Alexandra Howe

Stunning new pieces developed from Alexandra's recent excursions to the South Island bring back the serenity and beauty she experienced for us all to enjoy. “I watched the colours change on the mountains across the lake, wondering at the depths which lie between the hard brilliance of noon and the tender drift of shadows in the dusk”. (Monte Holcroft, The Deepening Stream, 1940)
Alexandra Howe is inspired by the effect of the light across the landscape, the resulting mood and the feelings it evokes. A subtle change from a passing cloud or shift in time, or something more dramatic like the onset of a storm or sudden stopping of rain fall, can transform the view or feeling of the landscape. Howe works from her own photographs and incorporates memory, experience and response to the view. She captures and expresses the emotion of that particular time and place.
The deliberate inclusion of water has increasingly become important to Howe, “It is as much as a way to reflect and amplify light as well to lead into the painting” she explains. Howe aims to create a sense of depth to draw the observer in, to give the feeling of being able to stand in a doorway, at a window or even enter the scene.