Drawing the Waitakere Coast

Compiled by celebrated artist Don Binney, this beautiful little hardback book combines Binney's delicate coloured pencil drawings of the stunning Waitakere coast, with text that takes the reader on a fascinating journey of the area.

The drawings are evocative of the coast so many New Zealanders love and they are magnificent works in themselves. They are accompanied by text describing an imaginary journey from Huia to Te Henga (Bethells), commenting on the landmarks shown in each of the drawings. They also draw on Binney's extensive contact with and love for this coast and with the Waitakeres in general.

In early adulthood Binney tramped and camped throughout the area. He was a founding member of the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society and is nationally recognized as a great conservationist. He has often used his art to underpin his conservation-activist work.
Don Binney was a senior lecturer at Elam School of Fine Arts, where he taught for more than 20 years. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and is represented in several important collections of New Zealand art.

The drawings for this book and exhibition were completed over an 18-month period and represent an amazing feat in themselves - Binney delivered them all in a single booklet, with no mistakes or pages ripped out, showing his incredible eye for accuracy and detail. In fact, many of them were drawn from memory.

Drawing the Waitakere Coast is a beautiful little book, with a lifetime of memories of this much-loved coast portrayed by an elder statesman of the New Zealand art world for readers to enjoy. Keepsake-small and perfectly formed, lovers of the west will find it completely enchanting.

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