I’m back! (mostly)

Hi lovely newsletter readers,

I have been MIA for the past few months due to a concussion, during which time not much happened. No concentrating, no working, no painting, nothing at all really. This left me mostly resting, alternating between the most exciting activities of sleeping, sitting and waiting, eating, listening to copious audiobooks and tiny walks. Then, when I started to feel better, I had to take things very slowly, doing only small, short tasks throughout the day, which I have gradually extended over the weeks. The hard bit was, and still is to be patient. I now feel so much closer to being my normal self again—so glad! Who would have thought that getting things out of the car could have such huge repercussions!

While I was being majorly useless, things nevertheless still happened—luckily not much planning was required on my part, or it had at least all been done before I bumped my head. I was happily surprised and so pleased to be a finalist for the New Zealand Paint and Printmaking Award with my painting TwoFold (see below) at Artspost in Hamilton. What an opportunity to show my artwork alongside some of my long held art heroes in the same exhibition. The show itself is now over, but it has been extended and is now exhibited at KHR Galleria at Villa Tuscany in Matamata until 24th April. TwoFold was the last painting I did in 2025 before my wee little accident and before my parents arrived to spend Christmas with us.

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On another note my painting The Catlins River made it into the Hope and Sons Art Award, which runs biannually. This show can be viewed up in the Railway Station at the Otago Art Society until 11th April.

With this painting, I noticed how important the right lighting is. When I painted it in my studio, it looked warm and balanced, with the greens not too overpowering and the water clean. Unfortunately, when I took it outside, I got quite the shock at how cool and blue the colours suddenly appeared, how the reds and browns got lost, and how the greens looked far too strong and fought for attention. The water that appeared so clean in my studio now looked yellowed and stained. The lighting at the OAS unfortunately reveals all of this—but that’s just life. I have seen this happen before, especially with paintings I haven’t taken outside at all to paint—which was pretty much all of last year. So, something to watch out for in the future!

On that cheerful note, I wish you all well, and I’m hoping to continue my monthly newsletter from now on—fingers crossed and heads not bumped in the future!