Painting, Music, and Apple Picking

   Since coming home from hut hopping life has gone back to normal-ish. I don't have so many things-to-do on my list which is really nice. I'm learning how to limit how much I bite off, because it's exhausting and disheartening trying to chew really fast to get through everything!

   So what am I doing with myself these days? 

   I've been painting. Last week I worked on a large painting of Rocks Ahead Hut, one of the huts I drew in the Kawekas last month. Here is a small detail from the painting when it was in an unfinished state. I had only my sketch from on location and my memory to work with. I did have photos of the hut but they were taken at a different time of day and the shadows and light were completely different so there were useless to me.

   I quite enjoyed painting again. It's nice to come back to after doing mostly drawing for a long time.

   I have been reading a lot too, these days. I have two large volumes about the Impressionist painters in the ninteenth century. It's full of beautiful paintings and I am enjoying reading all about the artists like Renoir, Monet, Cezanne, Dagas, Manet, etc. I love the Impressionists and there work and it is really interesting to become more familiar with their work and study their paintings and notice how really very like impressions they really are and yet what makes them so appealing and so beautiful that they have stood well the test of time and are still the most loved paintings in the world.

Monet

   I think it fascinating how all these painters who began the Impressionist movement all knew each other and influenced and encouraged one another in this new way of looking at the world and putting it on canvass. And yet they each had a different take on the same thing all contributing a certain aspect to the movement.

The Monet Family at their garden in Argenteuil. 1874 Edouard Manet

   There is so much information on the internet about these artists but it is often very confusing and possibly unreliable. I often comes across bad copies of the masters works passed of as the real thing on Pintrest and such sites when I'm looking for images of paintings. So I much prefer to read real books about artists, it's much nicer and easier to study them that way. I have just got a pile of books out of the library about Dagas and Cezanne which I am looking forward to reading through.

   When I am not painting or drawing or thinking or reading about painting and drawing I am spending a lot of time with Jenny, my piano. I am currently enjoying learning Chopin's Nocturne 2. Maybe I'll be able to play it as well as this someday:

      At the end of this month I am going to the South Island! Somewhere I've wanted to go for a long time. I'm going to join a couple of friends picking apples near Nelson for a month and then go traveling around and see a bit of my country. Of course while I'm down there I'll do the best I can to get to lots of huts to draw them for my project. The Art of a Hut.

  I'm really looking forwards to spending a couple of months down there picking apples which means earning money--a novelty for me! And then traveling around with my friends in a bright blue ford falcon '70. Lots of fun, my sketchbook will be ever at my side and when I come back I'll share them with you. So you won't hear much from me here in the months of April and May but I'm not going away just yet and I plan to do a fair bit of blogging this month.

Hut Hopping in the Kawekas

   Here are a whole lot of photos from our Kaweka hut hopping trip. It was a really good trip. Three more friends joined us making things a lot more fun and distracting. I managed to get nine drawings of huts in two weeks. And compared to last time, I think I have improved! Yay, that means next time they will be even better, hopefully!

   You can read a bit more about it in my February Newsletter.

Me and Thomas and Pauline and Jojo hitched down to Hawkes Bay to join Caleb and Lewis who live down there.

Setting out in the 'Slow to Forty' towards the hills. Lewis and Jojo looking like they're wondering what they are in for.

At the carpark, Caleb with the map out and Pauline in my hat.

Getting ready for the first walk. Pauline, Caleb, Thomas, Lewis, and Jojo

At the first hut, Middle Hill hut, Thomas is on lunch.

I began work on my first hut drawing that afternoon.

Caleb and Pauline enjoying coffee on the deck. As you can see, all our stuff gets scattered everywhere as soon as we arrive. 

In the morning, looks like Caleb is making porridge in his sleep!

Boots thrown off and drying after yesterdays wet walk in the rain.

At the end of the mornings drawing, my first pastel drawing of a hut.

The critics at work. Really, they weren't that good at it. Too many nice comments!

