Contact information:
e-mail: zoe.alford@clear.net.nz
Phone: 64 6 867 7402
Zoë paints with pastel pigment chalks. Pastel is pure pigment, the same as used in making oil and watercolour paints. Pastel retains its brilliance and luminosity because it’s a dry medium. Pastel paintings last at least as long as oils and, if properly cared for, won’t need to be restored as soon as oil paintings. Oil paintings may crack and the varnish may darken with time, but pastels retain their fresh colour for hundreds of years, as long as they’re done on an archival, acid-free surface (as Zoe's work always is).
GALLERY
Here are some examples of Zoë's work.
(To see paintings for sale, click here.) (To see small sketches for sale, click here.)
Okitu is a beach just north of Gisborne city. At low tide these rocks are visible. There is often a soft layer of clouds running along the horizon here. The East Coast curves away in the distance. (Sold).
This headland is just north of Gisborne city. There is a walkway across it with a fine view back towards Wainui Beach from the top (Sold).
Hauone Station.
This is a tiny railway station in the Bay of Plenty. Hauone means windy beach in te Reo (the Maori language).
The beach is just on the other side of the sand dunes behind the station. NFS
This shows the famous, iconic Young Nick's Head headland off the Gisborne city beach. This painting is on Zoe's business card. NFS.
This headland was the first New Zealand land sighted by the explorer Captain James Cook on 9 October 1769. It was named after the surgeon's boy Nicholas Young who was on lookout duty. For more information about this historic event, and James Cook's trail in NZ, see "On Cook's Trail: A Holiday History of Captain Cook in NZ", by John Darkin.
The Maori name for this headland is Te Kuri o Paoa which means Paoa's dog. Paoa was the captain of one of the huge canoes (the Horouta) that brought Maori to Aotearoa New Zealand. The dog waited in vain for his master. It is said that the headland resembles a dog lying on its paws.
For more information about Gisborne, click here: Gisborne Internet Resource Web Site
This painting won the Supreme Award for Best Artwork in Show at the National Women’s Work Exhibition in 2005 (sold).
Beach hut at Bowentown Beach, Bay of Plenty (NFS).