Ross Cassells' watercolour painting, Twilight Years of the Rimutaka Incline. Photo / Judith Lacy
Ross Cassells' watercolour painting, Twilight Years of the Rimutaka Incline. Photo / Judith Lacy
Ross Cassells has loved art all his life, and growing up in Wellington, art was his favourite subject.
When he moved to Palmerston North in 1985, he started to get a bit more serious about it and took night classes at Queen Elizabeth College. His tutors included well-known painters JackRegister and Ross Whitlock.
He also joined the Palmerston North Art Group, but his attendance was on and off, depending on work commitments.
Now he has retired, he paints weekly with his friends in the group.
Cassells has 15 watercolour paintings on display at Square Edge Arts Centre until November 27.
They are mostly landscapes, some steam trains - a passion of his. There are 15 paintings, with subjects such as Cape Palliser, Friday afternoon in old Mangaweka, Ross Beach, and shunting in the old Palmerston North Railway Yards with All Saints Church in the background.
Ross Cassells with his watercolour painting, Twilight Years of the Rimutaka Incline. Photo / Judith Lacy
At the opening last week, Cassells said the exhibition had been about three years in the making. Each painting takes more than two months' work.
It had been an enjoyable journey and he has received a lot of support from people. His wife Vicki-Marie Buchanan helps too, when he's feeling angst over the next step in a painting.
Each painting is a serious challenge, and painting more regularly has helped him to become more consistent in style and technique - there is always something more to learn.
"You're always trying to capture that X-factor; the moodiness of an approaching storm, the interplay of light and shadow on hills or in the forest, or the wistfulness of a scene from a bygone era."
Cassells used to work for the New Zealand Forest Service and the Department of Conservation. He has worked for Volunteer Service Aboard and lectured in international relations and environmental studies at IPU.
He has a PhD in development studies, for which he examined hybrid forms of village governance in the Solomon Islands.
This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air
