Waipu cove eavesdropping

Ridiculously pretty beach

Waipu Cove is a charming seaside town in Northland, New Zealand. Picture postcard pretty and with fabulous views in every direction. I sometimes feel the scenery stunts the painter when it is too perfect...I like a little fuggly in the mix!

The only fuggly thing about the beach was the smell!  A recent algae bloom/red tide/ grimness has been washed up the river and the lack of high tides had left it unable to cleanse itself again, so the smell of rotting vegetation was pungently obvious.

I decided to paint atop the dunes, not 20 meters from my cabin at Waipu Cove Campground, and paint at dusk. As I live inland, scenes of the coast, especially the east coast, are not frequently my subjects, but I really enjoyed getting to grips with the subject and the light.

The teenage girls watching the surfer boys were a hoot. Clearly I was giving off the air of one too occupied to bother being an impediment to their discussion, or maybe they just didn't care, but I got to hear all about the hotness of the surfer boys, the hotness of their tight wetsuits, the hotness of their tans, their bleached hair, teeth.....you get the picture. If you can catch "Hormone-itis" , I was worried I might have done so!

20 x 30 cm
oil on paper
Waipu Cove 

So I painted, communed a little with the beach and the beady eyed seagulls, then went home. Richard told me of a seagull eating his paint once!! Clearly , they have moved on to  fish and chips as I witnessed families dine on the beach. My palette and I left , unmolested.