Artist’s view of Tongariro National Park at Nature Talk

New Zealand cedar or pahautea Libocedrus bidwillii, a tall emergent tree of the upper montane zone of Tongariro National Park, shown here alongside a whitehead, popokatea, Mohoua albicilla, and a copper butterfly, Lycaena spp, on a box daphne Pimelia buxifolia, as illustrated in Des Bovey's upcoming book, Tongariro National Park, an Artist's Field Guide. Illustration / Desmond Bovey

For this month’s Nature Talks, Desmond Bovey, noted Whanganui artist and illustrator, will be talking about the genesis of his upcoming book, Tongariro National Park, an Artist’s Field Guide, to be published in September by Potton & Burton.

Born and bred in Whanganui, Des moved to France in 1982, going first to university before becoming an art director in a communications agency. He later moved on to work freelance as a specialist illustrator and interpreter of environmental and nature themes, with projects all over eastern France, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Morocco, and Réunion.

He returned to Whanganui in 2011 and started looking for ways to reconnect with the landscapes of his youth. An early visit to Mt Ruapehu, walking a section of the Te Araroa Trail from Whakapapa to the Whakapapaiti Valley, resulted in a chance encounter with a New Zealand falcon, kārearea.

Peter Frost (left) and Desmond Bovey with one of the new stations at the Virginia Lake discovery trail on Friday, February 26, 2021.

This event stimulated many subsequent visits to the Volcanic Plateau during which Des explored and sketched the region’s landscapes and their inhabitants. He has now brought these many drawings and accompanying text together in a richly illustrated book, in which he examines the region’s physical and biological features and their interactions.

In his talk, titled An Artist’s View of Tongariro National Park, Des describes this journey and what he discovered along the way. The talk will be given at the Davis Lecture Theatre, Whanganui Regional Museum, on Tuesday, August 15, starting at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome and entrance is free, although a gold-coin koha is always welcome, to help offset costs.

■ Nature Talks is a series of bi-monthly talks offered by three local environmental groups - Birds New Zealand (Whanganui region), the Whanganui branch of Forest & Bird, and the Whanganui Botanical Group, all in conjunction with the Whanganui Regional Museum - on topics related to New Zealand’s environment, natural history, and their conservation.

The talks are normally held on the third Tuesday of every alternate month. For more information, contact Peter Frost (birds.whanganui@gmail.com, phone 343-1648).