Le Brun Exhibition, January 2007

Okaramio Church #2

My second exhibition was blended into a function to celebrate Cellier le Brun (a Marlborough winery) being taken over by a new owner. As such the opening night was attended by mainly people from the wine industry who were there to network, see their friends, and have a nice night out. With this in mind I had low expectations of making any sales, but managed to sell about half the paintings on opening night. The Okaramio Church painting is my second of this subject, and both versions have been very popular. I drive past this church whenever I go to Blenheim, and have always been struck by its... I don't know what actually. There is often a sheep or two in residence. There is an outhouse out the back you can't see in this view, built in the same style and colour. It always makes me smile for some reason. I'll try and feature it in my next painting of the church.

Unlike the majority of my paintings, the church painting is loaded with "meaning" on various levels. Most of it was unintentional and just sort of occurred to me as I painted it. It's a point I debate with myself whether I should tell people my interpretation or whether everyone should just get what they can out of it. I tend towards not telling, because a painting should be good enough for people to enjoy without a little "guidebook" to tell them why they are enjoying it. I am also of the view that it is a worthwhile goal to be a successful artist without people feeling the need to stroke their chins, squint their eyes, and nod mysteriously every time they see a new painting of mine. Hopefully they can just see straight away that it's a cool painting, they want to look at it, and they want to own it, end of story.

Black Backed Gull in Dryden bay

The common old Black Backed Gull is more magnificent than its occupation of scavenger allows us to believe. I have clocked up hundreds of hours of observation of birds through my interests of painting and hang gliding. During this time the Black Backed Gull has turned out to be one of my favourites for its character and quirky lifestyle. They tend to live in one place and "work" in another many kilometres away. They are competent soarers and can utilise thermal and ridge lift to get where they want without flapping, but if there is no lift they seem to have no qualms about using muscle power to get there. This is where they differ from the hawks, who seem painfully lazy by comparison.

That's the outer Queen Charlotte Sound behind, and the North Island in the distance. And that's a beautifully rendered blowfly top right.