Tramper's final photos inspire memorial

MARION VAN DIJ/Nelson Mail

TRIBUTE: Tasman district Search and Rescue coordinator Sherp Tucker, right, and chairman Ian Watts with Jill Perrott's painting and the photographs it is based on.

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The aunt of an experienced Nelson tramper who died in Kahurangi National Park last October has created a moving series of paintings inspired by the photographs he took during his final trip.

Arborist Stephen Alderson had been undertaking a solo traverse of Mt Snowdon and was making his way to Devil River Peak when he fell to his death.

A Search and Rescue effort involving 50 people recovered his body and his camera, which held photographs he had taken before he died.

Search and Rescue will receive 35 per cent of the proceeds of the exhibition.

Mr Alderson's aunt, Auckland artist Jill Perrott, said her motivation for doing the paintings was to acknowledge the work done by Search and Rescue throughout the country, and the role the organisation played in the search for her nephew.

Perrott, who studied under Colin McCahon and exhibits nationwide, has titled the exhibition In Memory of Stephen Alderson. It is on display at the Reflections Art Gallery at the WOW Museum, and the paintings range in price from $1700 to $2600.

Mr Alderson's widow Denise said she was pleased to see the exhibition go on display, as she was proud of what her husband had done and the photographs he had taken.

She was pleased that some of the proceeds would go to Search and Rescue, as it had put in "such a big effort" to find her husband.

Tasman district Search and Rescue coordinator Sherp Tucker said the organisation often went "cap in hand" to ask the community for money, and the donation would mean a great deal.

He described the paintings as magnificent, saying they captured the fact that Mr Alderson had seen "some lovely places".

Tasman district Search and Rescue chairperson Ian Watts said he had been involved with planning the recovery of Mr Alderson's body, which was done by helicopter.

He said searchers had used photographs taken by Mr Alderson on previous tramps to gain an understanding of his abilities, which helped them direct their search.

Reflections manager Marian Wolfs said she viewed the paintings as a depiction of a beautiful landscape, not of a place where something terrible had happened.

The paintings will be on display until May 5.

- © Fairfax NZ News