Monuments, 14" X 12" fluid acrylic on gallery wrapped, varnished paper

Monuments by April M Rimpo

I traveled with my family to New Zealand about ten years ago.  We traveled all over both the North and South Islands.  Everywhere we went was beautiful.  What amazed us what how these two little islands had nearly every ecosystem on the planet: volcanoes, glaciers, marshes, rain forests, and more. One area we visited along the northwest coast of North Island had beautiful beaches with black sand, caused by the volcanic area further inland.  This area is dotted with farms but in some spots the winds are so hard and constant that the trees grow bending toward the east.  Some, like those shown in Monuments, lose all their leaves, but many remain standing, like they won't let the wind win. I thought these wind and sand bleached trunks were beautiful additions to the landscape that deserved to be featured.

This image shows the front of a gallery wrapped painting done on watercolor paper and then varnished after it was wrapped.  The painting extends around the sides of the frame allowing the painting to be hung without a frame.  I use a satin finish varnish to avoid glare on the surface.