Three Rocks 1990 Golden Oldie

Technique

Silk screenprint on Archival paper - Edition of 19.

Measurements

380mm x 560mm.

About the artwork

Rocks in Sand Pools series. First Solo screenprints  by M.D. Smither, 1990 - 1991

“Back Beach” is held in the embrace of three sugar loaf Islands at the base of Paritutu Rock in New Plymouth. Its official name is “Centennial Park”, but over time has come to be referred to as Back Beach, by fishermen, surfers and divers. Sometimes its mistakenly called Black Beach because of the black magnetite sand. Low tide allows access to the largest island, over the sandbar formed between island and shore. Embedded in this sandbar are large boulders. The combination of tides, sea and sand, shape and polish these boulders and as the tide ebbs around them pools are formed in the sand at the base of the boulders. In these quiet pools the changing layers of colour in the sunset can be captured, each separate pool a different sunset colour.

Between 1963 and 1981 my father Bill Smither began making screenprints based on my designs, many of them inspired by the mountain, islands and rock pools of Taranaki. My father was one of New Zealand’s first screen-printers and after his death, I made no more screenprints. However in the 1990’s as I was walking on Back Beach I was inspired to make a series of watercolours that I realised were a message from Dad to get cracking and continue the tradition we had begun together, to take up the challenge of making these as screenprints myself using the lessons I had learnt in those 20 years in my father’s workshop. (M.D.Smither, 30th May 2013)

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