Brush And Camera For N.Z. Tour

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30062, 21 February 1963, Page 2

Brush And Camera For N.Z. Tour

During the next few weeks, motorists throughout Canterbury may notice a man and wotnan scrutinising the same view with keen eyes for detail. They will be Mr and Mrs J. Loxton, from Melbourne, here to record New Zealand landscapes with brush and oils, and with colour photography.

Their caravan visit is a trial run for a two-year tour they plan to make in Europe. They have already travelled extensively in their own country. Next week Mr Loxton will give an exhibition of his paintings in Christchurch. “I only go along for the trip when my husband sets out on a painting holiday; but I take my cameras with me,” Mrs Loxton said yesterday. Close-up Photography Besides taking landscape colour films, Mrs Loxton uses a special camera for taking close-up-views of flowers and insects—a apider on its web on a dewy morning, an opening bud or a pod beginning to show its seeds. Minute objects in plant and insect life, which the human eye often overlook* have a special appeal to her. Some of her favourite slides among the 5000 transparencies she has show one, faultless bloom. Her slides are often shown to the Victorian Photographic Society, and already Mrs Loxton has been invited to give a programme at the Christchurch Photographic Society. The slides she will show will be mainly of a trip to Alice Springs and other parts of Australia. “In New Zealand, we have been fascinated by the Buller Gorpe and the light of snow

on the majestic alp* at this time of year. It is quite new to ua," she said.

Appeal of N.Z. Scenery The rugged grandeur of mountains, the lakes and riverscapes of New Zeeland have a special appeal to each of the two artists for their separate media. Mr and Mrs Loxton came to New Zealand because of a chance meeting with Sir James Hay when he was visiting the Adelaide Arts Festival last year. He admired Mr Loxton’s work and invited him to hold an exhibition in his Christchurch store.

The upshot is: they plan to spend four months in New Zealand, including the exhibition week. Mrs Loxton said. Lived in Christchurch As Miss Elizabeth Body, Mrs Loxton lived in Christchurch for seven years, during the Second World War, working as a secretary in a Government department. When she returned to Melbourne she decided to have a ski-ing holiday at Mount Buffalo, Victoria, and there met her future husband on one of his painting holidays. While in Christchurch they are staying with Mrs Loxton’s sister, Mrs B. Croft, of Opawa.