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

how versatile is potters pink?

1 July 2026

Potters pink is very pretty, dusty pink with an old world feel. It granulates beautifully and is very lightfast. While pretty on its own, it’s a super versatile colour to use in all sorts of ways. J...

a vase with white flowers

24 June 2026

Here's a deceptively simple painting delivers maximum impact for minimal effort — a wet-in-wet background and a limited palette do most of the work, while the result glows with light and looks far m...

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...