Whanganui is set on a grand river with a steamboat! There are river and mountain views, historic buildings, a black sand beach and pretty parks to paint. This will be a time to relax after Splash 2019 is all completed and before the Christmas action hits!

Paintaway in Whanganui – a First Timer’s Impressions

Report by Tina Seifarth
Will I fit in? Will I make a fool of myself? Will I be good enough? … Why are artists such a self-doubting lot? Anyway, to make it short, of course all my doubts were pointless and I had a great time with a great bunch of lovely people, who had come from all over New Zealand, from Blenheim in the South to Whangarei in the North. Most of us stayed at the Whanganui River Top 10 Holiday Park, which offers a variety of motel accommodations as well as a camping area for tents and campervans.

Sue Wild found many interesting places for us to paint, so every outing offered new challenges – the Saturday market, old buildings in the CBD, beautifully restored villas, or dilapidated ones, views over the river valley, an old church with a crooked spire, Kai Iwi beach, the Bason Botanic Gardens (the flower garden is truly magical, if you ask me) and more to choose from. Whanganui and its surroundings offer so many paintable sights we could have stayed another two weeks without running short of inspiration. It was so nice to be painting alongside like-minded people, having the opportunity to get advice from experienced artists like Jacky Pearson, Charlotte Hird and Pete James. And would you believe it, Pete even sold the painting of an old shed on the
spot, while painting it.

Apart from dinner at a restaurant on Saturday, we gathered at Sue’s accommodation every evening, to share food, drinks and chat, and discuss our impressive, daily-growing exhibition. One of the most impressive paintings for me was from Sandy Kincaid. It showed how a seemingly “failed” painting can turn into an almost abstract one with strong, expressive brushstrokes, even if it’s unintentional!

A big thank you to Sue Wild for organising a wonderful event, also to Lynne Crooks, Lynne Ciochetto and Sandy Kincaid for making tasty shared dinners and to every participant for making it so enjoyable and interesting. I can’t wait to meet you all again.