This article first appeared in The Press on 30 March 2005

In the spring of 1914, Frances Hodgkins looked out from the cool interior of a barn in Picardy, northern France, and shaped vigorous black lines into wandering hens, the corner of a farm wagon, rustic beams, the outline of a wall. Transparent watercolour wash covered the light-filled centre, while splashes of colour defined potted geraniums, fresh green leaves and pink blossom. Hodgkins had arrived in May at the tiny cliff-top village of Equihen, Boulogne-sur-Mer, to paint and teach from an artists' studio cottage perched high above the roar of the English Channel. While the setting of her studio - on the edge of the village by rolling farmland - delighted her, she had reached here with little will to paint, and very much in a state of shock.

This article first appeared in The Press on 17 November 2004

The 4th November 2004 marked the centennial anniversary of the death of the Canterbury artist, William Montague Nevin Watkins (1835-1904). Having lived in Akaroa for most of his life Watkins, known as ‘Will the artist' to his friends, produced a substantial body of paintings relating to Banks Peninsula, particularly of Akaroa's inner harbour. The scene which unfolds in Akaroa Harbour is one of the best known and loved views of Banks Peninsula. It is as popular with today's mosdern tourists who care to make the drive over the winding road from Little River to Barry's Pass, known as the Hilltop, as it was with travellers of the 19th century. The sweeping panorama offered from the vantage point of the Hilltop provides an impressive view of Akaroa's upper harbour with Barry's Bay and the distinctive tear drop shape of Onawe Peninsula directly below. Akaroa, nestled into the hills and valleys below Stony Bay Peak, is to be seen in the distance. The breathtaking scene invites the tourist to descend down into the harbour and explore the beautiful landscape below.