'There is beauty in unloved things.”

That's what Katikati resident Phil Hannagan wants people to take away from his first exhibition ‘Unexpected Journeys' – which is aptly named.

'You can find it, you can make it – and anyone can achieve it,” says Phil, who admits he's always been a 'doodler”, but only got 'bitten by the art bug” in the last two years.

A pewter dung beetle rolling ‘dung' – a ball of recycled computer circuitboards – catches the eye first at the exhibition at The Carlton Art Gallery inside The Arts Junction.

But there's more to ogle – Phil dabbles in different materials and mediums to bring life back to old, unwanted or unused items, including those that never had much of a life to start with.

There are pewter insects, birds and fish; a bonsai tree crafted from copper wiring; plywood repurposed into a coffee table with sofa legs from a junk shop, a gas bottle ground into a Halloween-style pumpkin. Phil intends to add a light to make it a Jack-o'-lantern.

Irregular diversion

He believes the life of materials and consumer goods is often very predictable.

'They're used for their designated purpose and when they are no longer of use, they're discarded.”

He uses unloved things and materials to create new. The journey of the item takes an unexpected and irregular diversion from its usual fate. Each piece is thoughtfully created, painted, carved, sculpted, or even twisted into a unique artwork.

My favourite is his pewter short-finned Mako, a roughly-shaped piece of reclaimed pewter, slowly ground down, filed back and shaped into the meticulous details of the fish.

'I kept coming across pewter in op shops...you know Margaret Davies won second place in a bowling competition in 1963 and was presented with a pewter tankard," says Phil. "At some point she's moved on and the tankard has gone to the op shop – it probably never got used as a drinking vessel. It sat on the shelf gathering dust for however many years...

'That's the raw material for the pewter artwork I create.”

It's giving it a new life.

'It really is a new life because I completely melt it down and begin from scratch,” says Phil.

Margaret would be thrilled.

Enhance

My seven-year-old daughter likes an old oil painting of a river and mountain scene – which Phil has added a castle atop, a dragon to the sky and a tiny cheeky owl hidden in a tree with eyes wide open.

'It's something I've come across in ops shops, auctions etc – either people who've done their own paintings, or bought one, have moved on and their family are no longer particularly enamoured with the artwork," says Phil.

"I've found these quite fun to ‘enhance'; add characters, details that weren't there but which are also a little unexpected and not traditional.”

Phil Hannagan with one of his pieces rebirthed from unwanted items and materials. Photo: John Borren.

We leave the rest of Phil's eclectic offering a surprise to viewers. ‘Unexpected Journeys' is at the Carlton Gallery inside the Arts Junction, 36 Main Rd, Katikati, 9am-4pm weekdays and 10am-2pm weekends until February 26.

Check out Phil's work on Instagram @phd_artistry