The star of the beach, the asterisk-shaped seed head of the Spinifex grass (or Kowhangatara) tumbling along the beach bring back precious memories of warm, sunny days spent at the beach.

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints - image size 247x247mm

 

 This print depicts a Nikau on the edge of the sea, fronds wild in the breeze and ripe with berries - in a water colour technique. 

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art paper prints - image size 225x350mm

 

This is a print from a painting I have just finished. It depicts a view from Urupukapuka island overlooking the Waewaetorea channel to Waewaetorea island in - New Zealand's northland - the beautiful Bay of Islands. This area is special to me, it's where I grew up as a child and where my family have lived for generations.

Original painting available on my painting page for $4,900.

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints

 

The famous Greg - a Takehe of Tiritiri Matangi island. 

I was once fortunate enough to meet Greg when I visited the island - which lies in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand.

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints - image size 350x230mm

 

The Puka (Meryta sinclairii) pictured, a beautiful tree that I simply love - is a large-leaved evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand that grows to about 8 meters tall. Puka have 27 different species, and occur naturally on the Three Kings islands and the Hen and Chicken islands. The tree has elliptical leaves which can grow up to 50 cm long and 20cm wide and have a glossy upper surface with green-white flowers and ball-bearing sized fruit, making them popular as a garden or street tree. A single tree procured from the Poor Knights Islands by Māori, protected by a fence and declared sacred. Was... [view details]

My eagerness to visit Mimiwhangata, a stunning part of New Zealand’s eastern coastline, came after seeing it in a photograph. Escaping from Auckland on a day trip one Sunday back in 2005, I headed north. After going through Whangarei, I headed towards Helena Bay, gradually drawing closer to Mimiwhangata. Winding down through native bush into grasslands, I was excited to finally see the windswept coastline in the distance. Mimiwhangata was at long last in my sights, and the long drive was well worth the breathtaking panorama that lay before me. I wished to see the ocean and islands fro... [view details]

For me Kowhai are bells that cheerfully herald the coming of summer. Pictured here with a back drop of Ponui island with a definitive pacific palette of colour caught in strong southern hemisphere light. The kowhai is a native New Zealand tree and our unofficial national flower. Well known for their brilliant yellow flowers that appear in abundance in spring, kowhai provide a feast for New Zealand native birds such as the Tui, Bellbird and New Zealand pigeon the Kereru. Maori also value the tree for its hard wood and medicinal properties. • Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art pri... [view details]

The beautiful Kereru - New Zealand's native pigeon - perched on the top of a guava tree having lunch.

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints - image size 316x316mm

 

 

This old seemingly forgotten boat sitting in clear calm lilac water provided me a quiet focal point and reflective space on which to meditate and became inspiration for a painting. In the background Ti Point and Omaha, close to Leigh and Goat Island lie across the water, under a wide blue sky.

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints - image size 316x316mm

 

The asterisk-shaped seed heads of the silvery green Spinifex grass (or Kowhangatara) – pictured - rolling along the beach, blown by the wind, with accompanying deep-water green and blues, white surf, and wide sky are for me associated with idyllic moments on west coast beaches, sun, paradise found, and a sense of wild serenity.

 

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints 

 

 

Perhaps my favourite bird - the Tui are boisterous, and widespread in both forest and suburbia. From a distance they seem black but seen closer and in a good light the Tui have a blue, green and bronze iridescent sheen, with distinctive white tufts at their throat. They can be heard singing complex songs - notes interspersed with coughs, grunts and wheezes. Listening to their many songs is a pleasure and watching them in flight, with their bodies slanting in short glides - a joy.

• Limited edition of 200 hand signed fine-art prints 

I really enjoyed bringing all these rich colours together - its the New Zealand I grew up with and love - hence the name "New Zealand". The original painting is sold.

 

• Limited edition of 250 hand signed fine-art prints