‘Kaitiaki’ – a caretaker of the land – Mixed Media Painting

"Kaitiaki"
Mixed Media on Flax Paper
350 mm x 440 m
13 1/4" x 17 1/4"
© Susan Harrison-Tustain

A chance meeting lead me to create this painting. I met Wallace Aramoana while I was visiting Ohiwa Harbour, near Ohope Beach, New Zealand. This is a man whose impact on his community, land and the youth of the area is legendary in that corner of NZ. My painting of Wallace was created on flax paper. I wanted it to capture his connection to the land. I wanted this to be a tribute to this man of the land and a man of his people. The New Zealander. Wallace believes this land is for everyone. Meeting this Maori elder was a life-changing experience for me. I wanted to title the painting "The Orator", but his reply was "No - that would be about me - I would like it to be about all of my people - 'Kaitiaki ' (translates to Caretakers of the land. )

How perfect that title is. It also relays the respect and admiration I have for this man. To paint him is an honor for me.

Click here to visit my painting exhibition page where you can find details on the exhibition including a sneak preview of some of my exhibition oil and watercolor paintings.

Feel free to contact me via my contact form if you have any queries.

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Tags: caretaker of the land, Kaitiaki, Maori, New Zealander, Ohiwa Harbour, Ohope Beach, painting, painting mixed media

This entry was posted on Friday, August 26th, 2011 at 10:14 pm and is filed under Everything else. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.