The active I

New Plymouth is many things, but one of them will always be Michael Smither. There are few painters who lavished as much emotion on a place as Michael did. Sure he can also lay claim to Central Otago and parts of the top of the South Island, but it’s Taranaki, the coastline, suburbs, people and places that are his as much as Cookham will always be Stanley Spencer’s or celebrity Andy Warhol’s. In the few days we were in New Plymouth it was impossible not to see his paintings constantly. The Gables where the young Smither children played out on canvas Michael’s own childhood, the beaches he struggled to save, Pukekura Park, that mountain Taranaki. Here are a few images of Smither Land. You can see more of the Smither eye in Michael Smither Painter published by Ron Sang.
Images: Top to bottom, left to right, Taranaki, the Gables, Pukekura Park, Alfred Road Bridge, boatshed Pukekura Park.