A Trip Through the Middle

Family life, as I have averred on this blog before, is a hefty factor for many if not all artists. Our son had finished for the year his studies at University of Canterbury in engineering. And because of all the stuff he had amassed, he needed us to come retrieve him and said stuff.

Oooh, there goes another painting day...but wait!!! If we take the inside route through the middle of the country, we'll get some rather spectacular scenery perhaps!!! Well, we did it. We left early last Saturday...well early for us 7 a.m. rather than our intended 5 a.m. with the intent to catch sunrise in the fabled McKenzie Country. And 18 hours later, we arrived back in Invercargill with young man, his stuff and some photos in hand.

Most people associate New Zealand with lush green hills, bush and spectacular beaches. In my opinion, this country has nearly every clime that there is back home in the States. A lot of it, though, takes place in the middle of the two islands. In the South Island, there is Central Otago, and the McKenzie Country. Both known for their vast starkness and rich earthy colours and mountains. Lots of them. On this particular trip, we went up through Gore, then over Moa Flats, descended into Ettrick, Roxburgh, Cromwell, Pukaki, and Tekapo. These towns play a part in New Zealand's hydroelectric scheme. The area surrounding the mighty Clutha River and her tributaries as well as these lakes are remarkable. Here are a few shots from that trip.

This is coming down out of Moa Flats and coming down into Ettrick, where there is a fruit industry(as well as in Roxburgh and Alexandra). Those 3 white spots on the lower right part of the photo are reasonable sized farm sheds, to give you an idea of scale.

This is the beautiful Aririri River. If you look carefully, you will see the thousands upon thousands of purple, yellow and pink lupins on the silt isles. Wonderful perfume!

This is right outside of Cromwell, which had a great portion of it intentionally flooded in a very controversial Clyde Dam project back in the 70's I believe. I love the magenta wild flowers growing every where. There is also wild roses and wild thyme all around the area. A delight for the senses!

This is coming out of the Cromwell area into Alexandra. Most people do not associate this starkness with New Zealand. But it is quite beautiful.

Lake Pukaki in early afternoon. The blue in the lake is from the mineral runoff(glacial, I believe) into the lake. In the distance is Aoraki or Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.

I did not take any pictures of the McKenzie country as we were racing to come back to Pukaki at sunset to take some splendid shots of that time of day. We were not successful, which is sad because there was some fabulous shadow play in the McKenzie country. Oh, well, such is life.

It will take a while to get anyof these or the other photos I took in this expedition due to the fact that with all the grown children at home, there is no place to paint. Therefore, I am now doing plein air painting. More about that next week!

Puppy Love and Ladybug Giggles!

One of the ways I'm able to support my art career, outside of the paintings flying off my walls and onto the walls of collectors, is to raise Bichons. Although they are a quite a bit of work, they provide a great amount of joy.

And joy was what I needed upon my return from a visit to my daughter living in Otago. A family emergency arose and I was glad to be able to support her. But, oh how I missed my easel!!! In order to get the creative pump primed, I decided to start on a couple of almost, well...sort of daily paintings that I aspire to.

So, I used Barney, one of our 12 week old Bichon Frise-Bichon Maltese pups as subject matter. What fun! I opted for an impressionistic style seeing that a strictly realistic style may seem a bit stilted for such an energetic wee man. I wanted to show his energy as well as his cuddliness. I think I did it. I'd love to know what you think.




Everytime I look at a ladybug up close, I get a little urge to giggle or smile. They seem to embody happiness. All those spots. I thought it would be fun to juxtapose this critter on a background of fun spots. That's why I called it "On the Spot". I like it. What do you think?

Barney and On the Spot are both available for purchase via Yessy. And I'm happy to package either one and send them internationally as well.