Christmas Trees in New Zealand

Some of Our Christmas Trees

This photo is a composite from several very old photographs, taken

almost one hundred years ago, of our trees and bush canopy.  The rest are

some that I have taken more recently.  May these amazing trees never

burn as Australian trees, native creatures and people's habitat are

burning at present.

Our beautiful Christmas tree, the pohutukawa

On Ulva Island

At Bushy Park

This paradise duck and her seven ducklings were all swimming in the sea

and digging into the seaweed. We saw them on Stewart Island just

a month ago. 

Australia burning.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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Stewart Island New Zealand

A Visit to Stewart Island

Last month we visited Stewart Island the third island of New Zealand.

We were lucky as it was a quiet couple of days before the 

tourists returned after Labour Weekend.  We went to

Ulva Island and this is the bay which we left from. The most

amazing amount of seaweed grew around the rocks and you

can see some in the foreground.

Here is a tui feasting on our native fuschia tree, this is unlike

the garden varieties as it grows into a small distinctive tree.

The tui is a honey eater.

This is the bush on Ulva Island, this island is alive with birds, many of

which can no longer be see on our mainland except in special reserves.

We had barely got off the boat than we saw yellow crowned parakeets

and the lovely kakariki nesting in a hole in a tree.

This is a sketch of the micro flora which grows beneath this canopy,

our amazing guide - also called Ulva, spent some time

naming the tiny mosses, liverworts, orchids and ferns

which were growing in the leaf litter.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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The Moon on the Otago Peninsular in New Zealand

The Moon on the Otago Peninsular 

A lovely beautiful but cold place and yes we were lucky, we saw the moon

through the clouds one night we were there.  To celebrate this I made

a series of drawings while I worked in the Charles Brasch studio.

What a studio - I was so lucky to be able to use it.

Firstly in memory of those who have gone before, probably gone without and

who are now remembered through the efforts of a group of far sighted

Broard Bay dwellers here is a photo of Anna Caselberg's studio, just

how it was and how it is kept.

And here are some of my drawings of the moon with thanks to Galileo.

Phases of the Moon

Moon Phase Seven

Moon Phase Twenty One

Moon Phase Twelve

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All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

Captain James Cook and Elizabeth Batts Cook

Captain James Cook and Elizabeth Cook

It is 250 years since Captain James Cook came to New Zealand, his wife
was Elizabeth Batts Cook and James and Elizabeth had
six children.

All of Elizabeth's children died young, two soon after they were
born and the eldest was only 24.  She however,went on to live
until she was 94, luckily she received a pension after Jame's death.

I made some paintings around her and what her life must have been
like with an often absent husband and ailing children.

This is a painting of her wall paper

These are her Court Shoes

This is the Endeavour

This is James Cook's waistcoat.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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Autumn in Auckland New Zealand

Autumn in Auckland 

A beautiful April Autumn at Point Chevalier in Auckland, some hardy people were still

swimming and some sunbathing.  My little granddaughter walked along the beach

with me helping to collect beautiful shells and coloured leaves for

making paintings.

This small beach has sand which is made entirely of course broken shells it is

flanked by old pohutukawa trees.  These shed a variety of leaves

perfect for copying, some are bright red and orange, some are beige

and  covered in darker spots.  There are also some gum trees

which gave us a variety of striped leaves or rainbow leaves

as my five year old companion described them.

This collection was made from leaves in the street where we were staying.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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The Winter Gardens Auckland New Zealand

A Visit to the Winter Gardens Auckland

It is always a pleasure to visit the Winter Gardens in Auckland, in April there

was a riot of chrysanthemums, dahlias and many other species which

I could only guess at.

My little granddaughter loved the water lilies, peering into the water we

could see shoals of tiny fish.

There were so many people photographing these chrysanthemums

that I had to dodge around them to get any shots.

The spikey ones are my favourites and what a wonderful smell

so evocative!

This beautiful flowering plant was covered in blossom.

.

Auckland was at its' Autumny best with glorious sunny days and then 

some thunder and heavy showers.  This photo, taken from the garden where

we were staying, shows what appeared to be a tornado breaking up.

All imaged copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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Artist's Photographs from the Residency Whanganui New Zealand

Some Photos from Whanganui

Here are some photos from Whanganui where we spent the last month at the

Glasgow St Arts Centre.  The first one is an old one probably taken about

1923, it shows my Mother at Virginia Lake feeding the black swans and 

the ducks.

She was born in Whanganui in 1913 and lived there until 1925.  Here she is wearing

school uniform, is it the Girl's College uniform?  I know that she was attending there

when they left.

An image from Virginia Lake in January, now we could see only white swans.

Taken at the Bason Reserve where we went to visit the orchid houses and 

the gardens..

Some of the bush at Bush Park.  We were lucky enough to see hihi and  

tīeke as we walked through the bush to see Ratanui the giant rata tree.  So many

changes and improvements since our last visit.

Lastly but not least a picture of Wild Castlecliff, the wind was blowing off the

sea and it was impossible to walk far to take photos.  My Grandmother used to

tell me about catching the tram out to Castlecliff and having to walk on

flax mats down to the sea as the black sand was so hot.

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All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

New Paintings from a wild garden in New Zealand

Wild Garden Paintings 

I have been working as artist in residence at the Glasgow Street Arts Centre in

Whanganui for the last two weeks.  The weather has been hot, sometimes

the paint dries so quickly that it is difficult to find that space that you

need to work things through.

Anyway here are some of my paintings just called 

Wild Garden Series

Let's see what the next two weeks will find.

All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019

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