My First Blog

This is my new blog, illustrating my work as an artist, photographer and yachtsman - it is time I

showed something of that experience.

I see the processes of making sketches that may lead to oil or watercolour paintings, or using my

fine camera to take photographs as distinctly separate ways of seeing. One of my hand made

studies often taking many hours and the other capturing an image at one thousandth of a second.

Either approach makes its own demands.

As an introduction here are some of my favourite images that I will be add to every three or four

weeks.

1.Antarctica - a studio watercolour made after I returned from the ice in April 1987. I had joined

Skip Novak’s expedition on ‘Pelagic’, a 50’ yacht as the Expedition Artist with eight climbers,

scientists and film makers. It was too cold to work in oils or watercolours as they would not have

dried so I used pastel and graphite. I made many sketches some of which became painting once I

returned to my warm dry studio.

2. Graham’s garden - is tended by fellow artist Downs and has been a source not only for his

beautiful paintings but also for my sketches and photographs. Here a stag horn epiphyte grows

on a plum tree rising amongst the many flowers that he grows so prolifically.

3. Platform 8 - Sometimes it is too windy and wet to work on a drawing outdoors. This image was

brought together in two locations, at Auckland’s old railway station concourse and a couple of

dinosaurs found in the War Memorial Museum across town.

4. Fantail - a small native bird that was flitting about in the bush near the river that rises out of

Lake Taupo. These birds are always attracted by insects in bushes disturbed by my presence.

5. South Head -This is a montage of two aspects of Manukau Harbour’s South Head, it’s

lighthouse and a map of the area.

6. - A white rose pergola with lavender, stone and brick in the garden behind the Bauer Hotel on

Giudecca Island, Venice. A beautiful discovery after walking through the building, a restored

convent, to find a vision of such tranquility.

and a PS:

I have possibly hundreds of sketches in graphite, pastel and watercolour pencil stored in folders;

many have been developed into paintings. I have also collated twenty eight illustrated diaries,

sketch and log books that I have made over the last sixty years . I have now compiled and selfpublished

these in a set of four volumes titled ‘Unseen: An Artist’s View’, using a USA software

called ‘Blurb’. They will soon be available for sale once they have been thoroughly proofread.

The sketches are for sale from my studio.