Bill Sutton spent many years travelling throughout the Canterbury landscape, observing, drawing, working en plein air and attempting to understand the land he was born into and dedicated so much of his life to representing. 'Murals (Waikari)' can be seen as paying homage to the early artists of the Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe and Kāi Tahu tribes. Sutton has applied a considered distance, contextualising their pigment drawings as part of the greater, interior image of the Canterbury landscape.Sutton would again acknowledge Māori presence in the local landscape in his suite of 'Te Tihi o Kahukura' watercolours and oils during the 1970s. (March 2018)