art

Saying Goodbye to Etsy

the artist's nails painted with bright green nail polish
| Anna Cull

After more than a decade of selling my paintings and cards on Etsy, I have now closed the virtual doors. The world is changing and I am changing too. Of course I will continue to paint and I will probably continue to sell art locally. I can be contacted via my Contact page for any purchase enquiries.

For those who may be wondering, the songwriting is also continuing. Our backyard studio is slowly being reorganised into a useable space and I remain, as ever, optimistic about it all.

“It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.”

Wendell Berry

And because I needed some sort of image to post along with this announcement, I thought I’d include a photo of the only real painting I’ve been doing lately… The colour is Make Rainbows : )

Home. And happiness.

| Anna Cull

The first month of 2025 has been a strange mix of happy holiday memories of our Christmas in Melbourne (more on that in my next post), of summer colds that we caught just as soon as we arrived home in Christchurch (such a cliché), and of plans for art exhibitions and gigs that make us feel like we are finally (finally!) getting started with this new year.

The first of these events is this weekend at Arvida Park Lane in Christchurch and will feature the work of over fifty artists. Not only will you find paintings and drawings on show in a variety of styles from traditional landscapes, abstract art and contemporary portraiture, but there will also be jewellery, pottery and a variety of sculptural artworks available. The show is a cash and carry event which means that you can take the art you buy home with you straight away.

Arts Canterbury at Arvida Park Lane
1st and 2nd February, 10am-4pm
35 Whiteleigh Avenue, Addington, Christchurch

Then I’ll be singing with my husband as covers duo Pavlova Paradise at Little River Farmers Market on Sunday, February 16th and in Lincoln the following Sunday at the Selwyn District Council’s ‘Month of Sundays’ event.

As much as I really enjoyed our holiday (and I really did), it is very good to be home.


“Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”

Hermann Hesse 

As good as a holiday?

| Anna Cull

It’s been a little quiet in the Art Cave lately. No new paintings, no new songs, not even a haiku. I’ve been spring cleaning (an extremely rare event in this house) and while the dusting and tidying has been strangely satisfying (and quite a nice change of pace given the flurry of painting activity in the first half of the year), it really doesn’t make for very interesting blog posts. But now it’s show time again.

I will be one of more than 70 local contemporary artists exhibiting at this year’s Artarama in Christchurch. Gala Opening Night is this Friday (tickets $25pp) and then it will be open to the public over the weekend (there is a small entrance fee on show days, with proceeds being donated to BrainTree Wellness Centre). Please visit the Artarama Facebook page for more details.

I will eventually return to the easel ~ I have a whole year’s worth of paintings planned which is quite exciting ~ but now that I’ve almost finished the house, I’m pretty sure I can hear the garden calling my name.

ARTARAMA
Gala Opening Night: Friday 11th October, 6pm – 8:30pm
Show Days: Saturday 12th October, 10am – 4pm and Sunday 13th October, 10am – 2pm
Cobham Intermediate School Hall, 294 Ilam Road, Christchurch (NZ)

A little surreal

| Anna Cull

More than six months in the planning and it’s finally here… and yes, it’s a little surreal.

Friends and family joined us for the opening last night, braving the near-freezing winter evening to see our art and hear our speeches (we did reward them with wine and nibbles). Everything I’ve painted this year is in the exhibition (plus a few paintings from last year) alongside work from the very talented Georgette Thompson and Della Goodinson.

Thank you Eszter Biczok and the Liffey for organising such a fab opening night. And thank you everyone who came along to support us.

Here are a few photos taken before our guests arrived…

  • Welcome to the Liffey…
  • Georgette’s paintings, Della’s pottery…
  • my trees…
  • my skies…
  • my landscapes…
And this is me : )

THE REAL AND THE SURREAL
WEDNESDAY 12TH JUNE — SUNDAY 7TH JULY
DOWN BY THE LIFFEY GALLERY, 1 JAMES STREET, LINCOLN, CANTERBURY, NZ

exhibition poster featuring my painting of spring blossoms in Hagley Park

Blossomtime

final painting of pink cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand
| Anna Cull
final painting (cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, NZ) presented in the context of a line-drawn living room to give an idea of the size
‘Blossomtime’ acrylic on canvas, 610 x 510 mm, 2024. Available.

Fluffy pink popcorn
Leaps from ten thousand branches:
Spring in slow motion.

It’s strange to be posting a painting of spring in the first week of winter! (Okay, so it won’t seem at all strange to those of you in the northern hemisphere.) Christchurch’s Hagley Park is always a picture when the blossoms pop. I’ve been meaning to paint this scene for ages… and now here it is.

  • the photo reference that inspired the painting of pink cherry trees in full blossom bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, NZ
    Photo reference
  • work in progress underpainting in greys, white and yellow ochre
    WIP 1
  • work in progress adding pale blue and more detail to the landscape
    WIP 2
  • work in progress adding green and more details to the landscape
    WIP 3
  • final painting of pink cherry trees lining a footpath bordering Hagley Park in Christchurch, New Zealand
    Final

No charcoal sketch this time ~ just straight in with brush and paint. ‘Blossomtime’ will be part of this month’s exhibition at the Down by the Liffey Gallery.

THE REAL AND THE SURREAL EXHIBITION
WEDNESDAY 12TH JUNE — SUNDAY 7TH JULY
DOWN BY THE LIFFEY GALLERY, 1 JAMES STREET, LINCOLN, CANTERBURY, NZ

The other artists exhibiting will be potter Della Goodinson and painter Georgette Thompson.

Garden City Blocks II

final painting of buildings and trees in the foreground, and the green trees of Latimer Square park in the background
| Anna Cull

‘Garden City Blocks II’ acrylic on canvas, 510 x 510 mm, 2024. Available.
  • the photo reference that inspired the painting of buildings and trees in the foreground, and the green trees of Latimer Square park in the background
    Photo reference
  • work in progress charcoal sketch on canvas
    WIP 1
  • work in progress tonal underpainting in greys, white and yellow ochre
    WIP 2
  • further progress in the tonal underpainting
    WIP 3
  • work in progress adding colour to the landscape
    WIP 4
  • final painting of buildings and trees in the foreground, and the green trees of Latimer Square park in the background
    Final

The second in my Garden City Blocks series, the reference photo (below) was taken high above Christchurch from the window of a DC-3. I only painted one tiny section, so there’s still plenty left for me to paint if I decide to continue with this series. After a little Google Maps research, I discovered that the view was overlooking Latimer Square. I think the light underneath the trees in the park may be the hero of this particular landscape but the car-shaped objects were the most fun to paint.

The section I painted is somewhere near the lower right.

‘Garden City Blocks II’ will be part of next month’s exhibition at Down by the Liffey Gallery.

The Real and The Surreal Exhibition
Wednesday 12th June — Sunday 7th July
Down by the Liffey Gallery, 1 James Street, Lincoln, Canterbury, NZ

The other artists exhibiting will be potter Della Goodinson and painter Georgette Thompson.