If you were near the new skate park at Paraparaumu Beach late last week, you may have seen some breathtaking new artwork on the half-pipe, painted by the dexterous local artist, Ashling Aileron.
Tarn Sheerin from the Raumati Community Board says when she approached Ashling about lending a hand with some creative community artwork, she didn’t think she had painting a half-pipe in mind.
“Without missing a beat, she agreed. Thankfully, she didn’t see me do a little dance of joy on the other end of the phone,” says Ms Sheerin.
“With help from Rikki at Resene Kāpiti and Angela at Guthrie Bowron Kāpiti, we had the palette of paints we needed to paint the barreling wave. This is when the wave curls over itself, and you ride through the hollow part of the wave. As we watched kids and adults drop in from the edge of the half-pipe, it looked like they were riding the wave, just as Ashling had envisioned.”
Ms Sheerin says a teacher thanked them for doing something for the kids and told them that projects like this help her students by fostering creativity and giving them hope for future opportunities.
“Talking with a couple of adult skaters, they raved about how good the half-pipe was and hoped it would stay. They, too, loved watching the waves being painted. Near the end of the day, a young teen came by and said, ‘Hey lady, your art is cool. Thanks for doing this. I’m going to skate this later.’ This is what it’s all about, helping people feel connected and engaged as part of the community.”
Ms Sheerin says for her, watching Ashling paint was like nothing she’d seen before. “The paintbrush was part of her, natural and seamless. Looking at one part of the finished wave, I felt I could step into it and surf the barrel myself—well, if I had a board and could surf like Kelly Slater.”
She says “thank you, Ashling, for sharing your passionate creativity with the community. We all appreciate your beautiful work and hope it will inspire others to do the same.”
The half-pipe is already so popular locals want to keep on site as a permanent fixture, and each of the Wards might want to join in and start some Kāpiti-wide competitions.
See links below for more from Ashling.
www.instagram.com/ashlingaileron
