New Zealand Odyssey: Nightcaps Museum and Medical Centre, Southland

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.

  

Delightfully named Nightcaps is a small Southland town that grew up on coal but exhausted its resource. There is a number of interesting buildings - leftovers from a more prosperous time - dotting its precincts. These two fascinated me in 1988: the Museum with a suspiciously closed look and with epiphytic growth appearing on its roof as if to suggest that Nature will take over; and the Medical Association centre, an even more modest one-roomed lock up. I wonder what the group shareholding doctors of the grand amalgamated practices of the big cities would think of such simplicity?

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Otago Early Settlers Association Museum, Dunedin

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.

Somebody decided to be outrageously adventurous - either that or there was a collection of half-used pots of various coloured paints languishing in a council garage. 

Fortunately paint can't actually destroy the underlying architecture and so, when I last looked at an image of the building on the Internet, they'd scrubbed it all off and it no longer looked as hideous as it did that day in 1987 when I did this illustration.

One good thing about this rainbow effect was that you could distinguish each architectural feature: portico, pediment, entablature, spandrels, pilasters, balustrades, columns and Corinthian capitals. Yay!

© DON DONOVAN

donovn@ihug.co.nz

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