It’s been two years since the first big earthquake shook Christchurch awake in the middle of the night on September 4th, 2010. Parts of the city are fine (and always have been). Other parts are slowly recovering. Some are still a mess or are now empty — blank canvases waiting for something artistic and wonderful to happen. Or not.
The September earthquake was not the worst (we’ve had a number of more destructive quakes since then) but that’s when it all started. And even though it’s been relatively quiet lately — well, we’ve been here before and we know not to get too comfortable… don’t we?
‘My life is a disaster movie’ (ink on paper) was drawn for a student project about the 2010/2011 earthquakes (previously posted here — about halfway down). The little tornado character represents how confusing and unsettling it is to have the expression ‘solid ground’ removed from your vocabulary.
Various sketchbook entries and illustration ideas for the project.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 
Hi Anna, I’ve been looking though your blog posts and they are great! I will have to stop by often. Carol
I remember Christchurch before earthquakes. Christchurch was the Big Smoke to me when I was growing up. Sometimes in the winter we could get up and leave before dawn for a day out in Christchurch. What has happened there seems surreal. Who would have thought?
Who would have?! Since those days (I remember calling it the BIg Smoke too), we’ve moved on from being the Big Dust Cloud to being the City of Orange Cones. I wonder what we’ll be calling it next year? Or in ten years?