"I’ve been living in New Zealand for about a year now. It embodies such a good foundation for creativity, core values like family, nature and surfing. All quite important to me in regards to inspiration and getting in a positive head space. I’ve always wanted to go to Taranaki. I was looking forward to jumping in the water, exploring some of the volcano trails and getting some waves. It’s quite a legendary spot in regards to New Zealand surf culture so I was excited to check it out.

To little surprise, it was the volcano which made the most impression on me during my trip. I didn’t realise how majestic and vertical the mountain was, and how close it was to these cool coastal towns in the region. It was almost like the volcano fed the good energy to the culture as I felt like they were all based on the beauty of this quiet giant. By doing a full loop around the volcano, I feel like every angle was different and this really helped gauge different aspects of light and terrain which was what I was most interested in. There are so many elements in regards to proximity of the coast and quickly changing weather conditions that sometimes it didn’t feel like the same volcano. With these changes, came different tones, sometimes even opposite from one side to the other.

Inspired by my experiences I have created my interpretation of the volcano itself. I was hoping to embody the many different surfaces and color changes it goes through over the course of a day. There is some depth involved and this serves as my translation of scale and perspective as I made my trip around this beauty."

Day 1
Leaving Auckland and headed southbound towards Taranaki. Tons and tons of farm land.. as we get closer to the coast I start to see a lot more native bush and landscapes. Very cool towns to pass through and it seems everyone has a skatepark or a least a 3 foot vert ramp haha! The western beaches here are all black sands with loads of volcanic minerals.. As we get closer to New Plymouth, I can see Mt. Taranaki in the horizon. It’s huge! The landscape in general reminds me quite a bit of the pacific north west. Super rugged and beautiful.

Day 2
I’m settling into a town just south of New Plymouth called Oakura. Super beachy and pretty, very small with a grocery store and a few restaurants. Nice to be close to the city but also at the gateway to the south and the volcano. The place I’m staying at has a pizzeria just in-front of our house.. and a half pipe. The beach is within walking distance and there’s quite a few people enjoying the sun as it’s a NZ holiday at the moment. We hit the wood-burning oven pizzeria down the hill for dinner and enjoy the sunset!

Day 3
Today I’m checking out south Taranaki. From Oakura, I drove away from New Plymouth to the farther reach of the western coast. As you get out of the smaller suburbs, things get much more remote along “Route 45 surf highway”. Grassy paddocks with the Tasman on one side and the distant volcano on the other. The first stop I made was Stend Rd. a classic surf spot, quite the novelty as you can drive right up to the parking lot/grassy bit next to the rocks. Very beautiful and very alive in regards to beauty and the elements hitting from all angles. I followed the coast around to the Cape light house to explore a bit more. More grassy landscape with rocks outlining the very blue sea. From there I jumped down the coast to Opunake.

A super quaint vacation town with a sheltered beach surrounded by cliffs. Onwards and back towards home, I took the route closes to the volcano in hopes to get a better look. It’s almost like you go in a perfect radius around it, exposing different angles with light changes as you make your way around. I stopped for a quick second on some dudes farm to snap a time lapse. It’s crazy to see and feel how much energy comes from the volcano. Steam and low clouds seem to hover around at all times. Very beautiful experience today. headed home for now to start painting some of my canvases on the back deck.

Day 4
First day of rain in NZ in a while it feels like and this area is such a sponge for rain so I think it needed a bit of a storm. Solid coffee at my friends spot called crystal cylinder in New Plymouth. Great crew and great coffee. So good to see a like minded subculture exist doing cool things in their community. After coffee and a visit to the Govett-Brewster art gallery then head home for a surf. After a surf the sun popped out towards the late afternoon to create this crazy sunset the lit up the sky in pinks and purples.

I went for a walk on the black sand beach in front of my place in Oakura to see some of the effects of the rain and erosion on the sand due to the passing storm. The run outs and rips create these tide pools in different wavy shapes. That mixed with the color reflecting from the sunset was quite a magical moment. It made me think a bit more about the shapes created by natural movements made by nature, flows and turns. Nothing planned or protected, just water creating path ways back to the sea.

Day 5
No clouds today and the volcano is finally showing its peak. I had an early morning surf in front of the house, pretty incredible as there’s no one in sight. Later came a school bus of kids from “the green school”, apparently a bit of a thing here in regards to nurturing the open minded or forward thinking youngins. All around the age of 12, I asked what they’re up to and they said we are studying erosion and drawing pictures of our local coast lines to compare in a few weeks. Very cool.

A quick coffee and we head the the other side of New Plymouth, towards Awakino. First stop was Fitzroy Beach, probably the more prominent surf dude/culture beach in the area. The surf was really good and I found a proper beach house made out of driftwood on the beach! Driving up the coast, the coast line faces directly west, so it just gets torn apart by huge storms and strong winds coming off the Tasman. That said, the landscape fully embraces this as it’s incredibly rugged and dramatic, full of crazy cliffs and salt spray.

As you drive away from New Plymouth, it seems the views of Mt. Taranaki get better, you’re able to see the size against the surroundings, rolling hills and blue seas. On the drive up I stopped at The Three Sisters and elephant Rock. So majestic as there’s these giant rocks in the midst of the breaking waves. Just at the viewing point, there’s a low key ice cream/burger place that’s amazing for a quick break. The next stop is Mokau, a small coastal town where the river meets the sea, leaving drift wood everywhere, from large tree trunks to smaller branches. I did a quick study in regards to placement and how things would land after their journey from who knows. I can imagine quite a few shipwrecks here!

Day 6
Headed home! Taranaki was such a beautiful place and tons to take in, in a relatively short period of time no less. I feel like I could spend weeks down there to fully take it in. The view of landscape changes so quickly and so dramatically given that western cape nestled up to the volcano back drop. With those sharp weather changes comes different lighting and surface textures due to the gale forced winds. I think subconsciously I was taking note on the surrounding tones and the light changes on the mountain and on the sea. It went perfect with music.

When I approach this artwork, I feel I’ll consider the above but also think about the way things in nature place themselves after a transition, water movements, trees, clouds and sand. It’s the worlds unconscious, and Taranaki was quite the place to witness it all moving together.