She is having an open day on Saturday .
The shed was built in the 1880s by the New Zealand Defence Dept in response to a possible Russian invasion.
It was to house the torpedo boat Taiaroa, which was to carry a torpedo, hole the enemy boat and rush away, all at maximum speed.
The Green, jutting into the harbour opposite, was the launch base.
However, by 1892, the usefulness of the boat was questioned.
The Torpedo Boat Corps was disbanded, many of the buildings were demolished and the part of the shed remaining was used by the Presbyterian Church for services and Sunday school, as well as a social centre for dances, meetings, children's groups and, with a room added on the side as a dressing room, for staging plays.
The site was sold in 1990 and the shed cut in half to make way for a house.
When Eales and her partner bought the place three years ago, the shed was derelict, infested with rats and possums, had rotten floorboards and was leaning heavily.
It's been mostly rebuilt, reusing some of the original beams, she says.
It is now an attractive studio with skylights and a deck, stacked with paintings, a collection of found natural objects - shells, driftwood, bones - on the wall, and a couple of comfortable couches for visitors.
She works part-time as an early childhood teacher, specialising in art, and paints during the rest of the week.
Her work falls into three lines - still lifes of afternoon tea in the 1950s, landscapes, and fine-pen landscape drawings that look like etchings.
They follow her interests.
Growing up in the 1950s, she loved traditional family afternoon teas with cakes, biscuits, sandwiches and tea strainers, and she collects teapots, cups and other items to include in her paintings.
She likes exploring shadows and reflections in glass and in silver teapots and other metal items.
Light is also a subject in her landscapes, which she paints from numerous photographs to catch its effect.
She then simplifies the details and paints them in with heightened colour and shape, she says.
A particular fascination is with caves and rocks, and she has recently joined the rock and mineral club, but says she collects stones for their aesthetic rather than their geological value.
She also takes photographs for her small pen drawings, which can take up to four days of fine, detailed work to complete.
Eales exhibits in the Artist's Room in Dowling St and other galleries, and her studio is open by appointment or when the board is out from Thursday to Sunday.
She says she likes to welcome visitors who are interested to look at her work.
