Taniwha triumphs in new field

Rosemary Roberts | 18th August 2006

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Whangarei's Tim Baker with embroidered Taniwha. Picture/Michael Cunningham

Where rugby and embroidery meet: Whangarei's Tim Baker, above, has just bagged the equivalent of the Air New Zealand Cup in an international embroidery competition.Michael Cunningham

An unusual alternative to the muddy, bruising business of contesting the Air New Zealand Cup has emerged for the Northland Rugby Union - embroidery.

A new world, free of filthy shorts, cauliflower ears, squashed noses and groin strain, is there for the taking, but is the NRU secure enough in its masculinity to take Northern men in a new direction?

This exciting possibility emerged after an embroidered version of the NRU's Taniwha mascot by Whangarei manufacturer Tim Baker won the silver medal in a worldwide competition. The event, run by United States magazine Stitches, attracts hundreds of entries from top commercial embroiderers around the world.

Mr Baker, a past gold and bronze-medal winner, says he knew the Taniwha image was a potential winner from the moment he first spotted it in The Northern Advocate this year. The NRU had commissioned the drawing from Whangarei graphic artist Bevan Fidler. With the NRU never having expressed interest in running Taniwha embroidery classes and with written permission to use the image, Tim felt free to proceed.

It took "hours and hours of trial and error", three solid days on a computer and 120,000 stitches in nine colours to achieve the effect he was looking for. He worked hard to achieve texture in the taniwha's scales and thinks that was one of the features "that clinched it".

Having now won first, second and third places in the competition, Tim has set himself the challenge of winning two places next year.

One work is already completed - a colourful design for the Waipu Caledonian Society. The other is a complex and lively piece for Noumea's maritime museum.

Tim, an accountant in another life, owned and operated Whangarei Drycleaners with his brother Mike for 12 years before starting Stitches Embroidery about 16 years ago. Now, "hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machinery and several moves later" Tim employs six at his Clyde St base, and has clients around the North Island and offshore. However, despite his productive relationship with the Taniwha, he's unlikely to be seen cheering the Northland team - he doesn't follow rugby. On Sunday, Northland - and the Taniwha - take on Counties Manukau at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium.