Up in the Hills
On a lovely day, I was on the hills near Christchurch and looked all around. This was my memory of a view in the direction of Lyttleton. At home I tried to paint different versions of my memory of the views. This one was on hot pressed watercolour paper.
Watercolour, 24 by 32cm
Season’s greetings
Wishing you all Season’s Greetings, Health and Happiness for this Christmas – New Year time.
Hope you all have a happy, healthy, safe holiday and a productive 2022.
Collage of recycled Christmas cards, 30 by 42cm
Drizzly Day
On a drizzly day I drove to Wellington, past the harbour. The hills, the sky and the sea were in graduations of grey. Only one hilly area was clear enough to see the green of the bush. Some clear light was peeking out between the clouds. The picture stayed in my mind and I tried to portray this here.
Watercolour, 18 by 23cm
Near Little River, 1 and 2
Pen and wash10×14 cm
On a lovely day we drove to Little River and walked a bit in the neighbourhood. The sky was blue with white and grey cumulus clouds, the leaves on the trees freshly green. The landscape was a mix of areas with natural rock formations, gullies and native growth on the hills and cultivated land lower down with pastures and timber.
Pen and wash, 10 by 14cm
A Sprig of Kowhai
Spring has arrived with the kowhai in bloom. On a lockdown walk, I picked a small sprig and took it home to put in a tiny vase and placed it on a blue blocked napkin. This I painted, trying to represent the impression of sunlight on the butter yellow coloured flowers.
Watercolour, 10 by 14.5cm
After the storm
I walked toward the beach, on a sunny, windy day, after a heavy storm. The wind was still so strong that it was hard to stay upright. The sun had come out and the sea came up high, with lots of high frothy waves and driftwood on the beach and grasses bent over and waving. The play of sun and shadow and the movement of water and grasses caught my eye. It was too windy to try and sketch, so this is my memory of that afternoon.
Watercolour, 20 by 14cm
Gulls
A while back, driving back home, the cloudy, rainy day was clearing and the approaching buildings were hit by some late sunshine. Overhead, gulls were wheeling and diving, stark white against the dark sky. The opposites of the gulls against the sky, the horizontal of the layers of clouds and the receding lines of greens against the verticals of the posts caught my eye.
Watercolour, 14.5 by 19.5cm
Cavern
This winter I walked in the glasshouse in the park and sat down on a bench in the lovely warm environment. When I looked behind me, I saw this cavern. It was made of dark stone in between tropical plants, a little waterfall burbling down from the top ledge. I made a quick sketch and later put on a watercolour wash. I tried to portray the darkness and depth of the cavern opposite the rhythm of the leaves covering most of it.
Pen and wash, 14.5 by 9.5cm
Anchorage
A few weeks back, I was walking around in Kaiapoi. A wintery sun was shining down on the river with its anchor poles. This view caught my eye. The diagonals of the line of trees, the river and the poles, opposite the verticals of the poles themselves and the soft winter colours, opposite the strong colours of the poles themselves, stood out for me. Here, my impression.
Watercolour, 14.5 by 19.5cm
Prunus in winter
While sitting one morning on a bench in Hagley Park, I saw an old prunus in some winter sun, made a sketch and at home added a watercolour wash. The gnarly trunk with the play of light on it caught my eye, with the vague almost misty background: a really wintery scene.
Pen and wash, 10 by 14cm
Paintings by Rita 