Portrait, Cannes.

We had one night at the Carlton Hotel, (Winter) in Cannes - and there is no better place to people watch than this institution of the Cote d'Azur. This young woman was with a much older man - however, I couldn't tell, if she was his daughter or lover. She seemed aloof and distracted, he seemed to watch her every move, (they were both expensively dressed), I decided, she was his lover, but was having second thoughts about being with this man of means.      

Summer, Provence.

I drove the road from our villa in Pont Royal to Aix en Provence many times, and would often stop to take photo’s, do sketchers, or just stand there and breathe it all in. The light is clear, but much softer than back in New Zealand – perhaps it’s the pollution of Europe, or the smoke from the fires the vineyards are fond of having, as they burn the pruning’s from the vines. The buildings all belong here: the earthy colours, the stone work, nothing seems out of harmony. 

Provence.

Setting up a studio in Provence is slightly intimidating – not the setting up part, that’s exciting, it’s knowing you are travelling in the path of Cézanne, Picasso, and Van Gogh – why bother? However, once you’ve settled in, you know why they all spent time here, Provence has the light and the pace of life that is sustenance to an artist. Many a time I stopped and looked at the scenery and felt a serge of adrenalin rush through me - I had to have a paintbrush in my hand as quickly as possible.

At times I had a fight going on - I wanted to be out there strolling the villages and country side, but at the same time I needed to be back in the studio.

I have 19 paintings from our time there that form my exhibition 'FRENCH CONECTION'.  

People watching is a favourite pastime in France, and I think people like to be watched, too. People will sit, sipping on an espresso or a small glass of wine for hours - whatever needs to be done, will have to wait.   

Taupo exhibition - 40 + years in the making

Tomorrow at 5.30 my latest exhibition opens at Red Rock gallery in Taupo. For the last 5 months I've lived in Taupo. I set up a studio in November and started to try and capture my thoughts, stories and feelings about this beautiful part of the world. I've had a holiday home in Taupo for 24 years and before that had stopped off here on our annual trips to Auckland as a child, and then on the way to our Christmas holiday's in Wangamata. I love this place and always have, from the first time I viewed the lake through the car window as we wound our way around the lake edge leading into town. Years later we used to play a game called 'first to see the lake.' The idea (as you rightly guessed) was to be the first in the car to see the lake.

There could only be one winnerbut the disappointment of not spotting the lake first was soon replaced by seeing the lake closer up and knowing we were almost there. That joy of arriving still remains with me today. The paintings are not of scenes, but of images placed together to form a picture of how I see this place. There are moments in time, from this summer and from summers a long time ago. I know I would not have been able to produce these paintings, if I hadn't made the decision to paint them here.  

Chelsea Morning

Joni Mitchell wrote a song called 'Chelsea morning', I had a cassette tape with that song on it - it was the only tape I had for a 1000 mile drive from Johannesburg to Cape Town, so I heard that song a lot.

Recently I went for a walk in Chelsea (London not New York) to find a flat I had stayed in in London many years ago - just behind Harrods. I walked from the Kings Road through to Knightsbridge. Although it was a winters day, the sky was clear and the sun was shining. There was a small road - I think it was called a mews, that I walked down and noticed a beautiful bunch of flowers in a vase, sitting in a window, bathed in a soft light. For some reason it made me think of how much more colour there is in this city than there was 30 years ago. My recollection of that London winter, was grey; the people, the buildings, the sky, everything, but now the sun was clear and bright and the city is full of every nationality under that sun, with all the colour that they bring. Colour, displayed in a very orderly English manner.