New Year
and newly refurbished Gallery!
It’s all happening at Kapiti Arts and Crafts, your local art and craft community! Click on the links for more information.
For coordinator details, please use the enquiry form on our Contact page.
Category: News
Vivid – pure – luscious – exciting Pastels
See the latest works by local pastel artists at your local gallery on the coast:
Positively Pastels Exhibition
Thursday 4 – Sunday 28 August 2022
Kapiti Gallery, 198 Matai Road, Raumati Beach
Gallery hours: 10 am -3 pm, Thursday to Sunday
Vivid – pure – luscious – exciting
“Pastels are very versatile; they can be used as both a drawing and a painting medium. By twisting and turning the pastel stick you can create several different effects – fine, precise lines; broad, sweeping strokes, and solid dense layers of colours – and these can be combined in an almost infinite number of ways.
Pastels are quick and direct, have pure vivid colours and can be mixed with a variety of other drawing and painting mediums, for example: watercolour, acrylic and oil paints, pen and ink, monotype prints, pencils and ball point pen…
Pastel is an immediate, spontaneous and luscious medium to work with. It can be used in many exciting ways and, with proper care and attention, will never discolour or darken, crack or fade.” – Pastel Artists NZ
Oil painters’ monthly challenges
Our group is having a monthly challenge to paint or draw subjects we don’t usually paint.
For February it was a self portrait. We had produced some lovely ones and had a lot of fun showing them to each other. The March subject was a bird and some found that hard but all the same did some great paintings and drawings.
See more of our artworks on our Oil Painting page.
Margaret Morris 
Fabulous Fibre: basket weaving, wool craft and fibre artwork
“Fabulous Fibre” exhibition and sale of work, with guest artist Mary Moon, will showcase the work of our spinners, weavers, knitters, fibre artists and felters. Most of the work on display will be for sale.
Mary has been an artist all her life, trained in oils and watercolour, and also has a lifelong interest in crafts. Now retired, Mary is currently focusing on Raranga (flax weaving). She did a year long course with Te Wananga o Aotearoa, learning all aspects of Māori weaving and its cultural context.
All her weaving is completed according to tikanga, from the harvesting of the harakeke to the final whiri (plait). Mary says, “I love that the items are from locally sourced materials, hand processed and biodegradable. At the end of their useful lives they return to Papatūānuku.”
Mary will be at the Gallery each Sunday of the exhibition, demonstrating the art of Raranga.
As well as spun, woven, knitted, felted and hand-crafted fibre artwork, Vivien Adams‘ prize-winning machine knitting will be on display.
Kapiti Gallery: Thursday 3rd to Sunday 27th June 2021.
Hours: 10 am to 3 pm, Thursday to Sunday.
We have a Woolcraft Winner!
Congratulations from Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Society to Vivien Adams, trophy winner in this year’s NZ Machine Knitter’s Society (NZMKS) competition.
Vivien won the Novice Cup in the 2021 competition which is part of the NZMKS festival, held this year in Stratford. The Machine Knitter’s Society includes members from Australia as well as New Zealand.
To win the cup, entrants have to enter four items: Baby, Adult, Non-garment, and competitor’s own choice. Entries are judged on presentation, fabric and seaming, finishing, design and degree of difficulty. The person who has the most points wins the trophy.
(“Novice” means the member hasn’t entered or won previous competitions, not that they’re a beginning knitter.)
You can see Vivien’s prize-winning work in Kāpiti Gallery’s “Fabulous Fibre” Exhibition in June; it will showcase the work of Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Society spinners, weavers, knitters, fibre artists and felters. Most of the work on display will be for sale.
Vivien, who is a member of Kāpiti Arts and Crafts’ Spinning, Weaving and Knitting group, is also newsletter editor for the NZ Machine Knitter’s Society, and her wonderful children’s knitwear is available through the Kāpiti Arts and Crafts Shop in Raumati Village.
As well as highlighting Vivien’s award-winning creations, the “Fabulous Fibre” exhibition will include traditional kete and other work by our guest artist, basket weaver Mary Moon from Ōtaki. Mary will be at the Gallery on Sundays during the exhibition, demonstrating basket weaving.
