a month in golden bay

19 July 2020

Sunset from the lovely home we were 'house sitting'

So we were meant to have a little escape from our frosty home down south. A couple of weeks at the top of the South Island, to warm our souls. Turns out it was hard to tear ourselves away after a month.

Here are some of the sketches from our trip. A number of these I'm hoping to turn into larger finished works over the next little while. I took heaps of photos too, so I'm looking forward to doing some video tutorials and online Zoom lessons in the next month too.

The house we were staying has a wonderful garden. These Tree Aloes a definite highlight.

Super cold and frosty at home and here the banana plants had fruit!

The last bach left standing in the estuary at Ligar Bay. A bit of history still standing.

Last sketch of the bay for a while. View from the Abel Tasman memorial towards Tata Islands.

landscapes watercolour 2020 paintings in my sketchbook out and about urban sketching new zealand watercolour landscapes

A free lesson for you!

One of my all-time favourite paintings of a stormy day in a ruined Roman town in Spain.

You can do this! Let me show you how. Join my community to receive this free video tutorial.

Join here

summer flowers & an old fence post

16 June 2026

There's something irresistibly paintable about a weathered fence post half-swallowed by summer wildflowers. It's the contrast that does it — rough, sun-bleached wood against the soft, fleeting delic...

recap! travel sketching in france, 2026

9 June 2026

Five times at Périgord Retreats, and the magic is still there.. Every single time I hop on the train in southern France and get whisked through French countryside and villages to Gourdon Station — ...

painting zebras in watercolour

3 June 2026

Ater spending time in South Africa recently, surrounded by the kind of wildlife you only see there, I came home with many sketches of zebras, giraffes, warthogs, baboons and more and a strong urge to ...