SOLD: Island Dream by Lisa Elley. Palette knife painting in oil. 2014. 12 X 48 x 1.5 inches, sides painted, no frame required. SOLD Painting

SOLD: Island Dream by Lisa Elley. Palette knife painting in oil. 2014. 12 X 48 x 1.5 inches, sides painted, no frame required. SOLD New Zealand has 14,000 kilometres (8,700 mi) of coastline making it the 10th longest in the world. The coastline borders the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The northern and southern most points of the coastline on the two main islands are Surville Cliffs and Slope Point respectively. Cape Reinga in the north and Bluff in the south are often incorrectly given as the extremities of the coastline on the North and South Islands. Coastal development, such as buildings and marine farms, has become contentious in recent decades.The geography of the New Zealand coastline is varied. As well as sheltered sandy beaches there are rugged, remote and cliff lined sections typified by the Fiordland area. Ironsand gives the beaches on west coast of the North Island a black colouration. Pine plantation were established on some of the coastal dune sections. Woodhill, Riverhead and Bottle Lake Forest are such examples. Marram grass was planted for dune stabilisation displacing native plants such as pingao. New Zealand pohutukawa,or New Zealand Christmas tree is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display of red flowers made up of a mass of stamens. The pōhutukawa is one of twelve Metrosideros species endemic to New Zealand. Renowned for its vibrant colour and its ability to survive even perched on rocky, precarious cliffs, it has found an important place in New Zealand culture for its strength and beauty and is regarded as a chiefly tree (rākau rangatira) by Māori.The blossom of the tree is called kahika.The pōhutukawa grows up to 25 metres (82 ft) in height, with a dome-like spreading form. It usually grows as a multi-trunked spreading tree. Its trunks and branches are sometimes festooned with matted, fibrous aerial roots. The oblong, leathery leaves are covered in dense white hairs underneath. The tree flowers from November to January with a peak in mid to late December (the southern hemisphere summer), with brilliant crimson flowers covering the tree, hence the nickname New Zealand Christmas tree. There is variation between individual trees in the timing of flowering, and in the shade and brightness of the flowers. In isolated populations genetic drift has resulted in local variation: many of the trees growing around the Rotorua lakes produce pink-shaded flowers, and the yellow-flowered cultivar 'Aurea' descends from a pair discovered in 1940 on Mōtiti Island in the Bay of Plenty. It's always a pleasure to paint the unique Pohutukawa tree, and even better peeking through it to feast your eyes on the remarkable colors of the pristine water surrounding New Zealand!