Nature was an important inspiration for Valerie Heinz. She painted driftwood on windswept beaches and wild ocean swells, but was especially drawn to the beech forests of Te Tai Poutini West Coast. Heinz frequently tramped in alpine areas near Arthur's Pass, making many paintings in response. “I have never wanted to paint the forest from a distance”, she said, “but as though the mud was beneath my boots and the foliage was dripping from above.” The steep, tree-clad hills in this work are near the Taramakau River, which extends from Nōti Taramakau Harper Pass down to Te Tai-o-Rehua Tasman Sea. Its upper reaches were renowned by Kāi Tahu as both a source of pounamu and an accessible travel route through Kā Tiritiri-o-te-moana Southern Alps.

Kāi Tahu ~ tribal group of much of Te Waipounamu South Island

pounamu ~ greenstone

(He Kapuka Oneone – A Handful of Soil, 2025)