The view up on the tops above the treeline was amazing!

 A few gun posing shots.

It was very windy up there. We had fun leaning against it and pretending to be blown away, until it got too cold and we walked on.

My drawing board kept flying in all directions! Whacked me on the back of the head a few times, and got Thomas good once.

Ballard Hut. The first four bunk hut, was a bit tight and the hut got very hot with the stove going.

Walking on to the next hut the next day.

Jojo, Lewis, and Pauline.

Coming down to the trees again.

The forest was beautiful, but we didn't manage to get a good photo of it.

Pauline often went off hunting with Jojo who was determined to shoot a deer. All he managed was a shot at one one night and missed.

Dog kennel at Makino Hut. 

Drawing Makino hut, the result of this is one of my favorite pieces.

Next stop was Te Puia hot springs where we camped the night. It was so nice to enjoy a hot bath and a good scrub. There was a really nice river there also. In the evening lots of eels came out and Caleb speared one. Here it is smoking in the BBQ chimney.

Whenever there was a river Caleb did as much fishing as he could get in.

Finished our first loop walk of four nights. Out at the carpark again sorting out food for the next eight day walk.

People trying to catch up on sleep in the car.

There was a long steep climb up to this hut, Kiwi Saddle. On the way we saw a beautiful sunset, I wish I had taken photos. We arrived here after dark and the hut was full of people. We managed to find room and most of them left early in the morning. It was raining on and off while I drew, and then it set in so I didn't quite manage to finish the drawing.

Walked down the hill to Kiwi Mouth hut.

We made a food cache here as we passed back this way. It saved carrying a lot of weight up the next hill.

It was only a four bunk hut. So we put one mattress on the floor, Caleb made himself a mattress of manuka and Pauline and I top and tailed. 

Thomas and Caleb looking bored while they wait for me to finish the drawing so that we can go.

Before we left a heli arrived dropping off a couple of hunters. If we had wanted a ride up to the next hut it would have been $150 each for the five minutes.

This is the longest swing bridge I've been on so far. It was lots of fun!

Got up to the tops again and the cloud hid everything.

Old Manson hut. We spent an extra night here so I could spend more time drawing.

There was a lot of wood chopping demonstrations at this hut. One of their past times as I was drawing.

Lewis.

Inside the hut was a dirt floor and sacking bunks.

It was very dark inside the hut, like a cave. Caleb wished we had a spade there to dig out the floor a bit. There was one beam he banged his head on just about every time he passed under it.

In the morning the sun's rays shone directly into the hut making awesome beams of light.

Pauline and Jojo left first and did a bit of hunting before walking on to the next hut. They left their packs by the track and as we passed we added a rock into Jojo's pack. He walked half a Km before he discovered it!

The view from Rocks Ahead hut. It was a beautiful walk over the open tops and then steeply down to the river.

I tried to wash my hair, it didn't work well! Too dirty for the small amount of shampoo I had. It's very hard to look after long hair in the bush.

The river was icy cold!

I drew the hut from the river bed and was savagely attacked by sand flys!

The view from the cable car.

Jojo shot a hare and Caleb made a stew out of it. It was the first time I had had hare and it tasted good.

We all very much enjoyed Rocks Ahead hut. I caught my first trout there and Caleb caught lots! 

Caleb's catch for the day made us a good feed.

Up to the tops again. A steep climb up from Rocks Ahead.

Looking down towards Back Ridge hut. The long walk makes this view look simply amazing! The photo dose not do it justice.

Playing chess with bits of paper. Someone forgot to bring the pieces so we just had the board. You must be careful not to sneeze or cough while playing this. One game was destroyed that way!

Caleb's fish cooking.

The last hut was Cameron Hut. Unfortunately it was raining here so all I got of this was a quick sketch and a dunny sketch.

The hike over and everyone is happy but tired.

You can see even more photos on my facebook page! This time there were plenty of photographers so we got a lot more photos than on the first trip. Our old camera dose alright after all.