Linda Tyler talks about the journey and exploration of John Buchanan in the Wairarapa.
John Buchanan was one of New Zealand’s best scientific artists, as well as a pioneering botanist.
Following an early career in Scotland designing patterns for wallpaper and fabrics – many of which featured botanical themes – Buchanan sailed to New Zealand arriving in 1852. He bought a 10-acre farm near Dunedin where he began collecting and recording the unfamiliar native flora. Botanical and geological trips took Buchanan to all parts
of the country, and were documented in field-books and many landscape
and natural history drawings. Buchanan sketched the areas around Masterton and Tirohanga, and looked for coal at Waingawa River. He also collected seaweeds from the Wairarapa coast. Linda is one of two inaugural recipients of the Aratoi Fellowship at the New Pacific Studio (NPS), a new initiative of the Friends of Aratoi.
Sketches, paintings, reports and personal papers are now preserved in
libraries and museums in Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin and Sydney.
