We’re here at Pungarehu marae beside the Wanganui river and I’ve just come to the waters edge… This river is beautiful – I hear sounds travel up the river and echo all around me…

When I bend over to wash my hands in the awa (river), I think to myself, how far up the awa have those sounds come? The native trees in front of me on the other side of the river are like all the ancestors lined up in a row, greeting me…
And what really amazes me are the kohatu (rocks) of this river, so many colours and the red stands out like the blood that runs through our veins and the blood that is our rivers that are the veins and the lifeline of Papatūānuku that connect us with one another and give us life.
So I can have all my acrylic colours in the world, but none of them come close to being as beautiful as the colours of this land. It encourages me to search for more colours of the earth, to create more with the earth, just like the natural ochre I used while in Australia. Papatūānuku is rich in love and rich in colour. I am in awe…
Arohanui,
Jo x