Shirley Grace Puts Out the Washing

There's actually quite a skill in hanging out washing, and I say that in all seriousness.

– Shirley Grace

Done till tomorrow.

– Shirley hangs the last of the washing

You're gonna be in for a treat today, folks.

– Shirley gets to work on the socks

I'd bought myself a VHS camera for Christmas in 1981. VHS tapes were too low-quality for the networks, but I was rarely without my Panasonic camera ... I could use my VHS camera as a kind of sketch block — trying out ideas, making home movies and recording oral histories...

– Gaylene Preston, in her 2022 autobiography Gaylene's Take - Her Life in New Zealand Film, page 210

I'd love her to be still around now to challenge me as I write this ... She was a courageous, provocative thinker. She sits at my side occasionally. I'd like to jump in a car with her and go off on a Thelma and Louise jaunt.

– Gaylene Preston on Shirley Grace, in her 2022 autobiography Gaylene's Take - Her Life in New Zealand Film, page 118

I didn't have the time, the gear or the inclination to spend long days editing my VHS footage, so I devised a way to shoot that edited in the camera. It was intuitive and not always successful. But without realising it, I was giving myself a homemade film course, the only course I've ever had. It has stood me in good stead.

– Gaylene Preston, in her 2022 autobiography Gaylene's Take - Her Life in New Zealand Film, page 210