I’m Working, I swear...

Church Art Residency in Rawene, Jan 2026

Up at dawn to make it for morning light on the Sandbar across from Opononi Beach

The Work of Art

Make a Plan. Familiarize yourself with the area: do scouting missions. Know the lighting of different times of day. Check the weather and check the tides, know the flow of the general popolation: is it a work day, a holiday, a beach day (in Boston- are the Red Sox playing?)

Bring provisions, stay hidrated, know your public toilet situation and be ready to talk to the curious folks.

That’s the basic set up. Have it all down so you can make the most of your time. Because the important part is dropping into your observational brain to find the special spirit of the place you’re drawing.

Make a million sketches … The real work starts w/the realization that you are now sequestered to the studio. No more joyrides.

Time to go through all the sketchbooks and edit down to your best ideas and favorite drawings and figure out how to grow your seeds of thought into a finished piece.

Church Art Residency, Rawene, NZ Aotearoa

The Hokianga

The Returning Place

In the norther reaches of NZ’s north island, Northland’s Hokianga is a place of overlapping histories, different cultures in a shared history, cradled in a potent land. It is where Kupe, a Polynesian first landed in ancient Māori history. The hills and shores are filled with creations stories and gods. It is where missionaries arrived with more gods…followed by a wave of colonization and political turmoil. It is the place where the past and family identity hold strong. It is the “Returning Place”.

I am here as a visitor, in residence at the Church, to make artwork in response to this most profound place. The task is overwhelming, and one that puts all of my skills as both an observer and an artist
Heaven for a traditional landscape painter, beauty in every direction!

My work goes beyond immediate visual observation. The paintings peel away typical layers and use unexpected colors to access a sense of movement and musicality. There is so much here! Every nook has history, legends, and powerful existing natural elements..

I’m looking for the essence of a place. Figuring out how to translate it into visual works that do it justice is the challenge.