Sketch for Central Otago (Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables) 1953

This is Rita Angus's watercolour sketch of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables. I can just picture her there with her paper and paints, trying to capture the light on the mountains. It’s so interesting to see the bare bones of the landscape. Look at the way the blue of the water meets the grey of the mountains – it's like a visual poem. It’s as though she's trying to find the essence of this place, its spirit, and translate it into something we can see and feel. The wind blows through the branches of the tree. This is very much a painting of a moment, and of the elements. It is a scene you could spend hours looking at, if you were there. Painters are always talking to each other, you know? Rita Angus is in dialogue with all the other artists who have tried to capture the world in paint. But she’s also doing her own thing, finding her own way of seeing and expressing what she finds. It’s a never-ending conversation, this painting thing, and I’m so glad to be a part of it.