Birds of land and air and sea

The photographs, "Birds of land and air and sea", 

by Nicole Page-Smith, 

were taken on a trip to the natural history museum.

"Before you the winds flee, and at your coming the clouds forsake the sky. For you the inventive earth flings up sweet flowers. For you the ocean levels laugh, the sky is calmed and glows with defused radiance." 

Lucretius

Birds of land and air and sea

"Birds of land and air and sea" is a series of photographs of New Zealand bird species by Nicole Page-Smith.

"When first the day puts on the aspect of spring, when in all its force the fertilizing breath of Zephyr is unleashed, then, great goddess, the birds of air give the first intimation of your entry; for yours is the power that has pierced them to the heart." Lucretius

Under Milk Wood

Jeffrey Harris, Under Milk Wood, 1971, Collection Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, New Zealand

Autumn Leaves II

Nicole Page-Smith, Autumn Leaves, 2017

"At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it boarders on taste, and more honey sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost."

Rainer Maria Rilke (Letters on Cezanne)

My dream of the North Island

Jeffrey Harris, My dream of the North Island, 1978

"I'm hoping for a Renaissance Days II and III." 

Angels of History and Destiny, Art New Zealand 

Jeffrey Harris

Paintings, drawings and etchings by Jeffrey Harris from the Collections of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 

(Photograph by Nicole Page-Smith)

"The delicate beauty of the thin multi-layered paint reveals the texture of the wood underneath, infusing the figures with a sense of lightness and life, while the luminous colours and the balance of lightness and weight of the figures recall Sassetta's altarpieces and church frescos."

Art at Te Papa

Autumn Leaves

Autumn Leaves, by Nicole Page-Smith

'Fall, leaves, fall'

by 

Emily Bronte

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree. 

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow; 

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day.

Neither Birthless nor Deathless

The current exhibition of Nicole Page-Smith's drawings and photographs took Page-Smith to her last trip to London, to browse through current literature. Nicole Page-Smith has always enjoyed the London press. Quite often the quiet Christmas holiday months are a good time to catch up on some reading. Working as a full-time artist in the studio leaves little time to browse through the catalogues and literature of an extended time overseas. There is no time to look at catalogues and art books purchased while traveling. Often, the exhibition catalogues are pre-released prior to an exhibition, especially a traveling show and this allows referral, good planning for the trip. Traveling overseas is precious.

Sometimes selecting a book from the shelf is the best way forward for Nicole Page-Smith with a new direction for the work in mind. Often with the abundance of literature available Page-Smith can be pulled one way or another and some books get left half finished, for a future date. One such philosophical text, Nicole Page-Smith, had on her top shelf, for a selection was only half read and Page-Smith does remember the inquiry started in her early twenties. Nicole Page-Smith was asked to explain her work at art school and this intellectual communication became the norm for Melbourne based artists of a contemporary nature. 

Nicole Page-Smith recalls nature in bound and plenty.