The saddest times...

It is no secret that New Zealand is suffering at the moment. The mine tragedy on the West Coast of the South Island has everyone in a state of national mourning. For those directly involved their worlds have crumbled along with their men and our thoughts and support must be with them. And those that worked so tirelessly towards a positive outcome need our support too, they did their very best in such dreadful circumstances.

It seems unfair that life still goes on and like everyone else I am suffering from time acceleration and am constantly wondering where time has gone. My hairdresser came today for the usual 4 - 5 weekly trim, and I swear blind that she was here just two weeks ago!

On Tuesday I took myself off for a day of gallery crawling, and the movies, in Wellington. I thoroughly enjoy these outings but I must remember that many galleries are closed Tuesdays (and Mondays)! However I still had plenty to see, and a lecture at Te Papa in conjunction with the European Masters exhibition was excellent. Not only did we hear the history of selected pieces but also about the application of paint and techniques. The movie wasn't too grand but I did have the luxury of the 300 seat cinema all to myself!

Some progress on my piece this week. I have added some headstones to the left of the figure. I sourced these from a photo taken in a cemetery on the Chatham Islands. There is no wording left on the stones but one headstone nearby had a date of 1802 and is possibly one of the earliest European graves in New Zealand.

The headstones have yet to be further defined at a later date.

The broken headstones.