12 February 2025

Four sketchbook pages showing views of Whitanga, New Zealand, 2017

James Brown

Four sketchbook pages showing views of Whitanga, New Zealand, 2017

Pencil with watercolour on bond paper

Size of each page: 13.1 x 20.9 cm

In 2017, I spent several days making these drawings from the shaded luxury of a motel room that offered panoramic views of Whitanga, a seaside town on the beautiful Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand's North Island.

Mercury Bay on which Whitanga is situated is undeniably spectacular, but more vivid in my memory is the lush green of the mountains and rich farmlands stretching away from the coast. During our stay, Isabelle and I were lucky to have a friend living nearby who took us for a drive through the local countryside. Interestingly, I learnt an important fact on this drive that I can now share: bulls live in paddocks pockmarked with hoof ruts, while cows live in paddocks where the ground is unbroken and smooth. I guess the real lesson is that one should not linger on rutted pastures. 















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