The Blackmore & Best Gallery is one of Shelly Bay’s more modern buildings, having been built in the mid-1980s as an officers’ mess hall. Now an art studio and gallery combined, the large, open-plan waterfront space features west-facing windows that beckon in the sun and the sound of the sea.

Co-owner Juliet Best is inspired each day by Wellington’s coastal moods, which are reflected in her designs on tapa cloth, as well as her gold-leaf and bold horizons on canvas or wood panel shapes. Apart from working several days a week at Blackmore & Best, which she co-owns with fellow artist Jane Blackmore, Best has also been appointed the inaugural artist-in-residence for Wellington's Life Flight Trust for 2018/19.