This earthquake rolling through Kapiti Island was inspired by Sam Hunt’s poem (which he recites in “Cape Turnagain” by the Warratahs) about Ruamoko, the unborn earthquake god kicking at the belly of his earth mother Papatuanuku, reminding us all that he’s still about – it starts:
“After the quake last night, (a rumble low in the gut of the Taranaki bight) – 6.3 turns out – I went and checked his name again – Ruamoko, Earthquake God. Not that a man dare answer back to a God like that..
(excepting that I got the wording wrong on the painting itself – memory fail!)
Sam lived here in Bottle Creek, Paremata for many years – as part of an artistic community in the 70s (Robyn White, Jack Lazenby, Michael King, Alister Taylor) and then across the inlet for much of the 80s until permanent living in the boatsheds became restricted – he claims to have named Bottle Creek, and why not. This one’s in oils, about 30″x30”
Alistair McDonald's Art 