'Out Standing In Our Field'

Oil painting on linen by Grant McSherry. 1500 mm x 692 mm.

From my perspective Mt Taranaki / Egmont (2518 metres) is the central point of many awesome and individual landscapes. This oil painting is the second in my initial series inspired by the landscapes surrounding New Zealand’s great Taranaki / Egmont volcano.

I based the oil painting ‘Out Standing in Our Field’ on the farmland seen from the side of Opunake Road just beyond the Dawson Falls turn off. Here Mt Taranaki / Egmont regains it’s beautiful conical shape, apparent only from the landscapes around the northern and south eastern faces.

This oil painting germinated only an hour or two after an early start from Stratford, after what appeared to be a disastrous start. After a huge drive from Christchurch ending the evening prior, we emerged from the cabin at the base of Mt Taranaki / Egmont on our first day of image hunting, full of enthusiasm, only to find that there was nothing to see beyond a thick bank of dense, low, grey cloud that completely shrouded the mountain.

Deciding not to give in and linger around Stratford while waiting for the cloud to lift, we chose to explore the ring road system around the base of Mount Taranaki / Egmont to find some vantage points for when the weather improved. As we headed toward Dawson falls and having travelled only minutes down the road, the heavy cloud began to thin out and the awesome snow covered summit of Mt Taranaki / Egmont flickered into view.

By the time we made the Dawson Falls turn-off the entire mountain was in clear blue sky and at the base of Mt Taranaki / Egmont the low cloud streamed off from the Stratford side, with amazing fingers, possibly con trails, emerging from the top. This landscape had to become an oil painting.

I chose the base image to work with for its classic, perhaps even clichéd green and blue representation of Taranaki, complete with dairy cattle, but offset in a funky and maybe quirky sort of way… This Mt Taranaki / Egmont painting is vibrant yet still very representational, and at one and a half metres long the original oil painting is definitely large format.

The landscapes surrounding the southern and Western faces of Mt Taranaki / Egmont comprise of lush farmland, a significant part of New Zealand’s dairy farming industry. The temperate climate and fertile soils make Taranaki a premier dairying area by world standards.

33% of Taranaki farms are dairy farms, which together produce about 20% of New Zealand's milk. The dominant dairy breeds are Friesians and Jerseys, Friesians are depicted in this oil painting.

Original painting 'Out Standing in our Field': oil on linen.

Original painting size: 1500mm x 692mm.

Art prints: Limited edition (offset on paper) 450, hand numbered & signed. Large size: (image area) 920 mm x 422 mm. $99+ packaging & freight outside NZ. (Packaging & freight is free within NZ.)

Giclee reproductions: Limited to a maximum of 195 renditions of this work.
Giclee fine art prints on canvas (unframed) NZ $499+ packaging & freight outside NZ. (Packaging & freight is free within NZ.) More about Giclee fine art prints