He Ta¯ ngata: Shona McLean
Elisabeth Easter talks to Shona McLean of Laughing Fish Studio, Nelson
Iwas brought up on a farm in the King Country and holidays were either at Kawhia, Marokopa or Mt Maunganui. We’d be loaded into the car and taken for these magical trips to the beach. I still remember sitting on the wharf at Mt Maunganui aged about 7. I had a Topsy, something I’d never seen before and I was absolutely in love with the business of being by the sea.
My OE took me to Europe but living and working in London, I felt quite claustrophobic — so one day I hitchhiked to Scotland, to Oban on the coast. I went to the local employment office and was told there was a waitressing job on the Isle of Mull. When I got off the boat, the woman who picked me up asked about my surname. She told me that Duart Castle was the McLeans’ family seat. My dad died when I was 10 so I didn’t know much about our family history but, by following my nose, somehow I ended up on my family’s island, where Dad’s clan had their seat. I had a wonderful time, but it was also tough and cold with lots of alcoholics and fishermen on the island, so, after about five months when winter came near, I thought it was time to go. I’ve always been a restless soul.
Over the years I’ve been a painter, an illustrator and a ceramicist and in 2000
I said to Martin, my husband, let’s go for a drive in the country. We went to Mapua Wharf, parked the car and walked along the beach. It was like dying and going to heaven, it was such a glorious day. As we were leaving we saw a funny old macrocarpa hedge with a wee sign tucked among the long grass which said “For Sale”. So we bought it and built a painting and pottery studio and it was lovely. But about 18 months ago, I was getting bored of ceramics and I wanted time and energy to do other things, so we converted the studio into accommodation. This is our second season, and it’s working out really well. It’s quite seasonal, and we really enjoy people and they enjoy our quirky, colourful place.
One day, one of my golfing friends arrived with a bike, and as soon as I got on, I was hooked. I hadn’t ridden one since I was 12, and I loved the independence, being out in the air, going to wonderful places. We formed The Laughing Ladies Biking Group — anybody can join — and most Fridays we ride for about 40km and have lunch. Because we’re right on The Great Taste Trail, Richmond’s our usual starting point and we either ride to Tasman, Motueka or Kaiteriteri. Sometimes we do longer rides like the Otago Rail Trail, or the West Coast Wilderness Trail. We’ve done Alps2Ocean as far as Omarama and this year we went to Europe. We decided on a nine-day trip biking along the Canal du Midi, one of the greatest pieces of construction of the 17th century. We met at Toulouse and went as far as Avignon and it was just superb. The cycling was hard work because the towpath isn’t in very good order, but it was terrific and we all got on very well.
I had five weeks on my own in France and that was heavenly. On my first day in Paris, a Sunday, I walked across the city to Notre Dame for the 11am service, a Gregorian chant conducted entirely in Latin and it was heavenly. Each day was different and wonderful, and really quite simple. Lyon was glorious. I walked for miles with my eyes out on stalks. It was like a scaled-down version of Paris, elegant and beautiful. On my last day in Lyon, I walked to the basilica that overlooks the city. I was in tears when I went inside thanks to the sheer beauty; the stained glass, the painted ceilings and walls.
I find train stations fascinating and I like to go early so I have time to work out what platform I want. I was having a cup of coffee in Gare de Nord, sitting near a young woman with her bag wildly open. I saw this guy casually perch himself close enough to see what was in it. I knew he was preparing to grab it and I thought “nah”. So I raced over and he was off as soon as he saw he’d been rumbled. Because I’m older, if I don’t have time to work out where I’m going or what I’m doing I get quite flustered and I don’t like that so I always leave plenty of time to get to bus or train stations because travelling is for pleasure, not to frighten yourself silly. But don’t be afraid to travel alone, that’s what I’ve learnt.