When the world went into lockdown two years ago, it seemed as if we were looking at life through a looking glass.

But a creative Stanmore Bay man turned his looking glass into a refined piece of art and anchored it to a wall at home!

Chris Tarpey (34), a visual journalist for a major airline in New Zealand, spent the majority of the lockdowns collecting pieces of driftwood from Stanmore Bay beach. 

He turned these simple pieces into a polished masterpiece - a large mirror, that’s framed with driftwood. “I’ve always wanted to have a view of the beach from my bedroom and now I do,” he said.

It’s a 10-minute walk from Chris’s house to Stanmore Bay, and every time he went to the beach, he’d collect a bundle of driftwood. “I can only carry so much at once and then have to walk back home,” he said. “It took me about six months to collect all the wood then I stored it in my garage. It accumulated into quite a large pile.”

A while ago, Chris built a fence outside out of driftwood and wanted to bring the beach scene indoors. He wanted to the big mirror in his house so he let the creative juices flow.

To clean the driftwood, he piled some pieces into his empty recycling bin. He poured water and bleach into it and left them soaking for a few days. He then poured the water out and let the wood dry completely. Chris continued the process until the bundle was thoroughly cleaned and completely dried. 

Once all the wood was dry, Chris measured them against the frame and cut them to size. He spent many hours in his garage painstakingly gluing all the wood to the frame. The final touches were done when he was at home isolating with Covid. He laughs and says, “the project definitely has a Covid theme.”

He is thrilled with the finished product and proudly shows it off at his home.