artists
every piece has a story, and every story begins with an artist
CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND · CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE ARTIST & WRITER
Adrienne Rewi
Adrienne Rewi is an established New Zealand artist, author, journalist and photographer whose creative practice moves fluidly between words and images. An observer and recorder, she paints intuitive landscapes that capture the light, texture, colour and emotional essence of a place.
about
For Adrienne Rewi, words and images have always been inseparable. Across her varied career—as a visual artist, journalist, non-fiction author, travel writer and photographer—she has remained an observer and recorder, drawn to the telling detail that can elevate the familiar into something that resonates long after the moment has passed.
Adrienne paints in response to the landscape rather than attempting to reproduce it. Vast skies, shifting light, sand dunes, forests, hills and mountains become starting points for an emotional and intuitive process guided by memory.
Working spontaneously in acrylic and watercolour, she allows each painting to evolve and change direction as it develops. Colour, texture and gesture carry fragments of the original landscape, leaving a trail of visual clues for viewers to interpret through their own memories and experiences.
From 1979 to 1993, Adrienne worked as a full-time artist, presenting 20 solo exhibitions and participating in more than 30 group exhibitions throughout New Zealand. During this period, she received three Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grants—now administered by Creative New Zealand—to study papermaking and paper sculpture in Germany and Tasmania.
In 1985, she received the BP Art Award at the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, alongside recognition in several regional New Zealand painting awards. Her work is held in public collections including those of ACC, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Massey University, BP Oil, Shell Oil and the former Post Office Computer Centre. Her work has also entered private collections throughout New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Adrienne returned to full-time journalism in 1990, writing for publications across New Zealand and internationally. She authored eight editions of Frommer’s New Zealand, four non-fiction books and contributions to publications exploring travel and architecture. Her short fiction has also appeared in several New Zealand anthologies.
Between 2013 and 2017, she worked as a communications adviser and senior communications adviser for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu in Christchurch. She later moved to rural Central Victoria, where the scale, intensity and raw colour of the Australian landscape drew her back to painting.
After exhibiting in Victoria and becoming a finalist in the 2019 John Villiers Outback Art Award, Adrienne returned to Christchurch in 2020. She has continued to paint and write, exhibiting at Oxford Gallery in 2022 and becoming a finalist in the 2023 Craigs Aspiring Art Prize.
Her paintings do not tell viewers what they must see. Instead, they offer fragments of place, atmosphere and memory—an invitation to follow the clues and discover something of their own.
And sometimes, within an unfamiliar landscape, we find something that feels unexpectedly familiar.
in the rooms
Adrienne Rewi
A landscape held somewhere between memory and instinct.
Created while Adrienne Rewi was living in Victoria, Australia, Far Hills is an intuitive response to the vastness and continually shifting character of the Australian landscape. A dark, distant ridgeline anchors the composition, while the land below unfolds through sweeping gestures, layered marks and loosely drawn forms.
Soft blues, earthy browns, warm coral and flashes of yellow move across the canvas, suggesting changing light, vegetation and the energy beneath the landscape’s surface. Rather than describing one particular view, the work captures the feeling of looking across an immense terrain—its distance, unpredictability and quiet power.
At over 1.2 metres wide, Far Hills has the scale and presence to hold a generous wall. It would make a compelling focal point in a living room, entranceway, office, boardroom or hospitality setting, particularly alongside natural timber, leather and understated interiors.
Acrylic on canvas 1219 × 914 mm depth 35mm 2019 ready to hang
Adrienne Rewi
A landscape felt rather than faithfully mapped.
Inspired by Ashley Gorge in North Canterbury, Ashley Gorge – Early Summer draws on Adrienne Rewi’s regular visits to the area for sketching and photography. Its green farming landscapes, rolling hills and expansive skies are reimagined through sweeping, energetic marks and richly layered colour.
Deep greens rise and fold across the surface, grounded by earthy browns and softened with passages of cream, grey and pale blue. The brushwork creates a sense of movement through the land, capturing its changing light, natural rhythms and the particular vibrancy of early summer.
