Nature’s Heart

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir It’s why I’m inspired to paint! The feeling of completing the cycle, from inspiration in the wilderness, the long conversations and a sense of place,… Continue reading Nature’s Heart

Behind the Vail

My little painting of the Aspens in Vail is now winging its way to New York, sold at the fundraising auction during my latest Diamond Approach Retreat.   Together and yet alone,  venturing behind the veils  into the universe of the unknowing  – relaxed and confident?  “The clearest way into the Universe is through a… Continue reading Behind the Vail

The Big Blue

A few days spent in the McKenzie Basin is enough to widen your horizons,  …….and fill your heart with awe and wonder – both day and night.  “I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful – an endless prospect of magic and wonder.” — Ansel Adams Staying at the brand new Lakestone Lodge was just as magical… Continue reading The Big Blue

Eden

“Eden is not simply a mythical place, or a metaphor for original innocence, or an outworn and divisive religious symbol. Eden is a state of being, and we are free to return every time we know ourselves again in deep communion with the rest of life” ~ Eleanor O’Hanlon, The book of Whale, The eyes… Continue reading Eden

Unintended consequences

Places that changed my life: A few years ago, with a group of neighbours, I spent 8 days on the yacht called the ‘Breaksea Girl’ travelling through the Fiordland National Park in the World Heritage Area. We went from Doubtful to Dusky Sound. Sailing through these majestic waterways which included a stint on the Southern Ocean. Sailing with a… Continue reading Unintended consequences

Paradise Road

“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”- John Muir see more of my paintings in the Paintings Gallery 

Internal saboteurs

The self critic has been my lifelong nemesis. Its the first thing to close down my creativity, a shape-shifting monster that’s always lurking in the shadows, watching and judging. Those inner voices that terrorise me and keep my curiosity captive. The ‘war on terror’ is in fact an internal battle, afterall nobody speaks this harshly… Continue reading Internal saboteurs

The creative Spirit unleashed!

In partnership with Gordon Harris Art Supplies in Wellington I’ll soon be starting a new weekday painting class in Wellington. They’ve got a small but fabulous workshop space in their new store at 182 Vivian St, and I’ll be starting up a class there for a couple hours every Wednesday afternoon. We’ll be working on… Continue reading The creative Spirit unleashed!

The furnace of peace

A little over a week ago I was sitting by a small lake, my feet in the cool water soaking in the extraordinary peacefulness that filled the air and touched my soul, silent but for the summer sounds of the birds singing all around us, the frogs and fish snatching insects on the waters surface,… Continue reading The furnace of peace

Undercurrents

   “the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us. Not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The silence that is a place of refuge of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are.” ~Rachel Naomi Rem