Fabulous Fibre exhibition and sale of work – Thursday 3rd to Sunday 27th June 2021
Kāpiti Gallery, 192 Matai Road, Raumati Beach.
Gallery opening hours: 10.00 am to 3.00 pm Thursday to Sunday
Group visits can be arranged outside these hours by contacting the gallery manager.
Evening Knitting Group starts 4 March
If you’d like to come to our Spinning, Weaving and Knitting group but can’t make it during the daytime, we’re beginning evening sessions, fortnightly from Thursday 4 March at 7.00 pm. Click here for details
We don’t hold formal classes, but our more experienced members are happy to share their knowledge—and if you know the basics, or are an experienced spinner or knitter, you can work at your own pace in friendly company. (We’ve called it a knitting group to begin with, but spinners, weavers and crocheters are welcome, too.)
Join during March 2021 and you’ll receive FREE a pair of knitting needles, an easy pattern and wool from our stash to get you started. If you’re a spinner, you can bring your own wheel, or borrow one from the group.
Once a core group forms, the time and frequency can be adjusted to suit members. Modest fee per session in 2021, or join the Society as a full member. Great location in Raumati Beach at the Kapiti Arts and Crafts Society workrooms.
1/2 year sub, exhibitions, new convener, group news
If you join the Society later in the year, the subscription from 1st August 2020 is reduced to Single – $60.00 : Double – $115.00 : Student – $45.00
An amended Groups list is posted, with a new convener for the Embroidery Group and the Portrait painting group deciding to meet once a month rather than twice. You can pick up a copy of our monthly newsletter from the shop or gallery, along with the updated groups list.
Kāpiti Gallery reopened with a successful exhibition of “Lock down work”. The current exhibition inspired a range of artworks with “Drip, Dribble and Splash” as their theme! See more on our Facebook page.
Arts & Crafts shop OPEN
We are delighted to be back and able to provide our art and craft to the local community.
We’re renowned for the quality of our members’ work – so make this your first stop for your new baby, warm woollies for you and growing children, toys – including robust wooden trucks, cars and trains – unique gift ware, one-off jewellery items, pottery and paintings.
Support local businesses.
#kiwimade
#kapitiartsandcrafts
#buylocal
We’re still here – from home
Kapiti Arts and Crafts Society Shop, workrooms and Kapiti Gallery closure
In the interests of our members and the general public, Kāpiti Gallery and our workrooms at 192 Matai Road will also be closed in the meantime, and we have decided to close our arts and crafts shop at 20 Raumati Road for at least the next 4 weeks.
As soon as we’re “open for business” again, we’ll let you know!
Many of our shop’s volunteer minders are seniors, and with other society members compromised health-wise, we do not have the numbers to keep the shop open just now. (We thank all who have worked in the past week and all have said they were happy with the precautions we put in place.
We wish our valued Shop customers and Gallery visitors good health and hope you remain in good spirits.
Keep in touch with us and each other via Facebook – share photos and updates of your art and craft projects https://www.facebook.com/kapitiartsandcrafts
UPDATE: We are closed until the government advises Level 4 restrictions are lifted
New Zealand’s four-level COVID-19 alert system specifies public health and social measures to be taken against COVID-19.
Level 4 Eliminate: Likely that disease is not contained.
- People instructed to stay at home
- Educational facilities closed
- Businesses closed except for essential services (e.g. supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics) and lifeline utilities
- Rationing of supplies and requisitioning of facilities
- Travel severely limited
- Major reprioritisation of healthcare services
UNITE AGAINST COVID-19 official website
2020 AGM
The Annual General Meeting of Kapiti Arts and Crafts Society will be held on Wednesday 26 February 2020 at 7.30 pm in the workroom
192 Matai Road, Raumati Beach
NZ Companies Office re annual general meetings
An incorporated society is required to hold at least one general meeting a year, at which the members approve the society’s annual financial statements. This meeting is usually known as the annual general meeting (AGM). In addition to approving the annual financial statement, the meeting will elect officers (for example, a secretary) and approve any necessary rule changes.
Kāpiti Arts and Crafts 
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