True Colours

acrylic painting on canvas of Te Waikoropupū Springs, New Zealand, with green and yellow trees and blue water, painted in an impressionist style

March 19, 2021November 3, 2025 | Anna Cull

‘True Colours’ acrylic on canvas, 250 x 500 mm, 2021. Available.

Photo reference
WIP 1
WIP 2
WIP 3
Final

Yes, I’ve painted this beautiful blue landscape before. Don’t be surprised if I paint it again : )

The year that was (and my ninth Annaversary post)

a nine-grid square of Anna Cull's art from the last year: an emu portrait, New Zealand landscapes, flora and fauna paintings

March 13, 2021September 30, 2022 | Anna Cull

It is time once again for my annual retrospective. Here is a collection of nine favourite paintings from the last year ~ three birds, a port, a rainbow, a river, a few fuchsias, and lots of clouds and trees. Of course other things also happened. There were the colouring-in pages that I created at the start of the pandemic (when painting was the last thing I felt like doing but I had to do something). I also gave my blog and profile picture a bit of a makeover, created a Portfolio page, and made a new range of arty little fridge magnets. But, really, when it comes to art, if I’m not putting paint on canvas, I’m not happy. Six months went by e.v.e.r. s.o. s.l.o.w.l.y. and then ~ for no particular reason that I can recall ~ I started painting again. Putting together a collection for this anniversary post, it seems to me that I may have made up for the lost time : )

Head in the Clouds

acrylic painting of a New Zealand landscape with clouds by Anna Cull

January 9, 2021September 30, 2022 | Anna Cull

‘Head in the Clouds’ acrylic on canvas, 500 x 500 mm, 2021. Available.

Don’t ask me where this is. It’s not important. It was late summer, early in the morning. The air was damp and the mountains were obscured by low cloud. We didn’t mind; there was beauty around every corner and we weren’t in a hurry. As the clouds began to lift and catch the light, the mood began to shift and the river tumbled on as if this had been nothing extraordinary.

Reference photo ~ somewhere in the South Island

Patches of Sunlight

acrylic painting of a New Zealand farm landscape with yellow and purple fields and a telegraph pole by Anna Cull

November 18, 2020September 30, 2022 | Anna Cull

‘Patches of Sunlight’ acrylic on paper, 127 x 178 mm, 2020. Available.

This one is all about the yellow field. Okay, the field and the telephone pole. And the clouds.

A Break in the Weather

acrylic painting of a seagull on a street light with dramatic clouds, painted mainly in blue-greys in a semi-abstract style

October 21, 2020September 21, 2023 | Anna Cull

I love the way seagulls park on street lights. What views they must have! I gave this painting the working title ‘Seagull Parking’ but I always knew that was a little too obscure to be a keeper. The inspiration was a photo I took in a carpark ~ in the golden hour before the sun sets ~ while we were waiting to collect our pizza. Yes, inspiration is everywhere : )

reference photo
work in progress
final painting

The original plan was to create something more like the reference photo, quite subdued and almost monotone with the seagull as the focal point, but the purple/grey underpainting took it in a different direction ~ one which was more in keeping with how spectacular the sky really looked that evening ~ and that meant rethinking the title.

‘A Break in the Weather’ acrylic on canvas, 500 x 500 mm, 2020. Private collection.

P.S. I’m particularly pleased with those two birds flying in the background. The simpler it is, the harder it is.

The View from Here

final two paintings shown in the context of a line-drawn living room to give an idea of the size

September 25, 2020October 9, 2022 | Anna Cull

‘The View from Here’ diptych — acrylic on canvas, 100 x 305 mm each canvas, 2020. SOLD

Fresh off the easel: the lights of Christchurch as seen from the Port Hills. The paintings are lightly textured and best seen from a bit of a distance. I was going to varnish them but I am really liking the subtle shifts in colour and texture of the unvarnished canvas and so I’m not going to risk it.