The next painting I want to share with you is another older one, a quick one done in Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand.

Quick because it was cold!

Mum was visiting, and from our cozy little cottage in Wellington, we’d dashed down to Cardrona for a snow/mountain adventure. This particular day, we’d driven to Wanaka, it was an overcast, gloomy day, and very cold. We found a picnic table and set up the painting materials for some speed painting.

Surrounded by the majestic Wanaka mountains, cloaked by low-lying clouds, and Wanaka Lake glistening gently behind me, I painted my little girl sitting across from me.

Her little owl hat still makes me smile; we bought it at the market in Woolgoolga, Australia, during our Easter trip earlier that year. You can see it poking out in the photo below.

I’ve learnt that this type of outdoor painting has a name, en plein air or plein-air painting. It’s fun to be immersed in and at the mercy of the great outdoors. That day in Wanaka, we were racing the cold, trying to finish our paintings before we turned into icy poles!

2013 – Lillian in Wanaka (5 years old)

Acrylic on canvas 24cm x 33cm by Arwen Munro, August 2013. Wanaka, South Island, New Zealand.

We didn’t freeze, we made it safe and sound to a coffee shop for lunch and to thaw out.

Another gorgeous sunny day here today, but the weatherman is predicting quite a run of rainy days ahead!

I hope you are having a wonderful day! 🌱