VIEW IN QUEENSTOWN 21 AUG TO 18 SEP AT “THE MOUNTAIN REMEMBERS” EXHIBITION AT TE ATAMIRA. Along The Dart - acrylic and oils on hand-stretched canvas, 830mm x 710mm. This work grew out of a visit to Chinaman's Bluff near Glenorchy, such an incredible place within Mt Aspiring National Park. We drove in with close friends and on our walk along the Dart River this incredible view opened up in front of us, not another soul in sight in all that vast wilderness. It was a frosty day, but my overwhelming sense was one of happiness and warmth, the kind of day I'll remember for a long time. The colours here aren't literal, they're more a reflection of how the day felt, and of the immense depth of the scene in front of us. I've tried to capture the layers of mountains and the shadows that reveal them, dark mountainsides rising steeply on either side, with soft peach and rose filling the gap between them, a rich green slope cutting through the middle, and gold in the foreground standing in for the grasses and vegetation along the riverbank.
VIEW IN QUEENSTOWN 21 AUG TO 18 SEP AT “THE MOUNTAIN REMEMBERS” EXHIBITION AT TE ATAMIRA. Coronet Peak Stacked and Ghosted - acrylic and oil on hand-stretched canvas, 410mm x 830mm. My fascination with the shapes and layers of mountains just keeps growing. I view the mountains of Otago like a patchwork quilt of shapes, shadows and colours rather than as a single range or individual peaks. The colours here reflect the character of the region: mustard coloured grasses, snow covered peaks, rocks and vegetation in browns and blue greens. I have imagined and layered the dense facets of the foreground of Coronet Peak, the peak herself dark and imposing at the top of the pile. In the background the mountains of Glenorchy and Mt Aspiring National Park that lay in the wilderness beyond ghost the little Coronet.
Crown Terrace — small test panel, acrylic on paper. Inspired by the interplay of farmland, wild tussock, rocks and snow along Crown Terrace. Deep greens, warm golds and earthy browns sit underneath, with sweeping strokes of white and pale grey pushing in over the top like drifts settling across the farm and the peaks beyond. It's rugged and layered, more a feeling of that landscape than any one clean view of it.
Mountains at Chinaman’s Bluff #1 - mixed media on canvas 750mm x 660mm. Chinaman’s Bluff in Mt Aspiring National Park is at the heart of this piece, its colours reflecting the beauty and power of the landscape. It’s rugged and intense, holding onto that same sense of scale and power this place has in real life.
Glacier at Earnslaw Burn — acrylic on canvas. I spent a day at Earnslaw Burn and the place had a huge impact on me. As we flew over the glacier it totally mesmerised me. The literal colour palette of the landscape is more limited than this painting, but this work tries to capture some of the magic that is there. The glacier itself makes a strong appearance, with the blue tracing the waterfalls found everywhere in this place. The deep purples reference the schist running through the rock there, dense and almost brooding against the black, while the peach, coral and orange break through like sunlight hitting the glacier's edges. It's not a literal view of the glacier, more the intensity and emotion of standing somewhere so overwhelming.
The Softness of Spring — acrylic on canvas board. This work is about the way spring gently eases the harshness of winter, smoothing those sharp edges into something softer, and the way the light itself turns gentler too. Layer upon layer of soft peaks in muted greens, blues and dusty pink drift across the canvas, hazy and tender rather than hard-edged. The charcoal linework tracing over the top hints at winter's sharper outlines still there underneath, but everything else has settled into something calmer, bathed in that softer spring light.
Otago Mountain Layers — acrylic on board, 300mm x 300mm. Every day I discover more different shapes in the views of the mountains around Otago. The layers and shapes fascinate me, as do the colours: golds from the tussock, reds and pinks from that jaw-dropping sunset light, darks from the black lichen, whites from the winter snow. The schist itself holds shades of grey, purple, yellow oxide and burnt sienna. Big, bold planes of colour stack and overlap here, warm mustard and ochre pushing against cool white and grey, with a deep red and near-black anchoring one corner, and hints of purple threading through the rock itself. It feels less like a single view and more like all those layers of mountain, catching different light at different times, pulled together into one.
Queenstown at Dusk from Cardrona Ski Field - acrylic on board, 300mm x 300mm. My favourite view when I ski at Cardrona is from the top, above Soho Basin. In this work I imagine the view just on dusk, looking west over Queenstown out towards Glenorchy, when the sun drops behind the mountains and throws light up into the clouds. Deep browns, burgundies and rich rust reds dominate the mountainside here, with a faint white outline of the Remarkables against the darkening landscape. Behind it all, the sky sits dark and heavy, browns and near-blacks pressing in, with a hint of gold breaking through at the edges. There's a stillness to it that only comes just before the light disappears completely.
Spring in The Rees Valley — small acrylic study on unstretched canvas. Reflecting the view from our friends' cabin, where we've spent many happy days, this brings to life the snow-covered mountains, the rain melt, swelling rivers and waterfalls of spring in the Rees Valley. Dark navy and near-black push in from above, like the last of the winter storms, while golds and warm ochre push up from below, standing in for the tussock waking up for the season. Streaks of white and pale grey run right through the middle, tracing the rush of meltwater and swollen rivers, with rust and brown grounding it all like the exposed earth after the snow starts to shift. This is one of my favourite places on earth.
Tasman Glacier — small acrylic test panel on paper. This work was inspired by flying into Tasman Glacier. It emerges in front of you, powerful and gorgeous all at once. The blues, greens and greys of the landscape and the glacier itself were mesmerising. Here though, it's the heat and drama of the moment that came through, deep reds, burnt orange and near-black taking over the centre, with cooler greys, greens and soft blues pushing in around the edges. It's less a literal view of the ice and more that jolt of awe you get seeing something so massive appear out of nowhere.
Queenstown Mountain Lake - small acrylic study on unstretched canvas. I flew over Queenstown recently and saw a number of mountain lakes below. To me they felt moody and lonely, utterly beautiful, and this little study came out of that feeling. Dark, brooding mountains in deep browns and charcoal greys press right up against a strip of quiet blue water, with olive greens filling in the foreground below. It's loose and quick, more about that sense of scale and stillness from the air than any real detail, but the mood is exactly what I was after.
Arrowtown's Sleeping Child — acrylic on board, 300mm x 300mm. The view from our home in Arrowtown takes in the sleeping child, the profile of the mountains that wrap around the town, looking northwest. Locals call it that as the outline reads like the face of a child lying on its back, fast asleep. Deep blues and near-blacks make up the bulk of the range here, moody and quiet against a soft yellow sky, like the colours of a deep, undisturbed dream. A streak of red cuts across the lower slope, warm and almost glowing against all that darkness, giving the mountain a bit of weight and presence. It's a simple, still image, but there's something a little watchful about it too, like the mountain really is just resting.
work in progress
My strongest influences are otago and auckland.
LANDSCAPES have a powerful impact on me. The forms are representational and the colour palettes reflect that response.
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