'Ellie Sleeping', pencil on paper, 2010 (from old photo).
Ellie May, aka the 'Paeroa Princess', aka 'Lady Muck', aka 'The Runt', aka 'Smellie Ellie', likes to sleep sitting up on her bum on the couch like a person and has done ever since the photo this was drawn from, was taken at six weeks old. I'm not usually one for realistic drawings as I usually just scribble information down for paintings, but this is a nice change.

'Castlepoint', pencil on paper, 2008.

'Two Sleeping Doggies', pencil on paper, 2010.

'Skull'. Papier Mache and Paint, 2010.

' Riversdale', 2008.
Another drawing from the Castlepoint trip a couple of years ago, this is a piece I hope to paint in the forthcoming holidays.

Skulls.
At the end of last year I made some clay skulls with a class of junior kids. Yesterday I was bored and decided to paint a couple. I really love crudely painted objects, especially on wood, and will probably look to do more of this sort of thing in the future, although I'm not happy with these two.

'Castlepoint', 2008.
I made my first visit to Castlepoint nearly two years ago after seeing pictures of the interesting landforms on a postcard. Such has been the backlog of work that I have to do, that in three weeks time (school holidays) I will finally get a chance to paint it in oil, probably three times.

'Wanganui River', Watercolour, 1999.

'Wellington', Watercolour, 1999.

Another four paintings looking for new homes.

'Mt Sainte Victoire, France', $250.

'From Chunuk Bair, Turkey', $200. SOLD

'Ted's View, Peak District, England', $250.

'Lasithi Plateau, Crete, Greece', $250. SOLD

Sale on!!!

I'm running out of storage and the work is piling up without a gallery, so this is a move to give these five pieces new homes for $250 (the second one down, $350) each! I will add some more next week. From the top.......

'Copacobana Beach, Rio, Brasil'. SOLD

'South Luangwa River, Zambia'. SOLD

'Old Harry Rocks, Dorset, England'. SOLD

'Old Boat, Mull, Scotland'. SOLD

'The Cullins from Elgol, Scotland'. SOLD

'Wellington', Watercolour, 1999.

'Wellington', watercolour, 1999.
Another from the old sketchbooks, this time looking down toward Seatoun and the harbour entrance.

'Wellington', Watercolour, 2000.
Looking through old workbooks I've come across pages of old watercolours which nobody will have seen before.

Bali, 2010.

Bali locals, 2010.

The second bottom one is highly valued for the the coffee beans it has partially digested, giving a particularily tasty brew!

Images from various dance performances, Ubud, Bali, 2010.

Nusa Lembongan, Bali, 2010.

Kuta Beach, (top two) and Sanur Beach, Bali. 2010.

AAhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

Banks Peninsula sketches, 2008.

A couple of sketches from the trip, almost two years ago now. I have one more oil piece to do from that trip then I will move on to Castlepoint. Am away for two weeks now but will still attempt to make a few posts.

'Decanter Bay, Banks Peninsula', 2010.
I have a book in which I record the details of every piece I have done since my last year of art school and this is the 400th oil piece.

'Banks Peninsula#1', 2010.
This picture is a little washed out colour wise but this painting is the first of a set of three of Banks Peninsula. I haven't painted New Zealand for a while because of the other backlog but along with the Ngawihi piece, and these ones, I have Castlepoint, Lake Taupo and Makara coming up this year.

'Ngawihi', 2010.
This is picture isn't the best but on the smaller scale the colour doesn't look so washed out, the crappy Wellington weather isn't condusive to photo taking.

'Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina', 2009.
Just finished this, the last of the original ten South America pieces I had planned to do. Looking back through my drawings though I can see some more in the future, but I need to move on through some of the other backlog first.

'Los Torres, Chile', 2009.
This picture was taken in the shadows outside so the colour is a little washed out. A lot of the sights I had seen during the Africa/South America trip had been compromised by the weather and fog and Torres del Paine was one of the last places I had planned to see before going home. I was determined not to miss out after other disappointments (and planning for eighteen months to get there) so I sat huddled under a rock for around eight hours, through a freezing blizzard, to get the classic photo. The sky only cleared around fifteen minutes before I had to leave for good and although I was eventually rewarded for my persistence(stubborness), a week later I learned that somebody had died doing the exact same thing.

'Macchu Picchu, Peru #2', 2009.
Second attempt at this piece, simplified and a little more stylised than the first one.

'Regents Park, London', Watercolour, 2004.

'Pontylfni, Wales', Watercolour, 2004.

'Kaitoke Road Stop, Wanganui'. 1999.
An example of the looser style of painting from the Wanganui years, pieces like this would take me half an hour as opposed to the eight to ten they do now.

'From Augustus Gardens, Capri, Italy', Watercolour, 2005.
I used to make a watercolour before each piece to sort out colour and had periods where theybecame nice little paintings in their own right. This was one of a series of small pieces for a show at Idiom a few years ago.