I painted this hut while hiking the Heaphy Track with some dear friends in New Zealand last winter. It was a wonderful trip filled with stargazing, endless laughter, constant Takahē scouting, long happy days on the trail, and late nights spent painting by headlamp or fire light.

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.