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When Pauline Toye knew she and husband, Dallas, were going to retire to their holiday house in Mangawhai, she knew she would have to find something to keep her busy. Having raised 6 (!! ) children in Manurewa, surrounded by friends, active in tennis and with the theatre and shops nearby, she needed to prepare for this change in lifestyle. A hobby was required.
She enrolled in art classes at the Nathan Homestead at Hill Park. This involved two-hour lessons once a week for a year.
The move was made. That was 20 years and 140 paintings ago.
Her ironing board is now in constant use; it seems even ironing boards can have a change of lifestyle with retirement. Pauline finds the adjustable
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height perfect as a painting table and this is where she sits painting 1-2 days a week in her garage.
She was taught to paint from photographs and enjoys painting landscapes using oils but has also had some excellent results with watercolours.
Occasionally Pauline will paint a scene outdoors. She finds this exhilarating, absorbing the ambience and becoming more emotionally involved in her work. “Photos don’t do justice to waves on the beach,” she says, “you really have to be there studying them” Pauline has painted many beach scenes of Mangawhai with a number of commissions of Head Rock.
Pauline is a friendly, community-minded woman with an exuberance that belies her age.
She is a member of the Mangawhai Golf Club, works at the Information Centre once every 10 days and is also a Caring Caller.
She likes to share her knowledge and encourages others to paint. “Follow simple rules.” she says,
“Don’t have the focal point right in the middle of the painting; the horizon should never be exactly at the halfway point; and the painting needs something to lead the eye like a path or trail.”
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Pauline has sold or given away almost all of her paintings but admits that she doesn’t like to part with them immediately. She takes photos of each one and lists them by name in her notebook but had no idea how many she had painted until I made her count them.
Pauline and Dallas’ son, Gerar, painted the iconic “Save the whales” mural on the public toilets at the Heads Beach. This, although now gone, is part of our Mangawhai history.
At this time, Pauline and a group of local painters had fun painting local beach scenes on the inside walls of the toilets. She said there was so much laughter emanating from the toilets as they worked that some of the patrons were scared off entering! Members of that group are sadly no longer with us but others have joined and this art group, now named the Originals, and they paint at the Senior Citizen’s Hall each Monday.
Pauline is a valued member of our Mangawhai Artists Association and she opens her garage (complete with ironing board) to exhibit at each Art Trail.
As this goes to print it is Pauline’s 82nd birthday. Happy Birthday Pauline! You are amazing! Keep it up!
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