Down Under - Part 2.
“My friends have told me of this wonderful little sandy bay with a lagoon, cliffs, and wild goats at Waipatiki. It is miles away from anywhere but there is small site and we can hire a cabin just to ourselves”! Shuna was very excited about this and I wanted to paint the sea. We pulled off the main road, having hardly seen any traffic all of the journey. She had an estimation of the mileage and we still had a fair way to go. Surely there must have been a mistake? We were climbing higher up into the hills on a winding gravel rough road. “You did say these were friends of yours who liked it here didn’t you”? I asked. Miles later and no sign of habitation or the sea we were both laughing nervously. Suddenly we came into a scene fit for any calendar! A small hamlet of wooden huts, of which ours turned out to have a lovely view of the whole bay and sea. We made home and then off to explore. The sea was a wonderful clear turquoise, cliffs made of layers of brown and orange sandstone and a bay of golden sands that withheld a meandering stream and it’s pools full of reflections. Yes, I could find a little inspiration here! Back to the “Batch” well that was what the Kiwis called a second home out in wilds. Many are far more luxurious than most of us can ever expect to live in. So, after a walk on the cliffs and beach where I had found my prospective compositions, then a barbecue, bottle of wine, a cool beer plus a little romance. Well how could the next morning do anything but start well? It became my record for production, four in the morning, one mid -day and one mid-afternoon, one late-afternoon, and one in the evening! I started by sitting on the rocks as the tide flowed, lovely glassy waves splashing up around me. My Ingres pad was ideal for this and my box of Unisons. It enabled me to get into the flow, feel the mood and colours ready for the larger work I wished to do higher up of the bay.
I was ready for my main work and set up the easel overlooking the bay with a full sheet of 140lb stretched hot press Arches again. I caused a few hikers quite a surprise as they rounded the corner to find me maniacally using a large hake brush splashing into a thoroughly enjoyable work. Although I liked the looseness Ihad achieved I still felt it needed the added depth of the pastel colours but had to remain spontaneous in their use.
On my way back I did another quick pastel study near to the stream, and then later in the afternoon walked further around the cliff to a smaller bay that had a few more bits of flotsam.I liked the dark silhouette of the trees on top of this scene against the lighter foreground and so decided to use the medium charcoal pencil again, with watercolour and pastel.
Later that evening, as we sat on the veranda talking about Shuna’s latest tramp, a very pretty sunset called me to my last evenings pastel study.
I had to wipe my fingers first, though, to clear the stain of blackberry juice from the succulent harvest she had come across in the hills! On the return journey the next day I could not resist having a swim in that lovely clear sea and diving through the waves. The stop also proved very useful in that we found a whole treasure of flotsam sun bleached bits of wood and rubbish for our later artwork, a carrier bag was soon nearly full!
It certainly was one of the highlights of the trip and was still very much in our minds as we set off a few days later for Lake Taupo again.
Warren and Jenny Davis had invited us to their second home or “batch” and it turned out to be a spacious two story house with views over the lake and a boat stored in the garage. This trip was principally to fish, but Warren was also kind enough to like my work, so I decided to do two pieces for his kindness, one overlooking Taupo before he arrived as a surprise, and the other when we were out after the big trout one evening and gently trolling.
In this case he could see his picture being created. We did indeed catch fish, it was hard work and they were being difficult, but this is the man who took an American president angling and kept him happy! We hot smoked them in salt and brown sugar, my word they were so delicious. He tried so hard for me and I really am most grateful for his kindness and indeed the kindness shown by all of the friends we made.
Before departing the next morning I had a chance to do a lovely wet into wet watercolour of the sun rising over the misty lake. Fast but fresh and exhilarating.
Our final trip was due to the fact that I had been itching to paint a mountain!
We did not arrive until the evening, but had time to explore a local park and artificial lake that reflected Mount Taranaki. Shuna worked out her walks for the next day and I ear marked the best spots to paint pending the conditions. The main problem was visibility of the mountain top, often obscured by cloud. Arriving early morning I set up and had to immediately draw out the composition knowing I would have to establish the mountain quickly as clouds were already rolling in. Shuna marched off and I “set to” on my last big sheet of hot pressed Arches with watercolour. It was a difficult work, again, due to the complexity of detail and depth. Getting the variety of greens was hard and I am still not sure if the picture really works, but many have liked it, so that is pleasing.
I was not sure if I would have time for my final work with only three days left. I wished to do a mixed medium work based on my feelings of the trip and all of the paintings. To do this I would use the previously battened hardboard, without primer. I had already drawn out a basic idea of composition, now I just delved into the bag of seaside flotsam and chose the most suitable gnarled sticks and bits. I glued them directly on with a mixture of P.V.A. glue and filler, then built up the background low relief with the same. I cut handfulls of wool and soaked them in the glue to make the vines, then when it was all dry gave it all a coat of deep purple Acrylic. From there it was simply a matter of standard Oil and Acrylic brush techniques with the Acrylics to paint it! Both this and the Foxton Beach scenes have been entered for the Norsewear art awards and Exhibition.
In all I had a wonderful trip in a beautiful country amongst charming and friendly people who love the outdoor life as I do. Let me also recommend the Elm Cafe, Fitzherbert Ave. in Palmerston that does the most yummy seafood chowder ever! Food tended to be inexpensive and generally very good. This article was written about 8 years ago now - and Shuna and I are still good friends keeping in touch accross the oceans. I would love to return there oneday!
This artist’s work may be viewed on http://peterwoodarts.com
