Mosaic Magic New Zealand Style

Jan 20, 2026 | By Karen Chapman | Uncategorized | art,  artist,  combinations,  New Zealand,  Travel | 4 Comments
Just when you think you've seen it all….you discover the magical  Giant's House, perched high on a hill in Akaroa, so-named by a small child who declared that the imposing home must belong to a giant since it was so big. Yet the size of the home is modest compared to the imagination of its artist creator Josie Martin. Our fun-loving tour group was able to meet Josie and visit her home and garden during our recent tour to New Zealand.

The house was the first bank managers house in Akaroa, built in 1880. While the area immediately surrounding the home is flat, the remainder of the garden is terraced over many levels

Initially recognized as a painter specializing in abstract art, Josie turned to sculpture in 1993. This medium provided opportunities to infuse her colorful ideas into whimsical mosaic creations that delight and excite in equal measure.

Swimmers were bound to catch my eye! The central area was a mini paddling pool.

There were so many layers of detail in every element. The longer one looked, the more one saw

Just when you think you've seen everything, you round another corner to be surprised yet again.

This is a garden where you could write a new story for every scene. Here we have Eve tempting Adam perhaps – but he has a watermelon on his head…and yet the snake is writhing between them.

Even the water fountain was an elaborate mosaic!

Yet this garden was so much more than just an art installation. Each vignette was carefully detailed and perfectly integrated with the colors of the surrounding flowers and foliage.

Mosaic figures juggle balls giving form to an undulating wall, but notice the repetition of yellow and red in the poppies growing at the base of that wall and the yellow flowers above. Both serve to frame and enhance the scene as does the carefully clipped low hedge

The Blues….one happy face, one 'blue' face, the color repeated with flowers and mosaic details

  Many of the pieces invited interaction – and my tour guests could be heard laughing with child-like glee as they posed for photographs with the larger-than-life sculptures.

And yes our lovely Sue really is an angel 🙂 but who is that sitting next to her? Any why is a wolf peering over his shoulder?

Waiting for the chef to get lunch ready

This scene anchored the main garden and was truly outstanding. The details on the piano, the bench, the band and even the wall which featured a mosaic musical stave – incredible. And our lovely Kathy was the perfect guest to complete the scene.

  What did we learn? Not to take ourselves or our gardens too seriously! Enjoy life, embrace color and live in the moment.

One of my favorite pieces – you could almost hear this cat blowing a raspberry !

I carefully select each garden on every tour, balancing styles, sizes, concepts and even the owners personalities at times! My aim is to stretch our imagination, broaden our understanding and be open to new discoveries  and while I know this garden wasn't everyone's favorite, it was certainly one we would all remember.

Join me!

I have lots of exciting tours lined up for the future  – come and join the adventure.

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