Bold yet grounded, this work would bring depth and energy to a living room, entranceway, stairwell, office or contemporary commercial space. Its square format and earthy palette work especially well against warm white, natural timber or deep green walls.
762 × 762 mm depth 35mm 2021 Canvas ready to hang
Adrienne Rewi
A garden remembered through colour, movement and feeling.
Inspired by Adrienne Rewi’s own summer garden—a joyful extravaganza of perennials and annuals—this abstract work captures more than its physical beauty. Layers of soft pink, fresh green, warm ochre and deep burgundy overlap in a lively composition, suggesting petals, stems and seed heads without defining them completely.
Expressive marks move across the surface like plants competing for light, while quieter passages create moments of pause and reflection. The result carries the abundance of a garden in full bloom, but also the peace and happiness found by spending time within it.
Its balanced square format brings colour and warmth to a living room, bedroom, entranceway or creative space. It works beautifully as a joyful focal point or alongside another expressive abstract piece.
762 × 762 mm depth 35mm 2021 Canvas ready to hang
Adrienne Rewi
A landscape remembered through water
Inspired by floods encountered while driving from Oxford to Rangiora in the autumn of 2021, Waterways is not a literal record of the scene, but an emotional response recalled and reconstructed through paint.
Soft veils of white, grey and blush drift across the canvas, interrupted by passages of blue, green and deep red. Familiar traces of land appear and disappear beneath the surface, capturing the strange transformation of a landscape submerged in what felt like a sea of water.
There is a quiet tension within the work: beauty and disruption, stillness and movement, the familiar made suddenly unfamiliar. Layered brushwork and partially obscured forms give the painting the hazy quality of memory, where certain details remain vivid while others begin to dissolve.
With its gentle palette and strong sense of atmosphere, Waterways would sit beautifully in a bedroom, living room, entranceway or calm contemporary interior.
Acrylic on canvas 762 × 762 mm depth 35 mm 2021
found
Adrienne Rewi
Finding significance in the landscapes we pass every day. 2026
Roadsides, trees and the wider landscape recur throughout Adrienne Rewi’s work, reflecting her strong connection to the beauty found within ordinary surroundings.
In Three Trees, three quiet forms emerge from a softly layered landscape of muted blue, stone and olive. A bold passage of ochre draws the eye through the foreground, while subtle lines and textures suggest open ground, distant vegetation and traces of movement across the land.
The work does not depend on a dramatic view. Instead, it asks us to look more closely at the understated places that often pass unnoticed.
This contemplative work would sit beautifully in a kitchen, hallway, study, bedroom or quiet living space, framed with generous matting to complement its soft, open composition.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only.
Adrienne Rewi
An imagined landscape emerging through colour, movement and experimentation. 2026
Adrienne Rewi paints, draws and sketches daily, often allowing a work to develop without a predetermined subject. This is particularly true of watercolour—a medium she has loved and worked with throughout her artistic career.
In Dry Hills with Shadows, transparent washes of ochre, pink and charcoal form a low, sun-dried landscape beneath an expansive blue sky. Pencil lines travel freely through the colour, suggesting ridges, vegetation and shifting shadows without defining a particular place.
The fluid relationship between pencil and watercolour gives the work its immediacy. It feels less like a recorded view and more like a landscape discovered through the act of making.
This expressive work would sit beautifully in a kitchen, hallway, study, bedroom or collected gallery wall, framed with generous matting to retain its light, open quality.
Pencil and watercolour on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only.
Adrienne Rewi
A remembered landscape of immense skies and fields alive with yellow. 2025
Adrienne Rewi’s three years in Victoria had a lasting influence on her creative life. It was there, in 2017, that she returned to painting after almost 30 years working as a journalist and writer.
In spring and summer, Victoria’s canola fields become vast swathes of brilliant yellow. Here, luminous washes of yellow and ochre stretch beneath a deep blue sky, while loose, darker marks suggest field boundaries and distant vegetation.
Yellow is a colour Adrienne describes as her creative nemesis, and very few of her yellow paintings satisfy her. This work is a rare exception. Painted after her return to Christchurch, it shows how strongly the Australian landscape remains within her visual memory.
