Untouched nature exhibition

Cooks Gallery director Rob Davies with some of his own paintings from Our Natural Heritage.PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

Wanganui Arts Society is preparing for next month's Artists Open Studios Whanganui with a heritage-themed exhibition.

Our Natural Heritage opened at the society's gallery, Cooks Gallery, recently and will run until the end of February.

Gallery director Rob Davies said the society had had a heritage exhibition at the Riverboat Centre during Whanganui Vintage Weekend and it had been so popular that he decided to continue the theme.

Society members have contributed a variety of paintings which more or less fit the topic of "natural heritage".

There are paintings of birds, landscapes, and seas. Artists include Peter Wall, Richard Cotgrove, Jeanette Cutten, and Mr Davies.

Ms Cutten and Mr Cotgrove both submitted paintings of an aerial view of the central plateau mountains.

While the paintings are almost identical, they're also very different. Mr Cotgrove's has very strong lines, while Ms Cutten's is much softer.

Following on Our Natural Heritage will be Open Studios, and Mr Davies said society members were already planning for the event, which will be held March 12-13 and 19-20.

Mr Davies said he'd like to continue the heritage theme into Open Studios.

"This [Cooks Gallery] is an old building and the Arts Society has been around for a long time. So I'd like to continue looking at heritage in one way or another."

In previous years, society members have been painting in Cooks Gallery during Open Studios and Mr Davies said that would be happening again this year.

"This is a gallery but it's also a working studio and I feel that we'd be cheating people if they didn't get to see some of us at work."

-For more details on Open Studios visit www.openstudios.co.nz.