Ramblings of a much published New Zealand author

30 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Lodge Arrow Kilwinning No. 86, Arrowtown, Central Otago



This fine schist building was put up in 1888 for masons of one of the richest of the Otago goldfields.

This print is identical to my original drawing, done 100 years after the lodge was erected. It appeared in my book 'New Zealand Odyssey'.

Size of image is 28 cm x 21 cm .

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz

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29 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Mataia, The Old Gardner Homestead Near Glorit



This handsome double-gabled colonial house stands back off the Helensville to Wellsford highway north of Auckland.

This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my blog post: 'Leaves from My Sketchbooks'.

Size of image is 17 cm x 28.6 cm .

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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28 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Court House, Reefton, Westland.



The courthouse was built in 1872 when Reefton was thriving as a gold mining area. This drawing was made in 1987 but the building it still looks the same today. The print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'New Zealand Odyssey'.

Size of image is 26 cm x 43 cm .

Price is $NZ 85.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz

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27 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Wain's Hotel, Dunedin



This elegant Victorian building was built in 1879. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in New Zealand Historic Places Magazine'.

Size of image is 28 cm x 33 cm .

Price is $NZ 95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz

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26 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Evans Atlas Flour Mill, Timaru 1987


It's hard to conjure up a vision of dark, satanic mills in New Zealand but the 1888 Evans Atlas Flour Mill in Timaru comes close. This is how it looked ninety-nine years later, I'm not sure whether it was still grinding in 1987, when I did this painting, but you could still read the name on the building. 

This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'New Zealand Odyssey'.

Size of image is 31cm x 49 cm. (Approx 12.5" x 20")

Price is $NZ105.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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25 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Vulcan Hotel, St.Bathans, Central Otago



--> There's been a Vulcan Hotel in St. Bathans since 1869 but this one, notorious for its ghost, was built in 1882 to replace two previous 'permanent' structures both of which had burned down. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'The Good Old Kiwi Pub'.

Size of image is 30 cm x 48 cm .

Price is $NZ 95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: Fishing Boat on Hard Stand, Port Chalmers, Otago



This fishing boat was having its keel cleaned and resealed on the harbourside at Port Chalmers in 1987. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in the book 'New Zealand Odyssey' that I co-authored with my late friend Euan Sarginson.

Size of image is  21 cm x 29 cm .

Price is $NZ 45.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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24 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Albany Inn, Auckland





It has had various names - Wayside and Wharfside Inns for example - but this is how the Albany pub looked in 1994 with its new roof and a re-paint; it still looks the same today. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'The Good Old Kiwi Pub'. 

Size of image is 29 cm x 48 cm .

Price is $NZ 95.00 inc. p and p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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22 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Alberton House, Auckland




-->
Allan Kerr Taylor, born in India in 1832, began this gracious house in 1863 to house his new wife Martha Meredith. She died in 1863 and Kerr Taylor re-married in 1865 a 17 year old Sophia Davis who bore him ten children. The house is now administered by the Historic Place Trust.

This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'New Zealand House & Cottage'. Size of image is 29 cm x 42 cm .

Price is $NZ 100.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: Old Clevedon Dairy



This historic watercolour shows the old Clevedon Dairy as it was in 1990.  This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'Open 7 Days'. Size of image is 26cm x 50 cm .

Price is $NZ 95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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21 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Kohatu Hotel



--> This historic hotel was built in 1894 when it was called 'Bromell's' after its proprietor. It became important in 1899 when Motupiko Station (later called Kohatu) became the terminus of the Nelson railway.

This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'The Good Old Kiwi Pub'. Size of image is 28 cm x 37 cm .

Price is $NZ 95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: Valley Inn, Heathcote (pre-Earthquakes)



The Valley Inn at Heathcote, Christchurch  did not survive the earthquakes but this is what it looked like before. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'The Good Old Kiwi Pub'. Size of image is 29cm x 45 cm .

