hui late last year gave her the opportunity to make the lifelong wish come true.
Tattooist Rangi Skipper performed the procedure and the design draws on her whakapapa, or genealogy, as well as her work as an artist.
She remembers sitting at her grandmother's feet when she was a young child, in awe of the old lady's moko.
"Ta moko - on a very personal level - is about connecting to all the kuia that have gone before me. My Ngai Te Rangi grandmother was the last one in my living memory to carry one and also the kuia that I was named after, Te Maari, on my Tuwharetoa side.
"It was about making that personal connection with those two women in particular but with all the other women who have worn one."
Gardiner says the quality of Maori writing is moving from strength to strength but she laments the shortage of Maori illustrators.
She has been forced to turn down several job offers while her eyes recover but she hopes to work on her own writing - "I particularly like retelling the old stories" - and is also studying yoga and reflexology.
"Art has been my bread and butter - it's been something that I've supported a family with, but just in case that side of it isn't able to continue, I have been looking at alternatives."
Surgery jeopardises illustrator's career
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.