Hokianga Residency: Here I Come

April 11: I have arrived at the residency after a long long drive north. Lynn Lawton was there to welcome me and to explain the practicalities of the space and what to do if a fire breaks out. It is a beautiful church and as soon as you step inside you can feel and smell nearly 150 years of history (https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/historic-rawene-church-transformed-into-artists-residency/HGJ5UIR4DFCP7JFW3G2YN77G4Q/)

There is plenty of space inside the church but of course the historic floor, benches and tables need to be protected rather than become the involuntary surfaces of modern art. The living quarters is small but beautifully renovated and has all the comforts one could wish for. As it is an old place done up, it is very dusty and the first thing I got to do was sweep, vacuum and mop the floors and rearrange the sleeping area. The weather has been very grey with lots of subtropical downpours and everything looks and feels grey, grey-green, and grey blue, the skies, the harbour ad the environment itself. I have stored my food provisions, covered the paint area with drop-cloth (plastic) and unpacked all my paints, brushes, paint surfaces and sketching materials and today I did my first tentative sketches and the first layer of paint on 3 wood panels 60cm x 60cm. My body, mind and creative faculties feel rusty and stiff so I am going to start everyday with a 30 min work-out of meridian sequence, back-block, stretches and toning exercises.

Today I went to the art gallery to have a look at the previous artist-in-residents exhibition. Her work is nice, very realistic and naturalistic and very gentle tones of blue and grey. I have no idea what I'm going to end up painting but it definitely will be nothing like hers, that is for sure. I am really intrigued by a traditional Hokianga story of Nukutawhiti and Ruanui (two generations following Kupe) who each build a whare wānanga (houses of higher learning) on each side of the Hokianga Harbour. The two rangatira ended up competing to one another in the power of their karakia which aimed at influencing the direction - a whale who had entered the harbour - was going to swim. The karakia of one of the rangatira tried to send the whale back out to sea, while the other's tried to force the whale to swim to his side of the harbour. When I look at the contour lines of land around the harbour, they resemble the lines of a whale, especially a humpback whale. I'm interested in exploring a series of paintings that inspired by both the lines of a whale as well as the contours of the landscape and the lines of the currents in the sea or harbour. This is an image of the church studio with the paint area I have set up and image of a first layer of the three new paintings:

March 23: The time to be heading to the Far North is getting near. So much to think of, what do I need to take with me that fits into my car? Canvasses, wood panels, paint, charcoal, ink, oil pastels, brushes, palette knives, drop cloth, easels, gloss medium, buckets, containers, old cloth, sketch books, wire, D rings, hooks, hammer, and so on.... Also, the nearest supermarket place is Kaikohe, so I need to make sure I got plenty of good coffee, herbal tea and healthy goodies to keep me going. Will I be lonely so far away from anyone I know?

But before all that, first of all, a big big BIG thank you to all the people who have supported my Pledge Me campaign and so generously donated whatever they could afford to make this dream and golden opportunity come true. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANKS YOU!

As promised, I am starting this blog on my art website, to give you some updates on how I am going and showing you some glimpses of work-in-progress as well as finished artworks.

Enjoy!

Hokianga #1: Acrylic on wood panel 60 x 60 cm