Hundreds, if not thousands, of artworks have gone up in flames at a Takaka artist's house.
The fire began yesterday afternoon, at Chris' home in Takaka. Photo: Supplied
Notable mural artist Chris Finlayson and his wife Nicola are now counting the cost of yesterday afternoon's fire.
Grant Knowles manages the Arts Bank in Takaka and is a friend of Mr Finlayson's.
Listen to Grant Knowles
He said there would have been a lot of the work in the house.
"Chris is very prolific - he's been painting since a child, so whatever he had, I would say he would have had a lot," Mr Knowles said.
"Occasionally I had him in for an exhibition. He'd turn up with 40 or 50 artworks, and I knew that was just a small touch."
Mr Finlayson had done a number of public artworks and murals in the area.