Te Anau Winter's Morning

Acrylic on canvas — personal work

I loved painting this landscape. Lake Te Anau is such a beautiful location — quiet, unhurried, and genuinely beautiful in a way that doesn't need to announce itself. It sits at the bottom of the South Island, the gateway to Milford Sound, but very much its own place.

I stayed in Te Anau as part of a trip through to Milford Sound the following day. The town is small but it has everything you need, and the scenery just outside it is extraordinary. The scene I painted is just a little along from the township — close enough to walk to, but far enough that you feel completely alone with the landscape. I worked on the painting when I got home, but that morning stayed with me.

What drew me to this particular morning was the sky. There are two weather systems at work in this painting — the light, sweeping high clouds moving above, and the heavier clouds rolling in from the south, low and brooding over the mountains. You can see the snow on the peaks. The air has that particular winter clarity that makes everything sharp and close.

It creates a mood of uncertainty. You don't know if the day is going to open up or close in. That tension is what gives the painting its energy. A calm lake beneath an unsettled sky — it's a very New Zealand kind of morning.

If you're planning a visit to the South Island, don't just pass through Te Anau on the way to Milford Sound. Stop. Stay a night. Walk along the lake in the morning. You'll understand why I painted it.