I'm working on a series of watercolour drawings, based on my memories of New Zealand. I first came to Spain in 1986, expecting to stay for a year. I have now been living in Spain for 30 years on and off! Hard to believe. It's not surprising I'm beginning to feel nostalgic and this is coming out in my latest work.
A couple of months ago my sister asked me if I could do a New Zealand landscape for her to use for a wedding card. At the time, although I said yes, I actually felt a bit reluctant and in two minds, because the last thing I felt like doing was a chocolate box rendering of the South Island scenery. As time moved on this idea kept going round in my head and finally one afternoon I decided to get on with the task, so searching for images I stumbled across a book of photographs called A Portrait of New Zealand, by Warren Jacobs and Robin Smith. Flicking through the pages I was surprised the way the images did inspire me to draw the land. My sister wanted the image for her son who is celebrating his marriage to a Chinese woman and so this gave me the idea to do the drawings using a linear technique reminiscent of Chinese art and porcelain. I did those drawings using a vertical format often seen in Chinese landscape painting. While doing this first drawing I discovered ideas to do more drawings following this idea and I am continuing to work on them now.
I came across some photos I took on a trip we did back to New Zealand in 2000. I don't know why I had them all bundled up in a pile, hidden away. It was an amazing trip down the West Coast of the South Island, to the glaciers. When you could still catch a glimpse of the glaciers from the highway and the Franz Joseph still spread right down the valley so you could easily walk right up close to the massive wall of ice at the end.
These photos reminded me of how I felt then, slightly in awe of the land and its tremendous beauty. We felt very small as we explored around the base of this glacier.
I'm working on this series of drawings using line and wash, with watercolour markers and sepia ink.
Remembering Franz Joseph Glacier New Zealand,
Watercolour and ink on paper, 25x37cm, 2016
Remembering Franz Joseph Glacier II,
Watercolour and ink drawing on paper,
60x40cm, 2016
