SOLD
ARTIST STATEMENT FOR PAINTING/EXHIBITION
My
inspiration for this piece began with the desire to portray the children
of times past.
I wanted to capture the essence and atmosphere of a by gone era
with relevance to the
Bay
of
Plenty
and the lifestyles of its inhabitants.
The Elms
Mission
Station quickly became a focus.
The
original elms along with many other trees were planted in the 1830’s
by the first family of Missionaries (Archdeacon Alfred Brown (1803 –
1884), his wife Charlotte and their two children Marsh and Celia) to
make the Elms
Mission
Station their home.
After
researching the history and photographing the gardens of The Elms
Mission
Station (founded
in the early 1800’s) it became clear that life in Victorian Times
(1837 – 1901) had a very different set issues to those of our
lifestyles today.
The
new life away from their homeland (
England
) must have been daunting for the young
children and their parents. In the proceeding years Alfred Brown lost
both his first wife Charlotte and their son Marsh to illness, which
would have most likely been very treatable with modern medicine. Encountering
a new culture and becoming entwined in the sometimes volatile
environment they now called home, diplomacy and neutrality were vital as
they forged new relationships with the local Maori.
In
“The Elm” I have attempted to convey the formality and simplicity of
the lifestyles during this period in time, along with the emotive and
lush environment that surrounded the
Mission
House.
The Elm sapling is symbolic of both a new life and the namesake
of the
Mission
house itself.
Reference
material : Website:
www.theelms.org.nz
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