Haycocks, Wainui 1943

This is Rita Angus's Haycocks, Wainui, created with watercolor. I like to imagine her outside, brush in hand, really looking. Can't you just feel the sun beating down on the haystacks? And the wind coming in off the water? You know, there's something so solid about those stacks of hay. They sit on the land, and there are these people working, and it feels really, really grounded. Angus uses the paint so thinly, but it's not weak. I'm trying to imagine what it might have been like to paint it, you know? How she decided to arrange the figures in the landscape. Painters have always been in conversation with each other across time. It's pretty special to think about how she connects to all these other artists, all those who inspire our creativity. Painting embraces ambiguity, and leaves room for multiple interpretations.