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A Night on the Town

A whimsical evening on a small island at night - on the side of the road, waiting for a ride is Totoro; one of the characters from Studio Ghibli - a Japanese animation company we raised our children on. The glow of house lights compete with the full moon

Amorphous

Slowly nature will reclaim all of our constructions - all we can do is find the fixer-upper and stave off natures creep a little longer. View “Echo” for the companion piece to this artwork, which came first - the reconstruction or the delapaded villa before the renovation?

The Ark

This painting came about from a trip to the Tiritiri Matangi Island wildlife sanctuary and conservation project.

"Tiritiri Matangi Island is a wildlife sanctuary and one of New Zealand's most important and exciting conservation projects. It is located 30km north east of central Auckland and just 4km from the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
All mammalian predators were eradicated and a number of threatened and endangered bird and reptile species have been successfully introduced, including the flightless takahe, one of the world’s rarest species, and the tuatara. There are few places in New Zealand where you can readily see and walk amongst so many rare species." - Tiritiri Matangi

Ark 2

"This painting came about from a trip to the Tiritiri Matangi Island wildlife sanctuary and conservation project.

"Tiritiri Matangi Island is a wildlife sanctuary and one of New Zealand's most important and exciting conservation projects. It is located 30km north east of central Auckland and just 4km from the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.
All mammalian predators were eradicated and a number of threatened and endangered bird and reptile species have been successfully introduced, including the flightless takahe, one of the world’s rarest species, and the tuatara. There are few places in New Zealand where you can readily see and walk amongst so many rare species." - Tiritiri Matangi

Bach at the End of the World

New Zealand is at the edge of every map (if it's even included) and one of the last refuges from the hustle and bustle of contemporary life. We play in the sun at the end of the world

Baches

A homage to many beautiful sun filled days at my in-laws Bach - a sanctuary for a painter when a quiet place is needed to reset and re-imagine. A feeling a lot of us share when it comes to holiday homes or a caravan. A favourite from the island artworks

The Balancing Act

This NZ beach artwork is based upon the custom of people balancing rocks, the precarious playful practice which represents our attempt to control the natural world. With this work with a Dotterel balancing upon an egg, on a caravan, a rock and all on a Moeraki boulder explore a broader theme of family and balancing rearing children, housing and environment.

Beachlife

The clear indicators of a hot summer day. A still-life set in among the same small sand dune. A representation of the paraphernalia people bring to the beach, vestiges of long hot summer days

The Beacon

This painting references a few New Zealand movies that shaped my perspective - dashed upon the rocks to the right is a grand piano, after the Jane Campion movie: The Piano. A mini's engine block representing both Smash Palace as well as Goodbye Porkpie and the bleached whale bones for Whale Rider. These movies helped me to discern my own unique local voice and realise New Zealand's singular place in the world. The letterbox is from my childhood, a red letter protrudes from its depths, and a light on the porch a lighthouse to guide you home.

The Birdhouse

I liked the idea of a multi storey villa upon a multi storey villa, reaching for the sky. Several NZ Birds perched upon and around the villa. How are we going to continue to live together, when is seems sometimes that we come from different backgrounds?

Bolthole

An precariously situated Bach, nested on top of a rock, in a blue-green sea. A man checks the horizon from his sanctuary in the middle of nowhere

Buller

Paying homage to the artworks of John Gerrard Keulemans for Walter Buller’s iconic - A History of the Birds of New Zealand. I was also inspired by the attitude in Bill Hammond's painting; Waiting for Buller - where our native birds look out to the sea and wait to be given 'names' by the colonial explorers. This artwork showcases 12 NZ Birds - Kereru, Kea, Kingfisher, Kokako, Tomtit, Weka, Fantail, Tui, Huia, Kiwi, Pukeko and Shag.

Caravan

An island artwork with my favourite native tree - the Nīkau, I couldn’t resist adding them to this island sanctuary - I am also enamoured by these tiny caravans of old and have portrayed them in several paintings: Freedom Camper and Sitting Pretty just a bit of NZ quirkiness.

Castaway Depot

This was inspired by some research around islands in the seas to the south of New Zealand. In the late 19th century the NZ government established depots on Auckland, Campbell, Antipodes and Bounty Islands, the islands had emergency supplies and a small station added to them to aid ship-wrecked sailors until they might be found by another passing vessel.

Colonial Villa

Perched upon a New Zealand classic villa are a Kereru, Waxeye, Tui and Fantail. A homage to popular New Zealand birds and, like the Musicians of Bremen, each rests upon the back of the larger one below. View ‘Post’ and ‘Broken Rock’ which have the same painting style and theme.

Dream Home

This painting depicts an island as a metaphor for the mind - we would all love to own our own island; to be king of our own domain, but to be stranded in solitude upon a deserted isle is a castaway - I enjoy this concept for it's polar duality.
The pencil drawing of a house is what could be, your dreams or ambitions - a building that you yourself must construct.

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Dusk Light

A small island at the end of the day the light outside fades to be replaced by the light inside - a beacon for the coming night to guide the day's adventurers home

Echo

An Island artwork - companion piece to Amorphous, viewed together they form an ambiguous union - which came first; either this one; the newly constructed villa surrounded by a pristine lake, or the abandoned house, left for nature to claim.

The Edge of the World

This is a homage to the Far North, the lighthouse is situated at Cape Reinga - at the very top of the North Island. New Zealand stands at the edge of the explored world, one of the last discoveries by early explorers, here we are a beacon on the map with a signpost of more important places far far away. A painting of whimsy, with a kite playing on the breeze waiting for someone to come.

First Light

This is the East Cape lighthouse, the first bastion to greet the new day. Perched upon it are various songbirds of New Zealand: Tui, NZ Robin, Silver-eye, Saddleback, Grey Warbler, Kokako, Rock Wren, Bellbird and, sleeping in the shadows the Kiwi.

Foreshadow

An immaculate villa on well maintained grounds is slowly and inevitably slipping into the ocean, the cut out cloud hangs above from a thread.. a forewarning of a future to come.

Freedom Camper

That singular place that is our own, hidden from the crowds and hustle and bustle of busy lives. It's own secure living space protected from winds and rough seas, the song of the Tui resonates from above.

Gannet Rock

A pair of Gannets in their nest; a small bach for two. The foundation of their lives is being slowly eroded by the sea, but for now... it's a beautiful day and we have each other.

The Garden

It’s title, The Garden, denotes a manicured, planned space where only the beautiful is cultivated. Within this environment stands a single Pohutukawa tree surrounded by a circle of vegetation on a small round plain. This sole tree holds twelve native birds, each representing the hours of a clock. In the center stands the Tui, the poster child of the New Zealand forest. All content revolves around his tuft of white feathers, which holds the center position of the entire composition. Under the shade of the tree rests a contraption; the time traveling device from the 1960 movie The Time Machine. It is passive and out of place within these manicured grounds as if it has just arrived. Linked to this oddity and the other representations of time, is the only bird flying - an extinct Huia. A metaphor of the threat of extinction to our native species. With advances in cloning and genetic reconstruction, resurrecting long-gone species like the Huia could become a reality. We are on the cusp of being able to distort and control time through the de-extinction of what was once lost to us.

Haven

Lighthouses are human constructions, warning signals which help to prevent the destruction of travellers and the surrounding natural environment. Surrounding a Fairy Tern egg are an assortment of New Zealand lighthouses, all warding off any possible danger as well as bringing attention to the risk of extinction that is a real threat to these endangered birds.