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Artist: Jessie Brodie

Year: 1999

Medium: Acrylic & Enamel on Panels

Size: 3.5 sq m.

Sponsored By: Muraltown Twilight Concerts, Community Donations

This semi-abstract mural was painted by Jessie Brodie in 1998 while in her final year at Katikati College and completed early the following year. To give texture she used bright acrylic and enamel paint reflecting both the vibrancy of the Katikati landscape and the youth of the artist. The ancient pohutukawa trees have guarded our land and watched over our waters, observing generations of people come and go. Their scarlet blossoms in the foreground guard the flowing lines of the Tuapiro estuary and mudflats, at the mouth of one of the district’s many rivers that flow from the hills to the harbour. Standing over the fresh green pastures and stylised shelterbelts, the hills of the Kaimai Range allude to the Maori identity with the land. Above is one of the unusual cloud formations that are a feature of the Kaimai skies.

In 2006 the Pohutukawa Sentinal become the background image for the New Zealand Mural & Arts Festival