trees

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.

A Night to Remember

final painting of yellow, orange and purple clouds with the silhouette of three tall palm trees in the foreground
| Anna Cull
‘Yellow Orange Purple (A Night to Remember)’ acrylic on canvas, 610 x 510 mm, 2024. Available.

And what a night it was. As far as skies go, I think there is nothing yummier than clouds changing colour as the sun sets during a Canterbury nor’wester. I have painted this scene before (as ‘Red Sky at Night’ and also as ‘Warm Night, Southern Sky’) and I’m pretty sure I’ll be painting it again.

  • the photo reference that inspired the painting of yellow, orange and purple clouds with the silhouette of three tall palm trees in the foreground
    Photo reference
  • work in progress charcoal sketch on canvas
    WIP 1
  • work in progress tonal underpainting in black, grey, yellow ochre and white
    WIP 2
  • work in progress adding colour to the clouds and landscape
    WIP 3
  • final painting of yellow, orange and purple clouds with the silhouette of three tall palm trees in the foreground
    Final

With June’s exhibition fast approaching ~ as I knew it would ~ I wanted to include a few larger paintings (i.e. larger than the ones I usually paint). ‘Yellow Orange Purple (A Night to Remember)’ is the first of them ~ three more to go.

Exhibition details coming next month.

Trees

final painting of a row of trees with green grass in the foreground and soft blue mountains in the distance, presented in the context of a line-drawn living room to give an idea of the size
| Anna Cull
final painting of a row of trees with green grass in the foreground and soft blue mountains in the distance, presented in the context of a line-drawn living room to give an idea of the size
‘A Conversation with Trees’ acrylic on canvas, 305 x 610 mm, 2024. Available.

Sunlight gathers; leaves,
Deep in conversation, turn
Autumn evergreen.

  • the photo reference that inspired the painting: a typical New Zealand landscape of sheep, green grass and a line of trees
    Photo reference
  • work in progress tonal underpainting in grey, white and yellow ochre
    WIP 1
  • work in progress adding colour and details to the landscape
    WIP 2
  • work in progress adding more colour and details to the landscape
    WIP 3
  • final painting on canvas
    Final

This is a scene I’ve painted before ~ both with and without sheep. I love the shapes and the colours, and I love that it is so typically New Zealand. ‘A Conversation with Trees’ will also be part of my exhibition in June. Details coming next month.

Out of Left Field

final semi-abstract painting of four eucalyptus trees, cropped in the foreground, with seven tiny sheep dots grazing in front of a pale turquoise wooden farmhouse on the distant left
| Anna Cull
‘Out of Left Field (Four Trees)’ acrylic on canvas, 305 x 405 mm, 2024. Available.
  • the photo reference that inspired the painting, a typical New Zealand farm landscape
    Photo reference
  • work in progress charcoal sketch on canvas
    WIP 1
  • work in progress tonal underpainting in greys, white and touches of yellow ochre
    WIP 2
  • work in progress adding colour to the landscape
    WIP 3
  • final painting of four eucalyptus trees, cropped in the foreground, a pale turquoise wooden farmhouse on the distant left and seven tiny sheep dots
    Final

Here is another South Island summer landscape and my first painting of 2024. It features four magnificent eucalyptus trees, a charming wooden farmhouse and seven teeny tiny sheep dots.

This painting is also destined for the exhibition in June. More info about that a little later.

Getting There By Being Here

the final version of the acrylic painting with the final colours: yellow and orange clouds against a mid blue sky, dark green trees in silhouette above mid green and yellow grass, and a grey and white road in the lower right corner
| Anna Cull
‘Getting There By Being Here’ acrylic on canvas, 405 x 510 mm, 2023. SOLD
  • Photo reference
  • WIP 1
  • WIP 2
  • Final

Many of my paintings start out as quickly snapped photographs taken through a car windscreen while driving somewhere (not while I’m driving ~ that would be silly ~ but when I’m a passenger, amusing myself on road trips). This one was taken somewhere between Amberley and Christchurch, late summer, 2021. It wasn’t the best photo I took of the amazing sky that followed us home that night but I liked the line of light through the trees on the horizon. The six little road markers very nearly didn’t make it into the painting ~ and now I can’t imagine it without them.

No haiku today. I think a sky on fire is poetry enough.

What Goes Around…

acrylic painting on small canvas of Dunedin, houses and trees
| Anna Cull
‘What Goes Around…’ acrylic on canvas, 205 x 205 mm, 2023. Available.

The view from the top
Of a hill in a small town
Was another hill.

Dunedin photo reference, 2013

I find Dunedin’s beautiful architecture endlessly interesting ~ there’s so much character and variety in those houses… and you know how I love to paint trees!