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John Woodham’s wife Sally loved gardening and he loved to make art for her.
Woodham combined his two passions and made sculptures for their garden at their home in Haumoana where they lived for 47 years.
Sally has since died, but Woodham continued as an artist and is exhibiting 32 of his sculptures at the Birdwoods Gallery Sculpture Garden over summer in Havelock North.
“Her enthusiasm for gardening and involvement in Birdwoods got me started on the sculptures.”
Also involved in his development were Julie and Mike Russell and the Wildflower Sculpture Exhibition at their property in Rosser Rd, which ran for many years concurrently with the Holly Hospice trail.
John Woodham loves people using their imagination when viewing his sculptures. Photo / Elizabeth Goodall
Woodham said being able to showcase his work was a big deal as it was his first solo exhibition.
“The theme is about making something out of stuff that people would usually discard.”
The 76-year-old contemporary sculptor said his sculptures ranged in size and price, with the most expensive piece priced at $25,000 and the least expensive at $3000.
“They range from five to six metres tall - big heavy stuff.”
Woodham took inspiration from his surroundings to create abstract artworks and used a range of items he collected helicopter blades, agricultural discs and even part of a fibreglass pool to make his “bits of this and bits of that” creations.
He said he didn’t go to auctions and once imported 500 discs from China. He was “always on the lookout” for materials.
“It’s stuff that I see and I grab and then I get inspired by what I have got and put them together as an art form.”
He said did not believe in representational art, rather he liked to leave his work up to the imagination.
John Woodham's moon ball with rotating blades which is for sale for $25,000. Photo / Elizabeth Goodall
He said it cost him $16,000 to make a piece known as “Moon Ball” which was for sale at the exhibition.
“Some people say that some of the stuff looks like Flash Gordon left it behind.”
Woodham was helped by a professional welder, fabricator and spray painter but did all the design work himself.
“I am inspired by what I come across and then I look at it and think what can I do with that and draw several options and decide on one.”
The John Woodham piece, "Hot Trap", selling for $15,000. Photo / Elizabeth Goodall
Woodham has also designed and built garden centre trolleys, inspired by his wife’s frustrations with them, and was fuelled by the positive response from an international judge of the NZ Garden Centre of the Year awards.
“I saw this as a way of recuperating some of my wife’s garden centre expenditure but it quickly progressed to much more than that.”
John’s sculptures, trolleys and plant display equipment can be found at johnwoodham.co.nz and his exhibition will be on show over the summer at 298 Middle Rd, Havelock North.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
