The Best of New Zealand in Photos

How could I take all those photos and not showcase them?! Here are the best of New Zealand.

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  Inside the greenhouse, Christchurch Botanical Gardens

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  Poppies in Christchurch

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  The view from Castle Hill

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  Ducklings in Christchurch

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  Hokitika Gorge

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  Campsite Jetty, West Coast

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  The walk at Lake Matherson

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  Stacked stones at Kidd’s Bush Reserve campsite

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  Blue Pools

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  Thunder Creek Falls, West Coast

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  The road north to Queenstown

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  Golden hills around Lake Wakatipu

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  Clouds descending on Queenstown

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  Lake Wakatipu

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  Mountains from Lake Ohau Road

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  Mountains from Lake Ohau Road

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  Sunset at Lake Middleton

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  Lake Pukaki and Aoraki/Mount Cook

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  Aoraki/Mount Cook

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  Lake Pukaki and the mountains

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  Self portrait, final night in the van

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  Lake Wanaka from the township

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  Wanaka at sunset

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  Christchurch Tram

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  Cherry blossom, Christchurch

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  The greenhouse, Christchuch botanical gardens

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  The Banks Peninsula from above

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  Pup on the boat to Diamond Harbour

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  Earthquake damage, Christchurch

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  Akaroka

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  Banks Peninsula sunset

Queenstown

I left Wanaka all of a sudden, because I was alone and that is one of the joys of travelling alone. I had booked a bungy jump for the next afternoon, and I decided to park up in Queenstown that night in preparation. 

The sun was beating down; the sunlight in New Zealand is bright white and strong, although the temperature was still mild and pleasant. I drove through the Cardrona Valley and up through the golden peaks of the Crown Range with my windows down, singing along to my favourite songs at the top of my lungs. The joy and freedom I felt on that drive made me giddy. I thought about the fact that I was going to bungy jump the next day and laughed out loud. I felt so alive; I thought “I hope I never forget this.” I’d like to think that I wont. 

I wonder if people noticed that I was filled with sunshine; it sure felt like my joy made me friends! I was greeted at the bungy place by Julius, and I think I made a friend for life. Somehow it was decided that I was going to get dunked in the Karawau River at the bottom of my jump, and I’m grateful I did; the freefall was over so quickly that if I wasn’t soaked through up to my middle, I would have struggled to believe that I’d really done it! 

That evening I got a burger with Julius and watched the most amazing sunset looking out over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu. This was the start of a weeks worth of adventures with Julius and his friends; I experienced the nightlife of Queenstown and kept holding off from leaving the town. His roommate Denise took me out for coffee; I found another priceless friend. I got away for a day, heading towards Milford Sound. But the day I went, the road was closed. I felt flat, bored, disinterested in the scenery. I could have waited for another day, I think it was reopened not long after, but I knew where I really wanted to be, where I felt happiest, and so I went back to Queenstown and my friends. I left eventually, when I had to, but not before I promised myself that I would come back as soon as I could, long term. I’m moving to Queenstown.

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West Coast

After Hokitika, I began to make my way down the dramatic West Coast of New Zealand’s south island. This drive is the most dynamic and impressive I think I’ve ever been on; you cross through mountains, past glaciers and waterfalls, and down onto flat plains threaded with turquoise meltwater creeks. I dipped my toes in the Tasman Ocean, and meandered through fern forests. 

I passed through from Franz Josef to Wanaka in a blur in order to buy a sleeping bag: The West Coast is so sparsely populated that the closest camping shops were hours away. Having lived all my life in the middle of the UK, this was a bizarre experience for me, as you’re never really more than about twenty minutes away from at least a village and most likely a town. After a day or two enjoying Wanaka (and my new, warmer sleeping arrangements – no more wearing three layers and a hat to bed!) I retraced some of my steps back up the coast, this time at a more relaxed pace. There were some lovely sights along this stretch, and there’s something wonderful about going through the mountainous roads like Haast Pass, but driving alongside Wanaka Lake is probably my winner. The water is so clear and blue, and the scale of the mountains is awe-inspiring. 

