New Zealand-Paintings, Woodcuts, Sketches

New Zealand--Paintings, Woodcuts, Field Sketches

For a slide show of this work, click on the first image and then use the arrows.

I lived in New Zealand for three years and returned for extended visits several times after that. During those years I lived on Great Barrier Island and in the city of Auckland. Great Barrier Island lies about fifty miles off the coast of the North Island, protecting the broad Hauraki Gulf from the Pacific Ocean. It is an extremely rugged island, with steep and rocky bush-covered mountains that run down the middle of its twenty-five mile length. On the gulf side, the island has a jagged coastline of tiny bush-dark coves and islands, while on the Pacific side the coastline is scalloped by a series of broad, graceful white-sand beaches bound on either side by steep headlands. At the time I lived on the island, the only way to get there was by a twin-engined sea-plane or private boats. The people who lived on the Barrier were largely self-sustaining on small farms cleared out of the bush. There was no electricity, very few roads (unpaved), and party-line telephones that you used by holding an ear-piece to your ear and speaking into a little horn attached to a box on the wall. I milked the cow and goats, looked after the chickens, drove or rode the work horse, and washed clothing in a tub using a mangle. Cooking was done on an elaborate wood stove. Many of the sketches in this section were done on Great Barrier Island. Others were done when we moved to Auckland, New Zealand's largest city.