Bella Paenga
Tikitiki

Bella is all wrapped up in hats at the moment – weaving them, that is. You definitely want a good hat when you spend a lot of time in the garden. And spend time in the garden she does…though not as much as she used to, now that weaving has become such an all consuming part of her life..

Bella moved home to the coast a few years back to be with her whanau. Getting into gardening makes a lot of sense on the coast when kai is so expensive from the local shops, and it’s a two hour drive to Gisborne.

It was actually Bella’s passion for gardening that led her to weaving. It began with small woven raurau. Seedlings were placed in the raurau, and the raurau then placed in the soil, and left there to slowly disintegrate back into the earth as the seedlings took root.

After a while though Bella became less happy about filling her craft with dirt, and so she moved on to hats…and then kete…and before she knew it she was spending more and more time weaving and less on gardening.

Bella currently sells her works at the monthly markets at Tikitiki, on the main street between the RSA and the garage.

She can also be contacted on (06) 864 3858 or bellapaenga@gmail.com for orders.

Tikitiki Markets take place on the last Saturday of every month – Arts and crafts, trash and treasure and plants.