I painted this piece on an overnight hike up to French Ridge Hut in Mount Aspiring National Park, on the South Island of New Zealand last winter. We sweated buckets, got feasted on by sandflies, watched sunset from our precariously placed and wind battered hut, were visited by Keas (the world’s only alpine parrot), and I painted on one of the windier mountain perches I’ve ever found.

There’s something magical about these little plein air paintings for me. The sweat, hunger, constant slathering of sunscreen, thirst, heavy packs, laughter, numb fingers, trail snacks, bug bites and late nights spent finishing paintings by head lamp while everyone else is sleeping makes me so happy. It’s not efficient, easy or a good business plan, but I just adore it. They’re small, imperfect, battered and slightly grimy, but imbibed with an indescribable bit of magic.

This 5x7” original watercolour and pen and ink painting comes float mounted on a white mat and framed in an 8x10” white frame.