I really love Wanaka township, too. It’s a laid back little place, and it’s position looking out over the lake is spectacular. My memories of it are all vivid sunshine and warmth. But I was also having a bit of an existential crisis about my work. For most of the trip I felt like a fraud for claiming to be an illustrator. Fear of getting my career going and on the ‘right’ track has held me back since graduating. I work, I’ve had a lot of wonderful projects, but I still feel huge question marks about illustration whenever I think about it. Is this style right? What style should I specialise in? How do I find more clients? Is this what I really want to do? Generally, am I doing it right? It’s scary. I’ve still not figured all of this out. But I’m trying, and I decided in Wanaka just to go with the flow and do what the heck I like. 

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Van Life

‘Van’ is generous. More like a large car with a bed in it and a camp stove in the boot; but it gives me so much freedom, and it’s a joy (most of the time).

I struggled to leave Christchurch. In part because it’s played an important role in my life, but it’s more than that; throughout my trip I struggled to leave places that I’d only been in for a short time, like every leaving was a tiny leap into a new unknown. This always dissipated the moment I left that place behind and a new landscape began to unfurl as I drove. There is no joy like being on the road and having total freedom over the destination.

I drove straight out to Akaroa, on the far side of the Banks Peninsula. This area is underrated, and missed by a lot of visitors, but that just keeps it magic for those of us who make it. Imagine driving up winding roads through green mountains, looking out on clear turquoise water, and exploring forests with hidden swings and treehouses. I shared wine with other travellers from across the world.

My plan was to drive through Arthur’s Pass, passing across the centre of the island. The long drive saw the hills of the Peninsula give way to the Canterbury Plains, with the snowy peaks of the Southern Alps approaching slowly on the horizon. I spent one lonely night in their midst, with a freezing wind keeping me confined to my car, and with no mobile service. For the next few days, it rained and rained. I had a soggy few hours in Arthur’s Pass, flattening the battery of my car and having a much needed break from the cold inside a cafe. I was glad to leave, although I enjoyed seeing my first Kea!

My next stop was Hokitika, where I got to see glowworms and the famous gorge. The incessant rain made life in the car unpleasant to say the least! I was lucky that these few days were the only time it affected me.

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Christchurch

I remember feeling pretty out of it when I arrived in Christchurch. I hadn’t got a lot of sleep, I’d changed time zones again, and I hadn’t even eaten yet (always a terrible idea, but I was in a rush!) when I finally tucked into a coffee and muffin in a highly recommended cafe around midday. It’s hard to look at the city without trying to imagine how it must have been before the devastating earthquakes of 2011. There seems to be too many gravel parking lots and large grassy areas on the edges of the town, and I wonder what stood there before. Although it’s been a while since the quakes, and dozens of big,glassy new buildings are dotted between the older buildings which survived, there are still reminders of what happened wherever you look. Shipping containers and vast metal struts hold up several historic buildings, including the famous cathedral, while they try to decide what to do with them.

My favourite thing about this new incarnation of Christchurch is the way they’ve used art to deal with the disaster. There are beautiful murals adorning walls everywhere you look, and the optimism of the city is summed up by the neon lights on the side of the art gallery: “everything is going to be alright.”

I was born here, this was my first home. I see landmarks which are familiar from the photo albums and family videos, including the flat we lived in. My parents loved this city, and I’ve grown up hearing stories about it. It was hard to believe I was finally there in the flesh.

I have a pounamu my mother bought for me when we were last here, 23 years ago. I found the man who sold it to her, and I bought one myself. I hike, and I try to come up with stories. I tend to limit myself to facts, and inventing things feel more challenging.

The botanical gardens are visible from my hostel; everything is in bloom.

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Melbourne 1

I left home very early in the morning, and we drove to the airport while the sun was very low in the sky. Leaving was difficult; the hardest part is always saying goodbye. But I become businesslike in airports, always checking, double checking; nothing can be left to chance. When you’re as easily distracted as I am, you’d lose a lot of money on lost flights if you didn’t adopt this approach! The flight was less painful than I expected; 24 hours including two brief stopovers, but it’s easy to pass that time when you’re fuelled by excitement and distracted by movies and plasticky meals.

