Inspiration South Island
April 29, 2021
Hello again,
It's autumn again in NZ and a full year has passed since my last blog post - terrible!
Anyway, there is a lot to report. Firstly, what is going on at the moment with my own work and secondly the painting workshops and classes.
PAINTINGS
I am currently working on several large scale landscapes from the South Island of New Zealand. We have spent two months touring the South Island in the last year and the inspiration from the mountain scenery is dominating my painting. Often, my work is enquired upon and consequently sold from my progress photos on either Instagram, Facebook or by existing clients. I will endeavour to have updates of the current works in the 'available’ portfolio as they are completed. Below are some of the recently completed landscapes and some of the works currently in progress.
WEEKDAY ART CLASSES
We have just completed six weeks (term 1) of Beginners and Intermediate classes here at my studio. The second six weeks (term 2) is fully booked and will start shortly. The next availability will be for classes starting on Tuesday 3rd and Thursday 5th August 2021.
Follow the link for more information - Beginners Classes - Intermediate Classes
WEEKEND WORKSHOPS
I am yet to confirm weekend workshop dates for the second half of the year. As well as workshops here in my studio in Papamoa we are currently exploring the possibility of a couple of workshops in the South Island in November.
Please contact me to register your interest if you would like to be part of the workshops as class numbers are limited.
YOUTUBE VIDEOS
About a year ago (at the time of my last blog post) I had just made my first painting videos on Youtube. A big thank you to any of you who are supporting the videos, I truly hope they are helping your own painting endeavour. The videos are fun to make, although time consuming! I plan on making more and will call for suggested topic ideas on my next video. And I would like to give you the opportunity to download the reference pics I use in the tutorial videos here on my website, that is on its way.
So, as I said my wife and I spent October 2020 and then February 2021 in the South Island of NZ. We are both fortunate to be able to work while away from home. Our humble Toyota Hiace is our home away from home when we are away - more like a flash tent on wheels rather than a motorhome. Generally we don't have an itinerary and follow the good weather, but always with locations for painting reference and sometimes vineyards suggesting our route. The South Island is a huge inspiration for my work, mountain and lake paintings were the first scenes I was ever interested in painting and they still beg to be painted when I'm there. I like to represent the scene reasonably accurately but in my own way, with layers of paint and glaze. The spontaneous movement of wet paint is the magic, when I can keep it under control just enough to represent the landscape - that's my favourite way to create these scenes.
One of my South Island painting reference highlights was hiking the Milford track in February over four spectacular days. Having hiked many backcountry tracks and Great Walks, the Milford certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the greatest walks in the world (you will see many reference photos from this walk becoming paintings currently and going forward). In October we spent two days and a night in Doubtful Sound, the entire experience was fantastic, including the boat trip across lake Manapouri. It has wet my appetite for more Fiordland boat expeditions. Travelling the West Coast is always inspirational for my painting, there is a lifetime of painting on that coast. Near Franz Josef I painted what I believe is my best plein air attempt thus far. I also painted plein air paintings in Kaikoura, Coleridge, Wanaka, Te Anau, Manapouri and Queenstown.
In my last post I had mentioned plein air workshops, I had always envisaged this to be a South Island event. Right at the moment I am dealing with the unforeseen hurdle of the South Island sandfly. At some stage I hope to experiment with the plein air workshops, my own experience is plein air painting and sandflies don't mix. A gentle breeze is the answer but not the harrowing South Island gails I painted in last October. More and more I feel plein air by the seaside sounds very appealing for a workshop environment. Stay tuned!
Thanks for your support and taking the time to hear what is happening at the moment.
Wayne
