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The days of visiting galleries and exhibitions are temporarily on hold. The lost opportunity to get motivation from walking through new spaces and soaking in different works is a void The Big Idea wants to help fill. 

Our ‘House Visits’ series takes you into the homes and working spaces of people in the creative world, to see what they have collected on their travels, what it means to them and what they’re using as inspiration inside their own four walls.

Maggie Gresson - Auckland

I have been Interim Director of Toi Ora Live Art Trust since January 2019, having been involved as a board member since 2011.

Toi Ora is a creative space that provides a variety of art classes to adults dealing with mental health issues as part of their lives.

It is an inspirational sort of space to work – both for the attitude of the Toi Ora artists as well as the quality of the work produced.

There is a real sense of community at Toi Ora, and we are doing our best to keep that community together through these challenging times.

The Tour Begins

This work is by Andrew Blythe, Untitled 2014 purchased from Tim Melville Gallery in 2016. It sits over my dining table, which now doubles as my home office in these COVID-19 times.

Andrew is a Toi Ora artist. What I like about this particular work is that I am always finding some new 'thing’ to see. It is never going to get boring.

Then there is the cookbook/food book collection. I have lost count but I love them all. Even the tatty, falling apart, covered in splodges ones - or maybe especially them. I am a happy person when I am dressed in my apron in the kitchen. I love food, cooking and feeding people. It is a great creative outlet.

I am not much of a baker – too much of an anarchist if the truth be told!

Then this is the wall between the Andrew Blythe work and the books. One of my favourites is by Lia Boscu (below) – a very talented artist and also my daughter in law.