Pip Devonshire

Pip's current weaving projects favour raranga and whatu although she is looking forward to picking up kowhaiwhai making again in the future.

Pip (tribal affiliation: Ngati Raukawa) has been weaving for almost 20 years. She initially learned to make kete whiri (woven baskets) but then went on to learn taniko (a decorative weaving technique) and whatu (finger weaving).

In 1994 she began working at Taumata o te Ra Marae (meeting house) on tukutuku (woven decorative panels) followed by working on the kowhaiwhai panels (scroll painting on rafters) for Manomano, her wharetupuna (ancestral house) in the Rangitikei area, lower North Island of New Zealand.

She went on to learn other weaving techniques while studying at Te Wananga o Raukawa (a Maori tertiary institution) in Otaki, graduating with a Bachelor of Design and Art in 2000. She now teaches at Te Wananga o Raukawa as a tutor for the Diploma of Design and Art department.

Pip's current weaving projects favour raranga and whatu although she is looking forward to picking up kowhaiwhai making again in the future.

"The person who influences my work the most would have to be Nanny Rangimahora. I never saw her weaving, but as children we always knew that we had a Nanny who wove. I found out later that she wove prolifically and taught as often as she could."

Pip Devonshire is a licensed user of toi iho™ - a registered trade mark used to promote and sell authentic, quality Maori arts and crafts.

Links

Pip is an exhibiting artist in 'Toi Maori: The Eternal Thread' exhibition at the Burke Museum in Seattle, Washington, USA.
Pip's work was featured as part of the Poi Exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa in 2005.