It seems so appropriate to have this exhibition of New Zealand landscapes
at Deep Listening, because the body of work
I am presenting here required, and demanded some listening to a rumbling sound, a
stirring deep inside of me. I went to New Zealand not as a tourist, but as a parent
scoping out the land for her daughter who would be living there…where would she live, work, run?
My practical, vigilant mind was at work, when suddenly it was
powerfully confronted by my subconscious, primitive mind.

Here was a place that looked like the beginning of the world…..
like it was just formed out of the depths of the sea.
The land of “ the long cloud “ is what the native Maori call it. The clouds stretched
in the sky coursing over me, fresh, unfamiliar formations filled my imagination.
I was color combinations I have never, ever seen. As an artist, I was immediately challenged.

I have travelled a great deal, but this was the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
Nature was raw and unencumbered by mankind.
New Zealanders take seriously the protective custody of their land.
You drive for hours without houses in the mountains, gas stations on the way,
no empty soda bottles in the streams.

The light was beautiful and unfamiliar. Looking over the pacific ocean on the windiest,
rainiest day where the sun was not allowed to peek through,
I saw something remarkable…. the ocean was light and illuminated.
The light source seemed to come from the bottom up, the water lighting up the sky.

After a while, the expansiveness and beauty of this landscape took over me.
I had to give in… I felt my foundation being broken and rearranged in a new order.
Witnessing this place was changing me in ways I could not measure or control.

The volcanic paintings depict the North Island, the water and glacier paintings depict the
South Island. The Western coast of the South Island has an extraordinary quality that
inspired the remainder of the paintings.
I saw elements in nature juxtaposed in a remarkable way.

Upon my return, I decided to make a single painting to “get it out of my system”,
then I painted a second to create a pair…they just kept coming and I’ve painted 15
pictures in a very short period of time.
This body of work has summoned all of my focus and drive.
The paintings keep coming.
I hope to share with the viewer the joy I felt in creating them.