Art at the Dentist

My sweet tooth adores fudge and Wednesday afternoon, for the first time in ages, I bought some maple and walnut fudge. We went home and had a cup of tea, along with a toffee pop biscuit. Crunch.. what is the hard bit? Oh no, part of a tooth on my upper-right had completely broken off – I could feel a big hole where it had come from.

My dentist is 2 hours drive away in Dunedin. Via facebook, after the office had closed, I found they had no spare appointments on Thursday. Next morning I phoned and was relieved to get a Friday afternoon appointment due to cancellation – that’s where I’ve been today. Bridget did a fine job of (a) local anaesthetic that worked (b) constructing a strong repair using modern materials (c) keeping me calm

As I put this post together Friday evening I’ve finally been able to start on the delicious maple and walnut fudge!

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Villa in Musselburgh, Dunedin that houses Dentistry on Musselburgh

Nigel and I arrived a bit early and enjoyed some refreshments at the local cafe/restaurant/bar named Brew. Then I walked to the dentist’s reception room inside the villa and waited for my appointment.

My attention was taken by an artwork on the wall and as I looked at it, I recognised the artist’s name, Marilynn Webb ONZM. Checking my blog tonight I find I’ve already blogged about the same artist, here in  Mining Crumble.

Marilynn Webb is now in her early eighties and I’ve just found from Wikipedia that she is a Maori artist, the direct descendant of Moe Ngaherehere, the 47th signatory of the Treaty of Waitangi.

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“Lake Mahinerangi – being very pink” (from the land, water and sky suite)
Marilynn Webb  |  Dunedin  |  86

Taking photos was difficult due to reflections but here’s two views.
Click on either of these to see large-size view.

Otago is endlessly fascinating and Lake Mahinerangi is no exception, it’s in the remote back country west of Dunedin. Beneath the waters of the lake lie the remnants of the historic gold mining town of Waipori. Dunedin needed more electricity and in March 1924 the people of Waipori officially said goodbye to their town on Settlement Day. Lake Mahinerangi is the storage lake of a large dam and the water covers the old township. You can read about it in  What lies beneath  an article with photos from the Otago Daily Times.

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The other intriguing thing was a poem posted alongside the artwork. The poet is a client of the dental practise and had been inspired to go and see the location represented in the artwork but made a wrong turn and ended up at Waipori Falls – a separate locality.

Lake Mahinerangi – a poem by Dr Robert Fisk

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FURTHER READING

See more artworks by Marilynn Webb including Fiordland (2018), Central Otago and more of Lake Mahinerangi at:  Marilynn Webb : Gallery de Novo

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Text and photos by Liz; Exploring Colour (2019)