South Canterbury artist Hamish Cameron has drawn on 30 years of painting and poetry to bring Folio to life.
The book comprises 27 paintings and 27 poems Cameron has selected, and an exhibition of the original artworks will open at York Street Gallery tomorrow.
The watercolour paintings he selected for the book were ones he did on postcard-sized pieces of paper which had been blown up for the book, Cameron said.
‘‘The book has a special collection of paintings which I have used as a colour and composition reference over the last 30 years, and the poems have also been accumulated over the same period of time.’’
He preferred to paint outside, Cameron said.
‘‘It works best for me when I am outside. All of these paintings are of New Zealand from all over the place.’’
Those wanting to get into watercolour painting should start simple and limit themselves to three soft brushes and three colours.
‘‘A book is sometimes helpful, but also sometimes not helpful. Fluidity, transparency and purity are the key things when it comes to watercolours. Keep it broad.’’
When it came to poetry, the more of it you read, the better you would get at writing it, he said.
‘‘Reading poetry will help and as for writing, if you have a pencil and paper, the sky’s the limit. People should not be constricted by rhyme.’’
Cameron has exhibited in Timaru, Christchurch and Germany in the past, but said this exhibition would be different.
‘‘All other exhibitions I was preparing for it. I had an exhibition in mind when doing my artwork. This one is different inthat way as this was just a flash of an idea and organising . . . [I] had to find a gallery soon.’’
People might not be aware he was still painting and this was a chance to let people know he was still here, he said.
‘‘This is my first exhibit in about 20 years, and at this point it was either get out or put up. I want to share what I have been doing, what is here, and [let] people know that I am still here and doing something.’’
The Folio opens tomorrow at the York Street Gallery at 6pm. There will be a book signing.
