RETURN AFTER A EUROPEAN SOJOURN

My collection from various art experiences in Europe

Coming back after travel is often both difficult and exciting for me. Settling into a completely different rhythm and accepting the comedown can be challenging, yet it’s wonderful to reconnect with people and pets again. Getting back on my snowboard with my sisters or slipping into the water for a soak feels fantastic.

Hello you.....Miss Belladonna Biscuit (my little sisters jack - 3yrs)

Playing around with perspective, I would have liked more of the lake water in the back ground here

Losing my dad almost three years ago was followed by a number of consecutive losses. For me, losing a parent heightened my sense of life’s fragility, especially concerning my mum, who features in the photograph above. She lies peacefully, like a precious sleeping giant, beside the sky drawing, Water, on the Lake Wanaka waterfront.

Sharing time with her and developing the Elemental photographic series has been extraordinary. We’ve headed off on some challenging expeditions. She’s been a champion, even when the locations have been slippery, prickly, gritty, hot, cold, windy, wet, filthy, or downright obscure. These shoots demand a high level of physical fitness and often involve me rolling around with my chin literally in the dirt.

Shooting in the remnants a Lewis Pass wildfire

Beautiful but freezing conditions at the Dog Kennel Corner shoot

A failed attempt to capture Elemental series in the snow

Many of the captures fail: the lighting, twigs, grasses, land gradient (honestly, most backdrops) interfere with the linear qualities of these pieces. It’s been harder than I anticipated.

I often have to remind myself to practice self-compassion. After heading home from a failed photography session, I feel like a dog with its tail between its legs. Since losing my beautiful cat Izzy, my current go-to is visiting my older sister’s Pomeranian, Ludo. After that essential dopamine hit and some yoga, I manage to hit reset.

Ludo darling (15yrs)

Then, on the next shoot, I get lucky and take a photograph that lights me up. It captures the beauty of Lake Tekapo and its surrounding landscape while allowing the contrast of the line drawing to come through clearly.

Mum putting up with my eccentricities and taking a few snaps from her point of view.

'Water' in situation, Lake Tekapo, Aotearoa, NZ (2025)