This light-filled work would bring warmth and openness to a study, hallway, bedroom, kitchen or contemporary living space.
Watercolour on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only.
Adrienne Rewi
A playful studio moment shaped by togetherness—even when the collaboration did not quite happen. 2025
Adrienne Rewi regularly shares her studio with her young granddaughter, Olive. They have worked alongside one another since Olive was two, sometimes creating paintings together, with wonderfully unpredictable results.
On this occasion, Olive changed her mind at the last moment, leaving Adrienne to continue experimenting alone. The title preserves that unfinished intention and the quiet presence of a collaboration that almost was.
Soft blue watercolour opens into washes of ochre, pink, purple and charcoal, while loose pencil marks move freely across the surface. The work retains a sense of play, spontaneity and permission to follow wherever the materials lead.
Beyond its visual qualities, Almost a Collaboration holds the story of creativity shared across generations and the value of simply spending time making together.
This warm and playful work would sit beautifully in a child’s room, family space, hallway, creative studio or collected gallery wall, framed with generous matting to preserve its lightness and spontaneity.
Pencil and watercolour on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only.
Adrienne Rewi
A painting created at the threshold between one life and another. 2020
A Point in Time was painted soon after Adrienne Rewi returned to Christchurch following three years in Victoria, Australia. Her belongings had only just arrived, the COVID-19 pandemic was beginning, and she was weighing whether to return to journalism and fiction writing or re-establish herself as a full-time artist after a 30-year break.
Unlike many of Adrienne’s landscape-based works, this painting responds more directly to an internal state. Dense passages of plum, rust, ochre, black and white overlap and press against one another, carrying the uncertainty and emotional weight of a defining moment.
Ultimately, circumstances helped make the decision. Adrienne stepped away from professional life and allowed painting to become central again. The work now marks that transition—a particular point when uncertainty gave way to a new creative direction.
This intimate and thoughtful work would bring warmth and depth to a study, reading corner, bedroom, hallway or quiet living space, where its layered surface can be appreciated at close range.
Acrylic on canvas 300 × 300 mm
Adrienne Rewi
A sudden cold shift across a landscape shaped by extremes. 2019
Painted while Adrienne Rewi was living in Central Victoria, Late Snow responds to the dramatic changes in weather that define the region—from intensely hot summers to bitterly cold winters.
A dark mountain ridge cuts through the composition beneath a glowing sky of peach, ochre and soft pink. In the foreground, stark white eucalyptus trunks rise through muted green and earthy orange, their pale forms reflecting Adrienne’s enduring fascination with Australia’s diverse gum trees, particularly the luminous trunks of the Ghost Gums.
The contrast between the warm palette and the suggestion of late snow gives the work an intriguing tension. It captures a landscape caught between seasons, where warmth and cold appear to exist at once.
This atmospheric work would bring warmth and character to a bedroom, hallway, study, entranceway or intimate living space. It could also be displayed alongside Totems, creating a conversation between two responses to the Australian landscape.
Acrylic on canvas 356 × 356 mm
UNFRAMED room images are for placement inspiration only. Any frame shown is not included.
Adrienne Rewi
A changing landscape, rediscovered through colour and close attention. 2021
When Adrienne Rewi returned to Christchurch in 2020, the source of her painting shifted significantly—from Australian gum trees and bushfires to the hills, foothills and mountain ranges of Canterbury. These forms have remained central to her work ever since, continually transformed by season, weather and light.
In Spring in the Foothills, richly layered greens move across the canvas beneath a softly shifting sky. Warm ochre, pink and burgundy marks emerge through the landscape, suggesting new growth, exposed earth and the changing colour of spring.
While working full-time as a journalist and writer, Adrienne realised how often the details of her surroundings had been overlooked. Photography became a quick way to preserve a passing moment of beauty when her professional life required her attention elsewhere. These collected moments now feed into her intuitive painting practice.
This fresh and expressive work would bring colour and warmth to an entranceway, bedroom, study, hallway or contemporary living space, particularly alongside natural timber and neutral furnishings.
