Abstract Signs

04/09/2026

Sometimes, for no other reason then " because we can" we make something to display in our own Garden Art Gallery, not just to WOW our visitors but for our own pleasure too. Today I got my sister Debbie down to cut the ribbon & unveil with me Abstract Signs latest project. Our Dad who past away 2 years ago was an Engine Driver with NZ Railways, so what better way to keep him in our hearts & make us smile every time we are in my Garden Art Gallery. And Ross is mostly in 1 piece after fracturing a finger while trying to move it without me...men!

17/08/2026

What am I up to in my backyard now!!!
Ever wondered what I do on my Mondays that I'm closed? Do you think I sit down, my feet up with a hot chocolate & biscuits 😋 I wish. The project I was working on today put up a bit of a fight, but I won in the end. If you want to see why I needed my scaffolding up you'll have to vist my Garden Art Gallery. Open 9am to 5pm Tuesday to Friday.

09/07/2026

I had fun making my display for the Stratford Business Association Matariki Window Display competition. I used chalk pens to draw my mountain, aura of lights, moon with stars & star trails on the window. I used a small xmas tree for the bush at the base of the mountain. Star tinsel around my image & blue tinsel for the evening skyline. Stars with silver tinsel tied to them to flap in the wind hung from the rafters. Tiny lanterns & blue star curtain lights glowed from behind my signwritten Matariki Let your light shine stickers. I sat my big shooting star cut out on the decking as this wind made it a bit dangerous for my customers if I hung it off the rafters. Hope you enjoy my display photos

29/06/2026

I'm really starting to think that maybe my kind of gardening is not normal gardening!!! When I have to keep up sizing the tools I use & need protection gear to use some of them, it does make me wonder 🤔 am I normal 🙃🤣🤣🤣 or maybe I'm just wonderfully creatively werid.
But I'm making some quirky display areas for our Corten Steel Art & Photo Art which is permanently on display & will be new for the Taranaki Fringe Garden Festival visitors later this year.

25/06/2026

Abstract Signs is a finalists for "Best Presented Business Retail" for the Stratford Business Association 2026 Romeo Awards. We are definitely the most quirky and different 🤪

[Best Presented Business - Retail]

We had over 500 nominations for the Romeo Awards this year.
Congratulations to our finalists!

Lets celebrate our local businesses and people at the Romeo Awards Evening on Saturday 8th August. Tables are selling out fast,
More information and book a table on our website here https://stratfordbusinessassociation.co.nz/romeo-awards-saturday-8th-august-2026/

18/06/2026

Had 20 visitors arrive in 2 mini vans from Tainui Village New Plymouth today, they were booked in for a Garden Art Gallery & workshop tour. Lucky the sun was out on this winter day. They were amazed at the variety of creative work here for sale.

02/06/2026

Bit windy on Sunday, luckily a couple of extra little feet arrived to vist so I made then carry the polythene & stand on each corner to hold it down while I started my next Garden Art Gallery display setup. Also got the pegs made to hold my other display in place & the rain can't stop Carter & I, so I held the umbrella while Carter banged the pegs into the ground.

30/05/2026

Today my Grandson Carter helped me make a new paddock for some of my corten steel animals. Now I just need to cut out a corten steel gate to stop the animals escaping. We reused old fence battens from a friends farm, mini posts for rolling pallets onto building sites & thin steel strip offcuts from us cutting garden edge boarders. All theses things would have otherwise ended up in landfill but are now a quirky display in my Garden Art Gallery.

26/05/2026

After being away for a few weeks on a cruise it is now back to work & a bit of catch up in preparation of extending my Garden Art Gallery display. Was getting a bit dark tonight to put together the new Corten garden edging area to put new work in & make mowing the big lawn area easier. Amazing how modern phone cameras can take photos in the dark & make it look like early evening with light still in the sky.

17/04/2026

When a big bus unexpectedly arrives at my place today, because they had finished there trip to Whangamomona early & someone on the bus says I know where we should visit. I'm happy to be available to help fill in their day & show off my Garden Art Gallery & workshop. This group was from Oakura Probus, a couple on the bus remembered Probus visiting here about 10 years ago, wow my place has changed alot since then.