Welcome back to my blog!
Four weeks ago I boarded a plane in Aukland and flew home to England after touring one of the most beautiful and welcoming countries in the world for six weeks. Upon arrival home, I felt a little unwell and under the advice of my doctor I was instructed to self-isolate as Covid was beginning to spread and as I had flown through Thailand I was at risk of being exposed. By the time my 2-week self-isolation had ended, my day job had sent everyone home and closed the office.
Being locked in my own home, so recently after touring the world has been a brutal culture shock and I’m struggling to find ways to express myself creatively. So to give me a mini outlet I have re-introduced a blog to my website for the first time since I left University. I am not going to make too many commitments on how many times I hope to post on this, but I feel with plans for next year – applying to begin my teaching qualification – that it will be beneficial to keep some level of the log of creative work I attempt and complete.
In a direct response to being unable to be the places I want to be, I have begun to look back over the photographs I took whilst in New Zealand and in particular during an excursion in the South Island. This part of New Zealand remains the least spoilt by man’s impact. The coast remains untamed and rugged and the Fiordland national park is a monument to how inhospitable new Zealand would have been.
I’m going to attempt a landscape painting (the first for a year or so) of a generally unremarkable photograph of Nugget Point lighthouse which sits on top of a cliff face that is home to a few thousand Penguins. The crop for this photo leaves it feeling slightly off balance and using other images taken on and close to this spot I hope to make a more balanced painting and refresh some skills in the process. I’ll update with the final product once completed.
Stay safe everyone!