Acrylic on canvas 400 × 400 mm
Adrienne Rewi
A familiar Canterbury journey transformed by colour, curiosity and time spent looking. 2020
Summer Green, Ashley Gorge is Adrienne Rewi’s response to the richly green hills encountered along the road between Oxford and Rangiora. Although the journey may take most people around 40 minutes, Adrienne’s habit of stopping to sketch and photograph the landscape can stretch it into three or four hours.
Broad, textured strokes of deep green and olive roll across the canvas beneath a layered blue sky. Flashes of vivid red and warm ochre interrupt the landscape, suggesting roadside details, exposed earth and fleeting impressions gathered along the way.
The work captures more than a single view. It reflects Adrienne’s way of travelling slowly and attentively, allowing an ordinary route to become a continuing source of visual discovery.
This compact but vibrant work would bring colour and energy to a bedroom, hallway, study, entranceway or collected gallery wall, either displayed alone or alongside other small landscapes.
Acrylic on canvas 300 × 250 mm
Adrienne Rewi 2023
A quiet landscape held beneath an expansive Canterbury sky.
Far Hills II draws together Adrienne Rewi’s memories of the North and South Canterbury foothills, where the land gradually rises to meet the grandeur of the Southern Alps.
Created with what Adrienne describes as a “calm palette,” the work moves through soft blue, muted pink, sage green, cream and gentle yellow. Broad, layered brushstrokes suggest rolling hills, open farmland and distant ranges, while small accents of red bring warmth and movement to the landscape.
The composition carries the stillness of a clear, unhurried day. Rather than depicting a particular location, Adrienne captures the feeling of travelling through this familiar terrain—its openness, changing contours and the quiet anticipation of the mountains beyond.
This calming work would sit beautifully in a bedroom, dining room, living space, study or entranceway, bringing softness and a gentle sense of distance to the room.
Acrylic on canvas 500 × 500 mm
Adrienne Rewi
The city rediscovered through the simple act of moving through it. 2026
Adrienne Rewi walks daily throughout Christchurch, photographing the unexpected details she encounters along the way. These regular journeys allow familiar streets, pathways and pockets of vegetation to be seen differently, with each walk offering something new to notice.
A New Place to Walk is a painted response to that ongoing process of discovery. Sweeping areas of green, ochre and soft blue suggest a pathway moving through changing terrain, bordered by clusters of trees and energetic red forms. Loose lines and layered marks hold the immediacy of observations gathered while walking.
Rather than mapping a particular location, the work captures the feeling of entering an unfamiliar space within a familiar city—the curiosity of turning down another path and becoming more attentive to one’s surroundings.
This vibrant work would bring warmth and movement to a hallway, entranceway, study, living room or collected gallery wall, framed with generous matting to allow its energetic composition room to breathe.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
Nature reclaiming spaces once shaped by human lives. 2026
Treetops draws on two recurring sources within Adrienne Rewi’s practice: trees and the ungoverned landscapes of Christchurch’s residential red zone following the earthquakes. Where homes once stood, established trees and remnants of domestic gardens continue to grow, creating spaces that are beautiful, unsettled and rich with memory.
Adrienne spent several years photographically documenting these changing areas. Those images were later donated to Christchurch City Libraries, where the Adrienne Rewi Collection can be viewed through Canterbury Stories.
In this work, bright yellow-green canopies rise above dense passages of black, burgundy and rust. Energetic lines and layered marks suggest trunks, tangled growth and traces of what existed before. The landscape appears to hover between cultivated garden and regenerating wilderness.
Treetops considers the slow removal of the human imprint and the return of land to a less controlled state—a process that continues to resonate within Adrienne’s work many years after the earthquakes.
This expressive work would bring colour and depth to a living room, bedroom, hallway, study or collected gallery wall, framed with generous matting to give its energetic composition space to breathe.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
The Canterbury Plains transformed into a vivid patchwork of colour and cultivation. 2026
Inspired by the region’s summer cropping landscape, Canterbury Cropping interprets the ordered fields and changing rural terrain through expressive colour, texture and mark-making. It is one of two works by Adrienne Rewi that share this title—a rarity within her practice.
