PAINTINGS
Kaipara Harbour: Tuhirangi towards Glorit (from Gibbs Farm) 2012 oil on linen 1950 x 300mm Private Collection
I feel a deep empathy for the land. When people see my paintings, I'd like them to feel a more profound connection with the energies that underlie the landscape, and a greater sense of our place within it.
I choose to use oil paints for their malleable character and colours that are true pigments - for the most part, earth colours - and linen for its characteristic texture and strength. I love the glow of warm cadmium yellows through the paint, the sparkle of alizarin left at an edge, the texture of linen revealed when the pigment is brushed lightly over or rubbed away.
I am well-known for my use of unusually long canvases - more than six times as long as they are high. The width enhances the sense of space within the frame; but I believe it also stretches the imagination, and infers the idea of the landscape extending beyond the edges of the canvas.
My work is held in private collections in New Zealand, Australia, Britain, Europe, and the United States, including the prestigious Barilla collection of Modern Art in Italy which also holds work by Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Max Ernst.
Scroll down to see images of my paintings in oil - most recent at the top. Like what you see? If it’s not in a “Private Collection”, it’s available for sale. Contact me or the gallery listed with the painting for help with this.
Waitemata 2022 oil on linen 1950 x 300mm Private Collection
Kakepuku and Te Kawa 2021 oil on canvas 1200 x 600 Private Collection
Kakepuku was named by Rakataura, a Tainui tohunga. One version says it was in memory of the shape of his pregnant wife, Kahurere.
About 2½ million years ago, Kakepuku travelled north in search of his father, until he reached the Waipa plain and fell in love with Te Kawa, daughter of Pirongia and Taupiri Mountains. However, nearby Karewa was also in love with Te Kawa. The mountains fought, Karewa lost and Kakepuku chased him into the ocean, hurling rocks after him. So Kakepuku remains guarding Te Kawa; while Karewa, off the coast of Kawhia, has become a crucial refuge and breeding colony for seals and gannets.
I fell in love with Kakepuku when I lived in the Waikato in the 1960s. I fell in love every time we drove past for the next fifty years – but more recently I took the wrong turning on the way to Otorohanga and found myself on a narrow road that followed the Waipa River, winding over the ankles of Kakepuku and around the voluptuous curves of Te Kawa. Over the next few days, Kakepuku made his company known, displaying his presence over the shoulders of the nearby hills in unwavering, resolute attention-seeking.
I didn’t have my sketchbook, or my camera. So my first painting of Kakepuku relies heavily on memory and a drawing by the 19th Century artist Joseph Merrett; it’s Kakepuku at his most serious: Kakepuku the Warrior, with his prized companion Te Kawa close by.
Ngunguru Remembered (e tangi hotu nei 2) 2020 oil on canvas 1000 x 500mm Private Collection
Puhoi Revisited 2020 oil on canvas 1000 x 500mm Private Collection
Coromandel: towards Square Top Island 2017 oil on linen 1000 x 500mm view at Art by the Sea Gallery, Auckland Aotearoa NZ
Kaipara Harbour with Moturemu and some Kanuka 2010 oil on linen 650 x 200mm view at Art by the Sea Gallery, Auckland Aotearoa NZ
The Kaipara is a place that repeatedly invokes my love for the land; landscape is more than just something to hang my paint on.
One of the largest harbours in the world, the Kaipara drains out into the Tasman Sea through treacherous shoals. The shores and inlets are lined with wetlands and mangroves, nurseries for fish and birdlife. On the eastern shores, rugged bush-clad volcanic hills ensure the isolation of this remote and beautiful area.
The light on the Kaipara is spectacular - vast areas of translucent glowing; dark cloud-trampled sky and the harbour shines; a mirror in the early morning; turquoise in the day, the characteristic ochre gleam of the mudflats at full tide. With each change of light the Kaipara is reborn.
Maungatautari: Pukekura Hills 2008 oil on linen 1950 x 300mm view at Art by the Sea Gallery, Auckland Aotearoa NZ
On Taylor Road: Renall's Hill 2 2008 oil on linen 1950 x 300mm view at Art by the Sea Gallery, Auckland Aotearoa NZ
Taylor Road follows a ridge, characterised by brushy kanuka and scrubby mapou, criss-crossed by power lines running between perilously leaning poles. Across the valley, Renall’s Farm surges up to the iconic stand of kahikatea, taraire and kanuka.
My paintings are intended to reflect the nature of this familiar well-loved landscape, vibrant with birdlife. The islands of native bush nestling in the hollows on Renall’s Farm distinguish the rhythms of the hill. Their darkness makes the land glow. Like Kukupa materializing from their camouflage when sunlight turns their feathers to an array of gold, alizarin and viridian, the ridges and valleys that are normally concealed in their mantle of native bush become apparent.
I love the way the kanuka staggers along the skylines here, and regenerates so easily everywhere; I love the symmetry of Renall’s hill, as it stretches alongside the full length of Taylor Road, like a great manaia keeping pace with the ridge.
On Taylor Road: Wharauroa / Kukupa 2008 oil on linen 1200 x 600mm (Private Collection)
Available as a limited edition reproduction only - see below
On Taylor Road: Wharauroa / Kukupa limited edition, signed, quality art reproduction
Poster Size: 695 x 420mm; image size: 555 x 275
Price $NZ 90 + p&p
FULL SET OF THREE REPRODUCTIONS ( On Taylor Road: Wharauroa / Kukupa; Renall's Hill; Wharauroa Valley) $NZ 150
On Taylor Road: Renall's Hill limited edition, signed quality art reproduction
Poster Size: 595mm x 210mm; image size: 560 x 90 mm
Price $NZ 45 + p&p
FULL SET OF THREE REPRODUCTIONS ( On Taylor Road: Wharauroa / Kukupa; Renall's Hill; Wharauroa Valley) $NZ 150
On Taylor Road: Wharauroa Valley limited edition, signed quality art reproduction
Poster Size: 595mm x 210mm; image size: 560 x 90 mm
Price $NZ 45 + p&p
FULL SET OF THREE REPRODUCTIONS ( On Taylor Road: Wharauroa / Kukupa; Renall's Hill; Wharauroa Valley) $NZ 150
Kaiteriteri: Torlesse Rock 2007 oil on linen 1000 x 600mm view at Art by the Sea Gallery, Auckland Aotearoa NZ
Poor Knights: Aorangaia 2005 - 11 oil on linen 1200 x 400mm view at Burning Issues, Whangarei, Aotearoa NZ