FRESH INK

A hallway gets 'tattooed' with some punchy blue paint

- Text Caroline Moratti

If you're in two minds about getting a tattoo, why not paint one on your walls? That's what Janeen Page did in her 1950s former state house in New Plymouth. Her hallway is now adorned with mermaids, marine creatures and other fantastical images, which look as if they're plucked from the pages of a book or a sailor's arm.

Over Christmas, Janeen decided to lighten up the "dark and dreary" space with Resene SpaceCote in Resene Half Wheatfield. "I loved the clean warm tones and, once painted it reminded me so much of porcelain ceramics," she says.

As a potter, Janeen has always admired the work of Australian ceramist Gerry Wedd, who infuses traditional blue and white pottery with modern conversations. These influences helped inspire her playful and eccentric imagery choices, plucked from old science books that Janeen has collected for many years, alongside "tattoos I never braved".