My Journey

I have always had an interest in art. In fact, my favourite subject at school was Art History. I don’t think it was only because I studied Art History for just one year whilst I seemed to have to endure Science for ever!

For years I was involved in graphic design and book production and also in owning and running a printing business so creativity in the design and layout sense was always important and present.

I had a hankering for learning to paint for years but had neither the time nor the resources to commit to that until quite recently. Through reading, experimentation, trying and failing and trying again, and more latterly with the help of YouTube, I began painting in acrylics. My initial efforts involved biblical scenes that I had seen pictures of and I used these as “tools of learning.”

My first painting for sale was created from a number of photographs. The painting was of an old and very interesting hut in an area I was looking at because many of the locations and features were named after a namesake, John Henry Whitcombe. There is Mount Whitcombe, the Whitcombe River, Whitcombe Pass, Whitcombe Valley and even a park in Hokitika called Whitcombe Park.

I followed this with a painting of the Jean Hut, also found in the Southern Alps. It fascinated me because it is clad in the metal from 44 gallon drums which were somehow carried up the mountainside and then cut and beaten into metal sheets!!

My focus continues to be landscape paintings of various and diverse scenes from around this beautiful country we live in. I am seeking to extend myself by painting a variety of scenery from farmlands to waterfalls and to iconic New Zealand destinations.