I did this oil painting sometime in the 1960s. The building lay over a siding of the main trunk railway line somewhere between Amberley and Waipara in North Canterbury, New Zealand. Open railway trucks would be run under the two storey part of the building from where the crushed lime would be loaded.
A warm nor’wester was blowing at the time of the painting; it formed the typical heavy lenticular cloud which would build up for the length of Canterbury province; the cloud’s base can be seen in the background where blue sky marks the chain of Southern Alps mountains that lie roughly north-south. The yellow cushions are formed of moss whose colour is enriched, presumably, by lime dust. I did not exaggerate the colour!
The building no longer exists. I have tried to find its site from time to time but there is no evidence left. I have searched the Internet to try to elicit something of the building’s history and that of the Amberley Lime Company; no luck. I’d welcome information if anybody has any.
© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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