To help with some earthquake relief I have listed an auction on TradeMe with all proceeds from the auction to go toward the fund to help repair and restore Christchurch's much-loved heritage buildings damaged during the recent Canturbury earthquake.

Title of painting: "Snowstorm over the Trans Antarctic Mountain Range"

TRADEME LISTING #: 317863852


All proceeds from the sale of this painting will go to Mayor Bob Parker’s fund launched on Monday to help repair and restore Christchurch's much-loved heritage buildings damaged during the recent Canturbury earthquake.

This watercolour painting was destined to be part of an exhibition due to open today, Wednesday 15 September, at an art gallery in one of Christchurch’s historic buildings.

‘Our City O-Tautahi’ gallery is a much loved community gallery in a beautiful and historic Queen Anne building on the corner of Worcester Boulevard and Oxford Terrace. This building used to be the Christchurch City Council's original Municipal Chambers.

Due to structural damage to the building the exhibition was understandably cancelled.

This painting was inspired by sketches, photos and watercolour paintings that I completed during a NIWA research voyage to Antarctica in 2008. The painting depicts the magnificent range of Transantarctic Mountains, the worlds largest mountain range.

A unique aspect of this painting is that it has an actual piece of Antarctica embedded in the protective mat surround.

This is a Glacial Erratic Stone. It is one of the stones I collected after it was trawled from the Ross Sea seabed during the scientific voyage. Erratics are formed when glaciers slowly grind across the bedrock of the Antarctic mainland.

Rock fragments that were chipped off are picked up, polished and carried by the ice all the way to the Ross Sea. Then after the iceberg breaks off ‘calved’ from the iceshelf , it cruises around the Ross Sea and slowly melts and drops the erratic to the seabed.

Framed Painting size 780mm 630mm
(framed in conservation materials)

This painting can be viewed at The Coffee Club at Westfield Mall in Lower Hutt.

Thanks to Trademe for sponsoring this auction.

Alfred Memelink