Its certainly been a long time since I’ve written a blog but now seems to be an ideal time to kick start that habit again.
A little bit of background …. Peter and I left Greece at the end of January for a trip to Los Angeles, and for me then onto Sydney and New Zealand. All went well until it was time for my return to LA to meet up with Peter, celebrate his Mum’s 91st birthday and then head for the desert for a bit of exploration and sketching (for me anyway) among the wonderful desert rocks in Arizona and Utah. Covid-19, which was something happening only in China when we left, had taken off on its devastating path, which led to my flight to LA being cancelled. Peter tried to come and join me, and the day before his flight the NZ Govt restricted arrivals to only residents, so he was unable to get on his flight. He did finally manage to get back to Greece, and after ending his 14 day isolation was very happy to be able to get into his daily walks along the beach.
I was very lucky to be holed up in Taupo with a lovely friend from way back, Christina who is so generously shared her house with me. We did lots of lounging about, like everyone else worldwide I imagine. I don’t usually travel with much in the way of painting materials, particularly when visiting family and friends, but did thankfully throw in my trusty sketching pencil case and White Knight watercolour paints. I also managed to get 2 watercolour pads, some coloured inks and a tube of gesso in Auckland, when I had no idea of the severity of things.
Below is an example of what I created in Lockdown in Taupo, which was totally inspired by walk around the lakeside. When things eased a little, I went to Hawkes Bay and stayed with lovely friends and family there.
I did finally get back to Koroni after many cancelled flights in mid July, and have since been enjoying the summer sunshine, though its been a little hot at times.