Driving to the ocean, the hills on either side, so rhythmic in form and shape,

Splash and crash into each other like the waves that made them,

The waves of the ocean that I go to visit.

On a hot day my only thought as I drive to Hawke’s Bay from Masterton: “How can anyone live so far from the ocean?” The endless hilled landscape answers my question. As I drive through the hills, they become waves. It strikes me, This is the ocean, the ocean floor of the past. The hills hold all of the oceans movement and power of of its soothing rhythm.

This painting is a combination of elements that are a constant joy of my surroundings in Wairarapa. The antlers of the red deer speak of the bounty of the rolling hills.Antlers also speak to the beauty and complexity of life here with gnarled twists and multiple points of growth. Historical planes fly into the aerial-map clouds in the sky, with the sound of small engines and past explorations. In this land of motion, even the open sky is measured and mapped!

The aerial maps of NZ were donated through a member of New Zealand Pacific Studio. Great thanks!

Map collage, mixed media on board, 32x77cm/13x30”