The old proverb about people in glass houses not throwing stones comes to mind when you visit Lisa Walsh's new house in Waverley.
That's because the house is made of glass.
Technically, it's not a house, it's the former Waverley Scouts Hall in Chester St which Mrs Walsh and her husband, Jimi, recently purchased. Mrs Walsh - with the assistance of her husband - has decked the hall out like the interior of a house whose owners are in the process of moving in.
The difference in this house is every single item is made of glass: sofa, bed, dining table, chairs, ornaments, cups and saucers, clothes and walls.
The house of glass is a special exhibition as part of the Artists Open Studios Whanganui, and will only be open to the public until the end of Easter.
"Glass is in a lot of aspects of our lives, but I wanted to use it out of its normal context," Mrs Walsh said.
Out of its normal context it certainly is in this beautiful, slightly spooky, exhibition. While the textured glass dining table could be functional, the fibre glass bed and the blue glass shoes aren't.
Mrs Walsh, an internationally acclaimed glass artist, has been preparing the installation for the past 18 months, with more than 80 per cent of the materials being recycled.
She said opening the installation last weekend was "nerve-wracking" as she had no idea what people would think of it.
But comments left in her visitors book during the opening had set her mind at rest. People described it as "gorgeous", "surreal", "ethereal" and "like being in another world".
Mr and Mrs Walsh have their main exhibition for the Open Studios at their studio in Weraroa Rd, where they display and sell their more traditional glass works. But nothing at the house of glass is for sale.
"I wanted to create a pure experience for people. I wanted to create an exhibition where people weren't looking at the art in terms of having to part with money," Mrs Walsh said.
She admits she has no idea what will happen to the works once the exhibition is over.
