Looking forward to going home...


HAPPY CHRISTMAS  |  Acrylic on Stretched Cotton Canvas  |  20cm x 20cm

Another year is speeding by and I feel in the air that the holidays are coming...


Here in New Zealand it means summer and a long stretch of still, fine weather and a life near water - surrounded by sea, lakes and rivers, there are few land locked places here - the choices are about where we'll go. 


It's easy to decide year on year to go back home to Lake Taupo, the biggest lake in the country; an enormous crater lake where I'm told that no-one has ever been able to find the true depth. Well, I reason, if it's a crater lake, doesn't that mean the water goes right down into the centre of the earth?! It was a scary thought as a kid...and played in the bays without venturing out to the 'shelf'.


When greeting in our Maori culture, we introduce ourselves (mihi) telling about where we come from - my mountain (maunga), my river (awa), my water (moana), and I will always call Lake Taupo my moana - ko Taupo toku moana. When I paint my moana, I'm aware of this depth, and size, choosing textures to show the scale, and colours for the deep, the many, blues of where I grew up. 


And it's always a joy to create a memory of home :)


Yay, Christmas at home, and of course looking forward to seeing my family, I hope you're looking forward to a break too, best wishes, Linda


See a painting of Lake Taupo here




Comments