by Geoffrey Churchman

One of the 65 exhibitors at Saturday’s Artisan market in the Memorial Hall was Ash Schuster selling prints of his animé inspired art.

I was particularly taken by his Conehead pictures and got one for our house. He actually received a commission from the RTL road traffic management company for a display piece on the strength of them, shown at right.

Naturally, he is well aware of the frustration that the massive number of these road adornments cause for motorists, and the slowness with which they are removed. I told him about the major inconvenience that the NZTA caused for Waikanae people on the Main Road in the last couple of years, particularly with the Old SH1 bridge and the added cycle lane early this year.

Ash was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1986 and came out to NZ in 1997. He has not been back to his home country but would like to make a trip there with his wife. He now works as an electrician, however, art is a major hobby which he took up during Lockdown and now supplements household income.

His Instagram page with many more examples is here