Bands of golden yellow, vivid green and earthy ochre stretch across the composition beneath a broad blue sky and dark distant hills. Scraped lines, repeated patterns and small red gestures suggest crop rows, boundaries and the marks left by working the land.
The landscape remains recognisable without becoming literal. Instead, Adrienne captures the rhythm and geometry of the Canterbury Plains in summer, when cultivated fields turn the view into a continually changing mosaic.
This vibrant work would bring warmth and energy to a dining room, kitchen, hallway, study or contemporary living space, framed with generous matting to emphasise its colour and texture.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
A moment of light opening within the density of the forest. 2026
Trees, forests and clearings are recurring subjects within Adrienne Rewi’s practice, particularly the way light penetrates enclosed spaces and transforms the shapes and shadows within them.
In Clearing, dense groups of dark trees frame a luminous opening at the centre of the composition. Deep forest greens and near-black shadows contrast with warm terracotta, soft pink and flashes of gold, creating a landscape that feels both grounded and slightly mysterious.
Energetic brushwork and layered marks capture the shifting experience of moving through the bush—where enclosed darkness can suddenly give way to warmth, distance and open light. The clearing becomes more than a physical space; it suggests a moment of release, possibility or discovery.
This work would bring depth and atmosphere to a bedroom, hallway, study, entranceway or intimate living space, framed with generous matting to allow its rich colour and detail to stand forward.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
The overlooked landscape, caught somewhere between observation and motion. 2026
We tend to travel with our attention fixed on the destination, rarely pausing to really notice the roadsides along the way—their changing shapes, shadows, colours and unruly plant life. Scrub draws attention back to these easily missed environments.
The work also carries memories of Adrienne Rewi’s 2018 road trip from Melbourne to Darwin along the Stuart Highway. Unable to stop every time something caught her eye, Adrienne returned home with hundreds of semi-blurred roadside photographs taken in passing. That sense of movement remains within the painting.
Slender dark trunks rise through soft layers of dusty pink, muted green and pale blue. Loosely painted canopies and gestural marks allow the scene to shift between landscape, memory and abstraction—as though briefly glimpsed through a car window.
This work would sit beautifully in a bedroom, hallway, study, entranceway or quiet living space, framed with generous matting to complement its light, atmospheric quality.
Acrylic on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
Beauty found in the places most of us pass without noticing. 2025
Roadside reflects Adrienne Rewi’s fascination with the overlooked patches of bush, grasses and foliage growing along the edges of everyday journeys. She can often be found parked beside the road, photographing the unexpected shapes, textures and natural compositions that catch her attention.
Rather than presenting a literal roadside scene, the work celebrates these in-between spaces as places worthy of closer observation. Layers of mixed media transform familiar vegetation into an expressive landscape shaped by memory, curiosity and Adrienne’s instinctive response to place.
Roadside is a reminder to slow down and notice what exists beyond the obvious—the small, untamed pockets of beauty encountered along the way.
This work would sit beautifully in a bedroom, hallway, study, entranceway or as part of a collected gallery wall.
Mixed media on Fabriano watercolour paper 420 × 297 mm
UNFRAMED room image shows a framing possibility only
Adrienne Rewi
A landscape unfolding like a living map.
Trees and hills are recurring forms within Adrienne Rewi’s practice, and in Valley Arboretum they become both recognisable and imagined. Rows of slender trunks, clustered canopies and distant dark hills emerge from layers of sweeping colour, creating a landscape that feels expansive, rhythmic and alive.
The diversity of the arboretum is reflected through changing shapes and tones. Acid yellow, olive green, burnt orange and soft pink move across a deep, atmospheric ground, while pale tree forms punctuate the composition. Each group appears to hold its own character, yet together they form a connected and continually shifting environment.
There is always something new to discover within this work. It can be read from a distance as a vibrant landscape, then explored more closely through its smaller marks, textures and pathways.
Its strong contrast and square format would bring energy to a living room, dining area, office, waiting room or entranceway. It could sit equally well within a clean contemporary interior or among richer colours, patterns and collected objects.
Acrylic on canvas 762 × 762 mm depth 35mm 2019 ready to hang