'There is beauty in unloved things.” That's what Katikati resident Phil Hannagan wants people to take away from his first exhibition ‘Unexpected Journeys' – which is aptly named.

'You can find it, you can make it – and anyone can achieve it,” says Phil, who admits he's always been a 'doodler”, but only got 'bitten by the art bug” in the last two years.

A pewter dung beetle rolling ‘dung' – a ball of recycled computer circuitboards – catches the eye first at the exhibition at The Carlton Art Gallery inside The Arts Junction.

But there's more to ogle – Phil dabbles in different materials and mediums to bring life back to old, unwanted or unused items, including those that never had much of a life to start with.

There are pewter insects, birds and fish; a bonsai tree crafted from copper wiring; plywood repurposed into a coffee table with sofa legs from a junk shop, a gas bottle ground into a Halloween-style pumpkin.

He believes the life of materials and consumer goods is often very predictable. 'They're used for their designated purpose and when they are no longer of use, they're discarded.”

He uses unloved things and materials to create new. The journey of the item takes an unexpected and irregular diversion from its usual fate. Each piece is thoughtfully created, painted, carved, sculpted, or even twisted into a unique artwork.

My favourite is a pewter short-finned Mako, a roughly-shaped piece of reclaimed pewter, slowly ground down, filed back and shaped into the meticulous details of the fish.

We leave the rest of Phil's eclectic offering a surprise. ‘Unexpected Journeys' is at the Arts Junction, 36 Main Rd, Katikati, 9am-4pm weekdays and 10am-2pm weekends to February 26.