Artistic flair on show at market

A bargain Christmas present was top of mind for hundreds of people who flocked to Wānaka Wastebusters’ second annual Christmas Market on Saturday. 

General manager Gina Dempster said the festive market celebrated the makers and creatives in the community who made long-lasting presents with love.

"Wastebusters is all about the community. It is also a great way to bring people together before Christmas and have some fun and some music and some food. 

"And it is a really cool way to think about buying things for people for Christmas, buying something that has been made with love and is going to last a really long time and  something that is going to support the people who are creative in the community."

For the stall holders, the market was about showing others what they created for a hobby, she said.

Many people crowded inside to rummage through racks of second hand clothing, crockery or books, while outside others were enjoying a bite to eat and listening to live music.

Stall holder and artist Wendy Loudon, of Alexandra, was enjoying herself, even though she felt many people were "just looking".

It was a good opportunity to market her wares and raise awareness of using recyclables in art, she said.

"My overall principle of what I want to make is [to] reuse. 

"I have been doing it for over 20 years," she said.

Ms Loudon loves making signs and markers using recycled wood. She also paints shells and makes cards and other trinkets.

On Saturday, she was offering decorative wall objects made from vintage table doillies and wooden place maps, which she had dipped in paint and dried, before repeating the process two or three times. She had finished her works by dry brushing with copper paint.

Recycling as an artist was important because she was "first and foremost greatly interested in it".

"I believe in it because it shows and teaches people to reuse items that we might think [have] had it," Ms Loudon said.