Saturday 21 December 2019

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


Tuesday 3 December 2019

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

Sunday 10 November 2019

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



All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019




Thursday 19 September 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




Sunday 7 July 2019

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




Saturday 11 May 2019

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

Tuesday 5 February 2019

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  
tÄ«eke 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.


All images copyright Frances Jill Studd 2019






Saturday 12 January 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