Technique
Acrylic on Canvas.
Measurements
940 x 1120mm.
Exhibition - Tamatea / Dusky Sound
Distant peaks glow in the evening light, leaves tinkle as they pick up the gold flecks cast out from the setting sun, their reflection mirror perfect on the oily sea, masking the depths below. A new sunrise is masked by a turbulent sky, deep purple crashes against angry blue. Water pours from the heavens, the land hidden by silvery veil.
How to capture the many moods of such a dramatic landscape, delicate and fragile, harsh and unforgiving, timeless yet tenuous?
And the history written in the hills, whispered by the rustling leaves, shouting by the roaring wind? Listen closely, these remote and seldom visited waters have much to tell and many secrets safely locked away.
About the artwork
These days it’s hard to imagine Dusky Sound brimming with activity and industry. It wasn’t so long ago that Dusky Sound was one of the most populated places in New Zealand albeit by chance. The sealing and whaling trades were lucrative and southern New Zealand provided and abundance of seals.
One of the first ships to stop by was the Brittania in 1795. However it did not stay, it only dropped off a gang of sealers and continued on to harvest whales off the coast of Brazil promising to return on the homeward journey. The sealers were sceptical and set about building their own ship with the local timbers just in case. Amazingly the whalers returned to collect them a year later and the almost finished ship wasn’t needed.
Years later an old merchant ship called the ‘Endeavour’ left Sydney with support vessel, the ‘Fancy. The Tasman was too much for the old ship and it became obvious that she was beyond repair. Luckily they made it into Dusky Sound before she totally fell apart. The decent timber and anything of value was saved and the rest of it sunk. There were 244 people stranded, including 46 stowaways and some abandoned whalers and sealers. They set about turning the ‘Fancy’, and sealers locally constructed ship into seagoing vessels. The majority of the people sailed away after only a matter of weeks. But the two new boats couldn’t accomodate everyone so the people left behind converted one of the ‘Endeavor’s’ long boats to suit their needs. They set sail in March of 1796 leaving 35 people behind to hunt and gather what they could to survive while waiting for the next ship. It would be an American whaler just over a year later.
Shipping
Free of charge within New Zealand.
