Erin Smith

While cleaning out a storage area, a Whakatāne print business has uncovered an artistic treasure it hopes to unite with its creator.

Last week, Mann Print & Design general manager David Goile discovered a series of hand painted watercolour illustrations hidden among stacks of other items in an upstairs storage area.

After roughly 30 years of sitting in storage, Mr Goile said, “we had no idea they were here.”

All originals dating back to the 1990s, the illustrations feature various characters enjoying activities the Rotorua region is famous for, from hot springs, to skydiving, to scenes from the Whakarewarewa village. However, the artist is unknown.

Mr Goile can remember the job, saying the illustrations were created for a Rotorua tourism company by a female graphic designer he believes worked in Whakatāne.

However, he does not know her name, nor the company she worked for.

Being from the 90s, they are all created in an old style of graphic design pre-dating the computer software which would typically be used today. This entails that even the lettering is hand drawn and designed on a clear plastic overlay for each painting.

Goile was struck by the quality of the illustrations.

“You can see how much detail is in them”.

Pointing directly at the painting of a woman reading in one of the thermal pools, he said, “there’s transparencies going on with the watercolour, which would be really hard to achieve.

“It was a very clever artist who did it.”

Knowing their value, Mr Goile and the team at Mann Print & Design want to return the original paintings to their creator.

They hope that by sharing their story, they may be able to identify her – especially if she is still in the Whakatāne area.

However, if they cannot find her, Mr Goile said they planned to frame and display them in their company lobby, so they could be enjoyed by more people.