As our visit south drew to an end and with snow forecast we decided to stay in Arthurs Pass on the way home and see what the area looked like coated in white. After a wait we were greeted with fat, wet, heavy snowflakes which made it feel like a winter wonderland and got everyone very excited (us being from the warm tropics of Nelson).
Although it looks chilly, the snow falling straight down was a welcome respite from the gale force winds and the driving horizontal rain and sleet that we had recently experienced further south. The next morning we awoke to a silent morning with only the sound of branches cracking under the weight of snow. As the road reopened we explored the upper reaches of the Waimakariri River and watched the fog lift from the valley unveiling Mt Stewart.
Please keep checking back for more updates from our adventure further south and the paintings that will eventuate from this trip...
Camp Stream Hut, a historic musterers hut on the Te Araroa trail near Tekapo with Roundhill in the background. A magical place to visit, especially in the late afternoon although once the sun falls it becomes bitterly cold. On this particular trip the walk out was sodden with snow melt and my feet lost feeling in the last main river. Brr…
Inspired by an almost dreamlike trip along ridge lines, past Lake Morgan and to the top of Mt O’Shanessy the painting is slowly taking shape. I really wanted to capture those warm, golden, summer West Coast rays that you...
While the mountains are freezing and the nights are long it's one of the best times of the year to settle in and put some quality time into painting… I have been making excellent progress on the artworks behind me in the above photo, already adding in lots of detail layers and rich washes of colour. Yet there's...
