Pacific Gem

This was painted overlooking Akaroa, South Island, New Zealand.
The area has azure filled extinct craters that open to the ocean. Below what I have painted is a historic French town with beautiful gardens and Victorian architecture. The rolling pastoral hills around it and the mountains in the distance both embracing the ocean took my breath away. I asked our driver to leave me in this remote location - I was completely alone except for the occasional sheep. I felt totally safe and relaxed as I painted the afternoon away.
Later, we drove the summit roads around the peninsula, where we could see reminders of this areas dramatic geological past where rocky volcanic outcrops, craggy headlands, deep valleys and precipitious bluffs made for striking scenery. The drive was scary - you leaned into the hills, hoping that somehow the vehicle would stay on the very narrow dirt road and that you wouldn't meet another vehicle. The fences were for keeping the sheep off the road - they wouldn't protect us if we slipped down the steep slopes.