patriciahowitt.com

Above my house is a steep-sisided hill with a volcanic rock rising from the top. - the plug of a volcano, which I hope is extinct.

It’s a very special place, that was used by the local Maori tribe in days gone by as a burial ground.  It was totally tapu, and though some of the tapu has since been removed, it is still a place of mystery that demands respect.

Until recently, we had kiwis on the hill and often heard them calling at night.  I can remember one night being outside late in the dark, when sudeenly a particularly guttural, loud, wailing cry resounded from deep in the bush on the slopes above the house.  Everything I know about the history of the place hit me in a flash, and I literally shot inside the house as if something was on my tail.

This painting says it all.  It combines the outline of the hillside against an early night sky with the flare of the rising moon and my rendition of an ancestral figure casting his cloak across the sacred mountain.

The Butler River is a tributary of the Whataroa, one of the great rivers that descends from the Southern Alps to the West Coast of New Zealand. It is about a day’s walk from the rivermouth to the Butler Hut, situated on the confluence of the Butler and the Whataroa Rivers.

I spent a memorable week in there with a couple of hunters out after chamois, and on one day we followed the Butler River up from the Hut to its source at Butler Lake, up above the snowline.  It was quite a hard day’s walking on the track through the bush beside the river, skirting  boulders and pools on the way.  These are great boulder rivers and as you climb higher the stream bed gets more and more interesting.

The weather was actually very pleasant, but for some reason when I came to do this painting, the atmosphere of the bush and the roaring river took over, and the feel of the painting is definitely overcast and rainy.

So here is a study of the higher reaches of the Butler on a grey drizzly day when the waters, fed by rain, are churning their way down the boulder banks and the limited visibility lends itself to an almost monochromatic effect. On a day like this the sound of the river drowns out everything else.

Painted in Oils on Board.   Actual size: 20in x 31in.
Sold - Christchurch NZ.

Patricia

This scene in the Coromandel, on the western side of the Bay of Plenty, has a fascinating, wild wilderness feel about it which is what prompted me to paint it.  It truly conveys the evocative nature of some of New Zealand’s wild places.

Feel all the mystery of the earth’s wild places in one landscape that combines all the elements - rolling hills clad in dense forests, steep slopes and lofty pinnacles.

In the background, an inlet bathed in golden evening light.

Acrylic on Board. Overall size is 16″ x 13.25″.  Artist’s Collection.

Right up at the top of the Far North of New Zealand, the land narrows.  On the east coast are some wonderful bays and beaches, and on the west coast is our famous 90 Mile Beach. The road goes up the east coast, and 90 Mile Beach, officially classed as a highway, provides an alternative route.

Bus tours taking vistors to see the Cape reinga lighthouse at the point where the Pacific Ocen and the tasman Sea collide, do a round trip - and Te Paki Stream links the eastern road with the Beach.

This is a quicksand stream that has to be navigated by drivers who know what they are doing.   90 Mile beach is also subject to quicksand and has very limited exits for vehicles caught by the tide - so tour bus or horseback is definitely the way to go.

Acrylic painting 12″ x 10″ - sketch on card only.  In my collection.

Moonshine lies between Wellington and the southern end of the Tararua Ranges.  In the days when I was spending my weekend in the hills, this was a very favorite place to go for day trips.

“Moonshine” is a name that’s quite evocative - it makes one think of mystery, intrigue, rural living, and for some reason it also conjures up overtones of moonlight and benevolent magic.  Form out in these hills one did in fact get some wuite magical glimpses of Wellington Harbour, the beauty of which is hard to beat on a good day.

I doubt these hills are in tussock now - they have probably been converted to pine plantations, which is a pity because the bare shapes of the rippling hills were a joy to walk in.

This little sketch doesn’t show much topography, but for me it encapsulates the mysterious atmosphere of the place.

Sketch - Acrylic on card 10″ x 10″.

Patricia

This very special rock formation overlooks Whangaroa Harbour about 15 minutes drive north of where I live. Seen from other angles, it is like a long flat table mountain with the narrow profile being presented in this painting. It has a very powerful presence on the Harbour and the surrounding landscape.

It does not take much imagination to realise that this has been, and still is, a very sacred place for the people of this area.

It is close to the main State Highway 10 and it overlooks Whangaroa Harbour.  Because of its unusual shape, the look of it changes quite dramatically, depending where it’s viewed from.

I painted this in 1980 and it was exhibited locally that year.  I held on to it for several years, but I finally sold it to a visitor from Ashburton in the South Island, who bought it purely for the spiritually uplifting qualities he found in it.

Acrylic on board:  36in x 24in.  Sold - Ashburton NZ 1984.

Patricia

This site is going to display the artworks that I’ve been creating and selling for years, around the edges of a full-time career as a government lawyer.

My art is on display in private collections in Wellington, Auckland, Whangarei, Kerikeri,   Hamilton, Bay of Plenty, Christchurch, Ashburton, Dunedin - New Zealand, and overseas in Queensland and New South Wales - Australia;   California, Washington, North Carolina - USA; Canada and France.

Hundreds of copies of my limited edition Portfolio of Game Mammals prints collection sold throughout New Zealand, and to visitors fom overseas.

I have illustrated for newspapers, Government Publications, catalogues, posters and books, mainly in landscape and wildlife art.

I have exhibited work in New Zealand and abroad.

In 1999 I won the Telecom Art Award, and my artwork featured on the front cover of the Telecom Phone Book for Northland, New Zealand for the year 2000.

In 2001 I won a local award for road signage for Twin Coast Discovery Highway  for Transit NZ.

I am going to be uploading works regularly to this site, so please subscribe to the RSS Feed and chack back often.

Patricia