Lightscapes Exhibition 2023

Click here to see the Museum blurb.

Now open to the public: 1 April 2023 to 11 June 2023

Tairāwhiti Museum, Gisborne, New Zealand

To the Beach: Brown’s Beach (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 43 x 50cms

Kaiti Beach Reef (above) (SOLD)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 23 x 65cms.

Te Kuri a Paoa / Young Nick’s Head (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat board, 63 x 48cms

Midway Surf Life Saving Club, (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat board, 53 x 96cms

Desire Path, Midway Beach (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 32 x 67cms.

Waiteata Park (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 35 x 63cms

Morning Sun, Pouawa (above)(SOLD)

Pastels on pastelmat, 50.6 x 46cms.

Sunrise, Winter Solstice, Pouawa (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 59 x 97cms

Grasses, Midway, Oneroa Beach, Gisborne City (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 46 x 52 cms

Hamanatua Stream, Wainui Beach (above)

19 x 36cms, pastels on Pastelmat

Bunny Tails, Midway Beach (above) (SOLD)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 46 x 66cms.

Sea Mist, Eastland Port (Waimata Tugboat) (above)

Pastels on Pastelmat, 47 x 63cms

Leon’s Woolshed, Brown’s Beach (above) (SOLD)

Pastels on Pastelmat. 28 x 60cms

Sunrise, Te Kuri a Paoa/Young Nick’s Head (above) (SOLD)

Gisborne, New Zealand. Pastels on Pastelmat, 22 x 96cms.

Hills above Makorori Beach, Gisborne (above)

Makarori Hills: Busby’s farm, Turanganui a Kiwa/Gisborne NZ. 46 x 58cms. Pastels on Pastelmat.

Tuaheni Point, Wainui Beach (above)

(above) Pastels on Pastelmat, 24.5 x 65cm.

Tiniroto Road (above)(SOLD)

(above) Pastels on pastelmat, 66 x 39cms. This road is about 16kms west of Gisborne. The vineyard is owned by Indevin. I went out half a dozen times at different times of the day to this spot to take a photo for a commissioned painting of the other side of the road, a row of jacarandas (the next thing on the easel). This painting was worked up from a photograph I took on one of the mornings when I went out at 5.30am, just as dawn was breaking. The light was diffuse, and very soft on the hills, as you can see. And the tops of the vines were such a vivid green.

Tucker Road, Gisborne (above)(SOLD)

This is a scene on Tucker Road with the hills on Back Ormond Road in the background. It’s Murray MacPhail’s beautiful red barn (there are actually two, but you can’t see the second one from this angle), and the deciduous trees he’s planted putting on their best autumn colours. It’s pastels and acrylic paint on pastelmat. 65 x 23cms

Nick’s Head Station, Muriwai, Gisborne (above)

Nick’s Head Station is at Muriwai, Gisborne. The owner has a focus on conservation, planting thousands of trees, restoring wetlands, and bringing back tuatara, mutton birds, and other endangered species. The grasses on this farm track have, I think, been deliberately allowed to go to seed to feed the birds and insects. Pastel on pastelmat, 65 x 29cm unframed

Surf Lifesaving Tower, Midway Beach (above)

A temporary watchtower for the National Surf Lifesaving Championships held in Gisborne in 2020. There was something about the dark sky behind the trees creating quite a contrast with this bright little structure that caught my eye on my morning walk. I love the fence around it too, but once I’d painted this, it was the colours of the grasses I loved the most. They have echoes to me of the illustrations I saw in the Enid Blyton books I read when I was young. 51.5cm x 43cm. Pastels on Pastelmat.

Te Wherowhero Lagoon, Young Nick’s Head / Te Kuri a Paoa (above)

Pastel on pastelmat, 36 x 19cm unframed, 60 x 43cm framed. One of my favourite places to walk, and to paint. I love the headland – its folds, and the drama of it. And those grasses were an absolute joy to paint.

Young Nick’s Head / Te Kuri a Paoa (above)(SOLD)

Pastel on pastelmat. There are two ships here in the Bay – a very common sight. In fact we often have 4 or more ships, waiting to come into port. Currently the port can only load one big ship, and one smaller ship at a time. I don’t think the people on board would be complaining about their location.

Makorori Hills (above)(SOLD)

This is another painting of the dry hills at the end of Summer out at Makarori Beach, just north of Gisborne, New Zealand. The painting is 66 x 26cms unframed, pastel on pastelmat. I love the trees in the centre – a little forest someone has lovingly planted. The textures and colours of those trees were irresistible to me, especially with the folds and shadows of the hills around them. It looks as if I was standing in the sea to paint this, but it’s a very wide beach at low tide.

Midway Grasses (above)

Waikanae Beach, Gisborne, New Zealand. 31 x 27cm. Pastels on Pastelmat.

Oneora – Gisborne City Beach (above)

24 x 65cm. Pastels on Pastelmat