harakeke korimako

Harakeke Korimako

3 canvases 205mm x 205mm x 35mm each

Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas


This work was one that I was particularly pleased with. I have been wanting to extend my use of colour, I can be a little nervous of using too many as it is so easy to get carried away with it. I really like the introduction of the orange within the pattern in the background. The koirmako / bellbirds turned out wickedly also.

hei tiki kahurangi

Hei Tiki Kahurangi

305mm x 405mm x 35mm

Archival quality acrylicson canvas


Here is one of my latest works. I was interested in seeing what would happen if I used a blue background. One of the meanings of kahurangi is blue. It can also translate to mean jewel, a treasured possession and is one of the most prized forms of pounamu (greenstone, New Zealand jade).

puriri piwakawkaka

3 canvases 205mm x 205mm x 35mm each
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas


Here two little piwakawaka (fantails)chatter to each other. I am trying to look to other ways to add a life-like vitality to the birds / manu that I paint, showing movement or singing, chirping is a way that I can do that. The branches of the puriri tree are more cropped into the foliage than what I normally depict. This opens up the composition and allows the piwakawaka to be the main focus. It increases the naturalism of the scene.

tui mouku

Diptych 2 canvases 305mm x 225mm x 35mm
Archival quality acrylics and gesso on canvas


This was a commission that I really enjoyed working upon, it features a tui perched among flowers of ngutu-kaka (kaka beak). I am really happy with how I have managed to further explore playing with simplified kowhaiwhai forms in the tui's collar feathers. The background has layered up silhouetted of mouku (hen and chicken fern).