Final weeks of my residency at Wellington Botanical Gardens

As many of the ‘on the spot drawings’ I made during my residency have sold, artwork for my follow up exhibition in July in central Wellington will be made at home. I am focusing on the recent 100 year moth catch from Otari native plant garden (also part of the greater Wellington gardens). I was fortunate to be given access behind the scenes at Te Papa, to view and photograph the pinned moth specimans from the catch, plus view the amazing watercolour studies of native moths by George V Hudson, made 100 years ago from specimans he caught or reared in Wellington. His reason for rearing some was to get perfect specimans for his artwork - he was a true perfectionist.

I attended a talk presented at Otari by Will Brocklesby (DOC) and Julia Kasper (Entomology Dept. Te Papa) on the 100 year moth project, and learned that of the 2000 moths captured around the Wellington region (including Otari), 450 species that Hudson had identified 100 years ago remain there today.

The moths I have selected have specific host plants they associate with, so I was kindly allowed plant specimans from Otari to take home to work with.

The plan is to make actual plant prints in one colour using my press and then painting on the moth that associates with that particular plant, be it for egg laying or for feeding on. So little is known about our native moths, and there is very little knowledge on larvae etc, but we do know what plants some of them associate with in some way, as adults or as feeding caterpillars.  I am hoping that my artworks will help celebrate and inform people on this special little understood world of our native Lepidoptera.

Please note: There is no accommodation offered yet for this residency - I was lucky to have a friend living near the gardens come to my rescue.

I was bowled over by the friendliness of locals - I reconnected with Jane Humble - Wellington rep for BASNZ who kindly picked me up from the gardens, fed me and took me to the Onslow Garden Club where Carlos and Heidi from the Te Papa herbarium were speaking, mainly about their book in the Te Papa series, on NZ native plants, illustrated with Banks’s engravings in black and white.

Garden writer, Bee Dawson also hosted me for a luncheon with fellow writer, Clare Gleeson, on her patio in stunning weather and gorgeous Wellington harbour views, from her Khandallah home.

I can say that Wellington is a vibrant, alive city where everyone walks and has the opportunity to use a fabulous public transport system.  The success of citizen scientists trapping for predators is evident in the wide spread distribution of kākā from Zealandia, now around the city gardens, making for a colourful and somewhat noisy environment.

Wellington is certainly showing us the way.