I remember many years ago an old artist friend and mentor said, “Artists never retire.” I said,”Why not? Can’t they afford too?” He grinned. “It’s like they say, a woman’s work is never done. Nor is an artist’s.” It has taken me a life time to get to the point where I must acknowledge his point. When young, all things seem possible. Middle age, I realise that I can’t do it all, yet I can do quite a lot. Now? At 80? So much to do, so little time.
When my eightieth birthday approached I thought about a retrospective. No. Not happening. I’m not finished. This my eightieth year is not a time to look back, but to continue to look forward. So much still to do and I’m going to do quite a lot of it. I don’t know how many years are left to me, no one ever does, but this I do know: when I fall I will fall facing forward, not looking back.
In my landscape painting career there have been four great subjects: The mountains, the rivers, the lakes and the sea. This year I started in our lovely Maitai River valley, today I’m exploring Croiseilles Harbour, mid year when the snow is down and the Mackenzie Country calls, I will be setting my easel up before Mount Cook, Lake Ohau, and in the Ahuriri Valley. Spring will find me heading to Taranaki for the Rhododendron Festival, naturally via the Rangitikei River, Ruapehu, the other Wanganui River, then up the coast to Stratford, New Plymouth and my old chums. I will continue to post my adventures I hope that you will come along and enjoy them. As they say,
Artists never retire…