PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ORDER THE IMAGE WRAPPED BOOK IT DOES NOT COME WITH THE DUST JACKET, WHICH HAS INFORMATION ON IT ABOUT THE ARTIST AND THE AUTHORS



NEWS: AUGUST 2012 The Whanganui River in a leading NZ legal settlement has been given unique ecological rights as an entity in itself. Read more here http://ecoartfilm.com/2012/09/13/the-whanganui-river-is-the-guide-and-leader/ and a recent film has been made about the river too http://ecoartfilm.com/2012/09/21/how-far-is-heaven/



Annie Cowie (1858-1917) was the first European woman to live in the remote Huikumu region of New Zealand in the 1890s. Living on a large farm close to the Whanganui River, her sensitive paintings and sketches reveal vivid details of the wild riverscapes and mountains, the Maori people of the area and personal portraits of the family home she loved so much.



The Whanganui River, with its origins high on of the mountains of the Tongariro plateau (Mt Ruapehu was frequently painted by Annie Cowie) is the longest navigable river in New Zealand at 234 km. It was the home of several Maori tribes and later settled for a time by Europeans. Of interest is that early settlers tried to farm this area but harsh conditions and poor soil fertility meant that many later abandoned their farms. Today, the surrounding area of the Whanganui area is much as it was in Annie Cowie's day.



'Ruapehu is the mountain,

Whanganui is the river,

Te Atihau nui a papa rangi

are the people'



The lowland forests of the area consist mainly of kamahi, tawa, hinau and pigeonwood trees... mosses, creepers and tree ferns live along the banks of the Whanganui River and in Annie Cowie's paintings.



Created and designed by Cathy Fitzgerald, Annie Cowie's Great Grand-daughter, 2011 and Mary Cowie, her Grand-daughter