Price is $NZ95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: St. George's, Motupiko



This attractive church designed by Stead Ellis is on the Nelson-Murchison road. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'Country Churches of New Zealand'. Size of image is 25cm x 34 cm.

Price is $NZ59.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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20 November 2012

Prints For Sale: Terrace of Houses, Stuart Street, Dunedin



This elegant row of town houses on Dunedin's hilly Stuart Street was designed by James Salmond and was built in 1901. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'New Zealand House & Cottage'. Size of image is 24cm x 66 cm (9.5" x 26").

Price is $NZ125.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: Highwic, Auckland


Highwic is a stately historic home in Auckland. This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'New Zealand House & Cottage'. Size of image is 28cm x 51 cm. Price is $NZ95.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz

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Prints For Sale: Gore, Coronation Library 1909



The Coronation Library in Gore was opened in 1909. This print is identical to my original drawing, size of image is 19cm x 28 cm. Price is $NZ 45.00 inc. p&p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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04 November 2012

Leaves From My Sketchbooks. 77. The Guard House, Port Arthur, Tasmania


This astonishing building was a sketcher's dream for its shapes, colour and texture. I used pen, oil pastel and watercolour washes. I suppose it was designed like this in the nineteenth century to put the fear of God and the British rule of law into the hearts and minds of  convicts who, I'm sure, would not have had the strength to storm its ramparts and battlements.

THIS IS THE LAST of the leaves from my sketchbooks. I have published them as a book titled 'En Plein Air' which may be purchased as a hardback, or is FREE as an e-book for downloading to an iPad or tablet. Go to Blurb.com, enter 'En Plein Air' in the search box, locate my book and, I hope, enjoy it!

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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03 November 2012

Leaves From My Sketchbooks. 76. The Penitentiary, Port Arthur, Tasmania



The remains of Port Arthur's largest building, its notorious penitentiary, do little to bring joy to the artist. This is just for the record. English crime experts of the nineteenth century thought that there was a 'criminal class' there which, if it could be exported in its entirety would leave England crime-free; that's why a zero tolerance regime extended to theft of small items - anything from a sheep to a silk kerchief.

Over 400 prisoners inhabited this brick monstrosity which has been preserved for historical reasons; I'd have blown the place up if it had been up to me but perhaps there's too much left of a rebellious Irishman in my blood!

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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02 November 2012

Leaves From My Sketchbooks. 75. The Asylum, Port Arthur, Tasmania



The bastards who thought up convict settlements and made Port Arthur the worst of them were quite aware that the inhumanities that they meted out to their inmates would drive some mad. So they built this attractive looking asylum. If they'd had the wit to treat the poor fellows decently in the first place they might never have had to have such an institution. Still, it made good grist to my sketching mill...

At the time I did this drawing they had installed a computer database in the building that was compiling lists of convicts and their sins. I looked up 'Donovan'; my God, there were so many of them, my kinsmen from County Cork, transported for stealing loaves or a sheep. How did our tribe survive?

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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01 November 2012

Leaves From My Sketchbooks. 74. The Convicts' Church, Port Arthur, Tasmania





I warmed my bottom on the heat-soaked smoothness of Scorpion Rock to paint this little watercolour and then, later, moved to the flat area on the other side to do the pen sketch. It's a beautiful piece of neo-Gothic no doubt designed to cleanse sinners' souls even though their sins were not forgiven by their fellow men. I couldn't help feeling that it was probable that the stains on the souls of sadistic guards, warders, judges, priests and transporters of the poor fellows were blacker by far!

It's such a peaceful place and yet only a few years ago a madman ran amok with a gun and killed a number of visitors in senseless fury. Odd to think that on another day I might have been one of them...

There is no roof on the church. Was it lead, I wonder? Did somebody pinch it?






© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Blurb

RANDOM SAMPLINGS F...
By Don Donovan