Penny Ashton
The Hot Pink Poet

Just recently I was staring at a print by Rodney Fumpston in the Sarjeant Gallery in Wanganui - as you do. It was called Fiji Penny and was pink and purple.

I have never wanted a piece of art so badly. It had my name on it, used the colour pink AND had spidery hibiscus flowers around the edges. It spoke of Pacifica, exotica and my newly painted lounge room. I imagined it radiating above my fireplace and know that one day, when I am not counting my Penny's so closely, it actually will.

A Grey Lynn Penny with her very own Fiji Penny.

Contemporary New Zealand art? Sure. Beautiful piece of pinkiness that made me smile and caused my heart to beat a little faster? Absolutely.