bodner051

I wrote yesterday about the wonderful tamarillos of Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson. But you can't talk about glass tamarillos and not refer to the work of Fran Anderton, who has made tamarillos very much her own fruit.  I have admired them for quite a while, and was very pleased to be able to acquire one from the Whanganui Glass Festival exhibition in October last year.   Fran was born in England (and nothing wrong with that, I say assertively) and moved to New Zealand as a schoolgirl.  She trained in glass design and production at UCOL Whanganui, graduating with a Diploma in 2003. She has a strong interest in the natural envi ronment, which she attributes in part to having a plant propagator for a mother and a florist for a sister, though Fran says she is also influenced by the uniqueness of New Zealand's beautiful native bush, beaches and scenery . Avocadoes, citrus and olives have all provided inspiration for her bottles and bowls, but in my view it is her tamarillo bottle...

In spite of the severe drought we are experiencing in Northland presently, a tree in my garden has sprouted two very fine tamarillos (aka tree tomatoes). Which i s a bit surprising, since it isn't a tamarillo tree. In fact, these tamarillos are cast glass, with stainless steel foliage and twigs. They are a collaboration between Auckland glass caster Lou Pendergrast-Mathieson and stainless steel fabricator Phillip Moodie.  I saw a 'crop' of these in another non-tamarillo tree in the exhibition Re:Fraction 2012: the Outdoor Glass E xhibition at the Sculpture Park, Waitakaruru last spring. I was struck by their simple beauty, and knew at once I could fin d a host tree in my own garden. What I was less clear about (indeed, really puzzled about) was the title that Lou had given these: 'A Tribute to Esther James'. Who was Esther James? 1950s Hollywood star? 1920s Paris dancer? Both seemed vaguely possible, though why tamarillos would be a tribute was quite mysterious. R...