- Home
-
Prints
-
Locations
- Works in Progress
-
Paintings
- Gift Voucher
-
Resources
- Contact
-
Her Auckland artworks explore boat sheds, moorings, wharves, waterfront structures and coastal scenes, capturing their weathered character, and sense of history. From the Ōrākei Basin to working waterfronts and harbour edges, Michelle finds beauty in overlooked places and everyday structures. These Auckland subjects tell stories of how people live and connect with the landscape, celebrating the city’s character and atmosphere.
Michelle loves the challenge of climbing into the mountains, surrounded by ice, rocks and towering peaks, glacial valleys. Her paintings capture not just the scale and beauty of the landscape, but also the little red alpine huts scattered across the wilderness each adding a sense of adventure, shelter and human connection to this extraordinary environment.
Michelle is drawn to the Boulder Bank baches for their weathered character, individuality and strong connection to the coastal landscape, these humble buildings tell stories of everyday life, recreation and a changing relationship with the outdoors. Their colours, textures and distinctive forms set against the expansive Boulder Bank provide Michelle with rich opportunities to explore light, atmosphere and the character of place while recording a slice of Nelson's history.
These paintings explore themes central to her work, remote landscapes, backcountry history and the relationship between people and the land. Small huts sit against the Hawkdun Range, creating a striking contrast between their modest scale and the surrounding landscape. Through her paintings, she documents and celebrates these distinctive structures while capturing the atmosphere, and enduring character of Central Otago’s high-country landscape.
Michelle Bellamy paints Kahurangi National Park because it is close to home and offers an extraordinary landscape to explore, from rugged ranges and alpine tarns to remote valleys, tussock and native beech forest. Regularly exploring the area gives her the opportunity to experience its changing light, weather and seasons firsthand, developing a strong connection with the landscape.
Michelle Bellamy is drawn to the Tekapo and wider Mackenzie high country for its expansive landscapes, golden tussock, big braided rivers, and rugged mountain ranges. She finds a familiar character in the region that reminds her of Molesworth Station closer to home, vast open spaces, remote backcountry roads and a strong sense of the high country. Exploring these landscapes, Michelle is inspired by the openness, contrasting weather, huts, and towering mountains.
Molesworth and the St James area inspire Michelle Bellamy because they feel wild, remote and full of stories. Time spent exploring has brought unforgettable moments, from biking across frozen tundra at dawn to watching the full moon set over snowy hills and mist rise from frozen tarns.
Close to home there's a strong emotional connection, these are places where she has spent time exploring with family, hiking and experiencing the landscape firsthand. That allows the paintings to capture not just what Nelson Lakes area looks like, but what it feels like to be there.
Michelle Bellamy is drawn to Poolburn Dam for its striking contrasts and sense of isolation. She is particularly fascinated by the small fishing huts scattered around the reservoir, each with its own character and often tucked close to the rocks for shelter. Their tiny scale against the vast landscape creates a strong sense of place and story.
