Landscapes

Castle Combe in the Cotswolds in South West England has the enviable reputation as the prettiest village in England. I feel I have captured the essence of this peaceful town.

This location is near Lake Pearson in Canterbury on the West Coast Road.
I painted this watercolour on one of my annual pilgrimages to this beautiful spot to paint with a group of Canterbury watercolourists. It has taken me a long time to capture the feel of this area but I believe I got it on this occasion.
Framed watercolour. 665mm x 365mm.

Kaitangata is about an hour South of Dunedin at the mouth of the Clutha River and is known for the coal that is mined there. The farmhouse I have painted is on the road that joins up with the Main South Road back to Dunedin. I have taken the liberty to go back in time and replace the tar sealed road with a gravel road, and add some figures and a feisty dog. Can you pick them out? The painting is framed and measures 455mm x 370mm.

 View from St Martins Island overlooking the homestead and the Portobello Aquarium on Otago Peninsula. Unframed 254mm x 354mm.

Hey! How peaceful is this? A lone boat indicates that fishing is over for the day, or the others are out at sea.
This location is about thirty kilometres from Dunedin and you can still buy fresh fish off the boats. Yum!
This framed watercolour was painted on 300gsm not pressed paper. SOLD

Lovely big washes and a limited palette.
It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I hope it does for you too. This scene exists in my imagination, so if you recognize it, please let me know.
Watercolour on 300gsm not pressed paper. Framed.

 Flock Hill is in Canterbury, New Zealand, and is the remote location for an annual meeting of like minded artists for a weekend of art, socializing, and general camaraderie and exchange of ideas. We tend to focus our attention on the spectacular mountain and lake scenery, but I continue to find the red farm buildings interesting enough to paint against the mountain back drop. This unframed watercolour measures 346 x 312.

 I have a painting group that comes every Monday evening to learn watercolour painting. "How would you paint a stream?" I was asked one night. The best way I could describe that was to demonstrate it. So this little scene is pure imagination, and I think I managed to convey a misty stream quite well. What do you think? This framed watercolour measures 310mm x 390mm.

 Central Otago bursts into a breathtaking orange glow in Autumn. This could be anywhere in Central Otago at that time of year, Bannockburn, Roxburgh, Wanaka. It is my interpretation of this beautiful region. Fill your room with sunshine! This unframed watercolour measures 297 x 206.

 New Zealand farm buildings make a lovely collection of shapes, and I am always on the look out for collections of sheds such as this one. They often look disused, but despite that appearance are fully functional, it is just an unnecessary cost for the farmer to replace those boards or paint that roof. And thank goodness! Says the artist, those gorgeous rusty reds of corrugated iron give the buildings a look of having grown out of the soil. This unframed watercolour measures 254 x 177

 An original painting by Ron Esplin, this view is of a typical old farm building often seen in rural New Zealand. This one is located in Leith Valley near Dunedin and can be seen from the gravel road that joins the Northern Motorway into the City. This framed acrylic measures 480 x 375

 Flock Hill is in Canterbury, New Zealand, and is the remote location for an annual meeting of like minded artists for a weekend of art, socializing, and general camaraderie and exchange of ideas. We tend to focus our attention on the spectacular mountain and lake scenery, but I found this red farm building interesting enough to paint against the mountain back drop. This framed watercolour measures 450 x 365. SOLD

 I have a painting group that comes every Monday evening to learn watercolour painting. "How do you paint water?" was the question one night. The best way I could describe that was to demonstrate it. So this little scene is pure imagination, and I think I managed to convey a peaceful lakeside scene effectively. What do you think? This unframed watercolour measures 254 x 177

 You have all seen a rocky riverbed or shoreline like this. I have no idea where this is, but it can be wherever you want it to be. I just like the composition, I hope you do too.
This unframed watercolour measures 177 x 254.

 This peaceful scene is not far from Dunedin City, and is a popular spot with walkers and runners. It is not difficult in Dunedin to travel quite a short distance to find oneself in quite natural and non urban surroundings and Ross Creek Reservoir is just such a place.
This unframed watercolour measures 177 x 254.

 I have painted the beautiful Otago Peninsula near Dunedin, New Zealand many times, particularly harbour cone, the extinct volcano that stands like a sentinel overlooking the harbour. A careful examination of this painting will reveal the reason for the title. This framed watercolour measures 555mm x 434mm. SOLD

 The TSS Earnslaw plies Lake Wakatipu in the Lakes district of the South Island of New Zealand. The steamship has done so for over 70 years and serves the needs of Sheep Stations from Kingston to Glenorchy as well as providing many tourists visiting Queenstown, a unique view of the mountain scenery, or access to the hinterland for tramping or fishing. This watercolour is unframed and measures 226mm x 290mm.

 Even in the middle of a city, there are places that seem far from the crowd. This striking acrylic was an early morning view through trees in the reserve area of the Town Belt in Dunedin. The City forefathers had the foresight to preserve a strip of vegetation along the hill suburbs for the enjoyment of future citizens. This framed acrylic measures 810 x 1020. SOLD

 An unframed original painting by Ron Esplin, this spectacular view up Otago Harbour can be seen from the road from Dunedin, New Zealand, that takes you along Otago Peninsula to Larnach Castle and the Taiaroa Head Albatross Colony. This unframed watercolour measures 406 x 304