In 2010 I was fortunate to spend some special time at the Sisters of Compassion Convent at Jerusalem/Hiruharama on the Whanganui River. One day, looking around the upstairs room where the nuns used to sleep, I was taken by the scenes of the surrounding land framed by each of the “cell’s” tiny windows, and took some photographs. I couldn’t help wondering how the nuns would have viewed the scenes they encountered through these windows, and how the powerful landscape might have impacted on their lives. After I returned home and examined the photographs, I began to feel inspired to try and capture in paint something of the atmosphere I experienced at Jerusalem.
