From the life-size exuberance of Hannah Kidd’s Happy Camper to the contemplative lines of John Edgar’s Cube, the 2011 Spring Catalogue features a wealth of works that will help revive the spirits after a long winter. Megan Huffadine awakens the magpie collector in all of us with her cache of talismans, while John Parker’s ceramic forms remind us of the beauty to be found in the refinement of form and perfection of finish.

A multitude of landscapes are present in the work of our painters. Simon Edwards’ fiery Canterbury Plains, the angular beehives of Michael Hight’s Lake Wakatipu and the lonely remnants of nikau forest in Stanley Palmer’s Afternoon – Karamea all examine human impact on the environment. Bruce Hunt’s desolate Maerewhenua Spur evokes the bleak grandeur of the Maniototo, while in This Land Nigel Brown entreats us to remember our role as guardian/kaitiaki of the land in which we live.

Accompanying these are seascapes that range from the turbulent wilds of Peter James Smith’s The Passage of History to the glimpses of calm waters seen in After Sunset by Elizabeth Rees. Flora and fauna take centre stage in the paintings of Karl Maughan, Neal Palmer, Nicholas Dillon, Paul Martinson and Mike Petre.

A serpentine new form from Christine Cathie continues her cast glass investigation into flow and movement and Ranamok Award winner Sue Hawker is represented by one of her masterful pate de verre vessels. Rounding off the show are the Venetian-styled/Pacific-influenced Blue Lustre Waka Paddle from Luke Jacomb, Emily Siddell’s Shell Lei and precious bowls from Paul Mason in both bronze and cast glass.