In December North and South Islanders participated in another successful Paintaway, this time in Carterton and the surrounding Wairarapa. We were especially happy to have our Patron Adrienne Pavelka join us.

On Friday evening we gathered at the Carterton RSA for a drink followed by a very tasty buffet meal, well catered by the Club. We were reacquainted with and welcomed the new painters and partners. A Paintaway event can be daunting for first timers though the camaraderie soon makes everyone comfortable.

The drizzle and cold wind cleared by lunchtime on Saturday. Some of us spent the morning painting up a storm in the Carterton township before heading east to Stonehenge Aotearoa for a sunny afternoon’s sketching. Once again we enjoyed refreshments and convivial company at the Value Café courtesy of Pavithra. A beautiful evening was spent eating à la carte at the popular Gladstone Inn.

We enjoyed sunshine for our Sunday sojourn in Jacky Pearson’s picturesque organic garden. Adrienne and Jacky each gave a demonstration of watercolour technique, appreciated by all. There were opportunities to paint farmyard animals, a challenge in itself! A pop-up exhibition of over 50 paintings in the RSA dining room drew the locals into see our efforts and sales were made. Dinner that evening was a delicious Mexican buffet at the RSA, followed by a poetry reading by John Howell.

On Monday after meeting for coffee most drove south to paint the dramatic coastline, Ngawi Beach and rusty bulldozers, and the Cape Palliser Lighthouse, while a couple of us went down to Lake Ferry to spend a divine day in the sunshine painting the cliffs and the Lake Ferry inlet. Dinner that evening at an Indian restaurant in Carterton saw the end to another successful Watercolour New Zealand event. Thank you to Charlotte and Pavithra for their time organising the event.

~Libby Kemp