Alexandra Tylee has done a lot of cooking in her life. She still does but these days she’s in her home kitchen rather than at Pipi Pizza Cafe/Restaurant. The well-known eatery housed in a pink building in Havelock North has been owned and run by Alexandra and her husband Chris for 17 and a half years.
Alexandra spent her time at Pipi while Chris spent most of his out and about in the Pipi truck. In September last year they decided it was time for a change. “We sold the business but Chris stayed on to help the new owners for a while,” Alexandra said.
“He really wanted to do something different and he got his wish. He’s now doing logistics into sustainability.” Meanwhile, Alexandra has turned her hand to her other passion - painting - and last Friday opened an exhibition at Muse Gallery in Havelock North.
“My family has always loved painting. My aunty Marion Tylee was a New Zealand artist who studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. “After leaving school I didn’t paint for years but when I returned to Hawke’s Bay I started having lessons with Helen Kerridge who is amazing.
I haven’t stopped since. I didn’t have a lot of time while we had Pipi but now I do.” This is her third exhibition and every painting Alexandra has done has sold.
He work is still life and she works with paint acrylic on canvas. “I paint food, bowls, my favourite vases and flowers from my garden. I love it.
It’s what my aunty used to paint so I grew up surrounded by it..