I didn’t draw much at the start. I was busy and distracted by the novel, slightly terrifying concept that I was about as far from my home and family in the UK as I could possibly get. My first stop was in Melbourne, Australia; I stayed a few days, in theory to recover from the jetlag that never materialised. But oh boy, I made up for the lack of drawing by taking endless photos! My favourite subject, other than the skyscrapers, teetering and narrow like shards of glass, was the cities botantical gardens, spanning most of the half-hour walk between the CBD and my hotel in South Yarra.

Otherwise, I don’t think I really fell for the city. Compared to home it seemed spread out and too quiet, and much colder than I had anticipated (It’s Australia! What kind of Brit gets cold in Australia?!). I was alone, tired and seemingly endlessly cold or lost, and I was excited to get to my next stop; the city I was born in.

Digital Inlay

I’ve already spoken here about my rediscovery of inlay and how much I love it, but I haven’t stopped at just physically making it with paper and scalpel! I got an iPad a couple of months ago, and I’ve been using scanned in watercolour textures since I got it. (It’s true that I have always done this with digital work as a way of giving it traditional textures) Procreate has fulfilled my main reason for getting an iPad; I can make a finished piece of artwork with just one portable piece of kit! I’ve even recently done an entire commission from the iPad, which made the whole process a much more relaxing process, especially as the project had a short deadline.

Working digitally also means exploring more abstract concepts for me; it frees me from worries about ‘good enough’ ideas, which is so wonderful! I don’t believe I would ever have produced the artworks in this blog post by had (or indeed with my Wacom).

The Purple Portraits

 

I really truly can’t keep a really consistent style up for more than a few months. I just feel like there are so many things to try, why would I want to only do one thing forever??

I’d love to get an agent, but they want work which is more pinned down; I’m just not ready for that! I want to keep exploring my style and trying new things. But actually, then I look at the work of Deanna Staffo and John Hendrix and I think, perhaps it’s ok to keep playing.

These portraits were made on a sudden whim to retry some techniques I learned during my A level textile art course. I absolutely adored textile art, as it was basically using different media to express the same things I was expressing in my Art A level, without feeling constrained by painting techniques and portraits (I guess I kind of played it more safe in art). My first big final piece in textile art was a series of embroidered photographs. They were not good!! But I so enjoyed doing them. I find hand embroidery puts me almost into a trance, I can just do it for hours, and having to work slowly forces you to consider every mark you make. And french knots are just so fun to make.

The other technique I’ve brought back is paper inlay. Honestly when we learned it it blew my mind, it’s so simple but I think it looks SO much nicer than simply collaging paper, and it’s less likely to get rough around the edges. It’s so different to just putting paint to paper, too; I can be a lot more experimental with the paint, which results in more interesting colours and textures, and the edges are so CRISP!! I really love having it back in my practise.

Of course, the most unifying feature of these illustrations are the portraits. Portraits are my first and greatest love in art; I could never, never get tired of them. Every person’s face is different, and every face can express so many different emotions. They’re purple because I just really adore the softer colour compared to black/grey. I started using purple in my watercolours because graphite doesn’t scan very well, plus the colours I use are really vibrant so the grey stood out like a sore thumb. I think the purple makes the images look warmer, plus I like the softer texture of the leads.

Making these portraits were so meditative to me. I didn’t plan ahead, I just found a photo I liked, and as I drew I thought about what would compliment the portrait. I think pieces like this would work really well for magazine editorials, too!

 

Yoga lesson

This is of Youtube yoga teacher Adriene! I’ve been practising along with her videos for years now (and you can too if you click here!)

Yoga is a valuable part of my life; after a long day hunching over my desk (I sit in some seriously awkward positions) I love having something that gets me moving, increases my strength and gives me a wonderful stretch out!

Shoreditch Paintings

The image above is of my good friend Emmy. We went on a trip to Shoreditch in London when it was FREEZING cold near the start of this year. I really love to work from photos I’ve taken, I think the memories associated with the photograph come through in the painting (or perhaps that’s just me!)

The illustration below is from the same trip, of the Gherkin taken on a misty morning.