Artists Blog

Since returning home to Perth I’m rediscovering treasures hidden away in the shed whilst we were gone. It’s been about 2 and a half years since my Royal Show Ribbon winning calligraphy piece went for a dip in the swimming pool.  I needed to take some catalogue photos, and had laid it out on the only area of paving long enough (it was a very long piece).

Of course the unthinkable happened.

A sudden gust of wind picked it up like a huge sail and threw it into the water. The duck thought it jolly good fun as I plunged in to rescue it.

What I was left with was a sodden mess of individual pages with non-waterproof inks running in all directions. The cat was rather enjoying herself as well,

as it all smelt so fishy when wet….

…that she just had to lick it. Not that it could get any wetter.

Treasures no more. Disgusted with myself, I threw it all on a shelf in the shed where it’s been drying out since July ‘07. When I was looking for some nails in the shed I saw a piece poking out. Looking at them again with fresh eyes I thought it might be worth a go trying to repair some of the water damage. Of course it will never be like the original, but now it’s got “character lines”. The smudges and blurs will always be there, but it’s just more background for the calligraphy to sit upon. I pulled out my pens and got stuck in.

These are just some of the pieces -there are those that are just too far gone to be salvaged, and those that have had their shells damaged (which means more beachcombing to finish the repair job).

But at least it’s got me thinking about a piece for this year’s Royal Show - deadline for submissions in July. Time to sharpen those nibs!

Having  recently amassed a HUGE amount of new watercolours (all different brands from lots of different countries), my old colour charts are no longer up to the job. Time for new ones, and a new way of organising my pigments. I am boldly going to attempt to arrange them on one all-encompassing colour map. Famous last words perhaps…..

Below I am testing Winsor & Newton pigment density (student quality Cotman colours versus artist’s quality)

Other busy work was going on in our household over the weekend. Can you guess what the boys were building?

A Quarterpipe!

Yet another one, this time much, much smaller and no steel welding or huge skate park area required.

Whenever I need a shot of colour inspiration I turn to the garden. Now that it’s cooler (meaning under 40C/104F!) I’m out there a whole lot more.

Blue Iris feeling fresh in the morning.

Candy Cane Frangipanis scent the air.

Looking down the throat of the Leopard spotted canna lily reminds me of the 1960’s show ”Time Tunnel”.

The hibiscus are madly flowering their heads off, and it’s magic watching them unfold right before your eyes in the morning - from tight bud to full flamboyant bloom in minutes.

Insects are out and about in the dawn light as well. Fly for breakfast anyone?

And of course the bees never stop.

Morning always reveals surprises.

Other winged creatures show up out front at first light.

Then stay for a seista on my front door mat. Gives the Postie a surprise sometimes!

Throughout the day more visitors come and go.

These long beaked Corellas can create carnage to a lawned area in mere minutes.

Watching the blue dragonflies hunt and dance can be quite hypnotic. They look you straight in the eye as well.

Now we have four turtle doves instead of two.

I can feel some botanical drawing/painting urges coming on…

Having a play with my pan paints today, and this bird appeared:

Quite a change from my usual bird paintings!

It rather matches some of the paintings and drawings I did for the Rainbow Catcher (see last 2 posts)

Lots of critters hiding everywhere in my house!

Following on from my last post about the Rainbow Catcher, I’ve included some of the black and white images that were colouring pages in the package. I remember seeing a photo of a classroom where all the children had coloured the same image, but no two were even remotely the same. Imaginations are carefree when you’re young (and hopefully when you’re older too!)

This “Values” package was essentially about 20 creatures who each represented a value. Each creature had their own story to tell and asociated workshop/exercises to accompany it.

It was a lot of work ( 20 x everything), but such a joy to collaborate with such creative people.

These are just a few of the mutlitudes of black and white images. There are just as many images in colour, so when time permits, I’ll scan and upload some more.

Rainbows

Rainbows

Rainbows.

They seem to be everywhere in my life this week.

This is the interactive CD cover of a project I worked on a while back. I came across the original artwork whilst clearing out the Studio. More about that later. A couple of days ago I was driving home from Drawing Class when I saw this out the side window.

I told Jez to grab a few photos.

After 5 minutes it slowly vaporized.

With not a single drop of rain to tone down this excessive heat.

Back to the Rainbow Catcher. It was a collaboration between a few of us  (writers, artist & musician) to create a “Values” package for Early Childhood. A lot of work but a lot of fun. There is a heap of artwork that was associated with this, when I get the time I’ll scan and post them. The ship is called The Rainbow Catcher and is home to 20 creatures that each represent  a Value (eg Love, Courage etc).

I had a lot of fun with watercolours, metallic inks and holographic glitters.

I’m off for a swim now as I’ve melted all over the computer chair…….”Cooling down” to only the high 30’sC tomorrow!

For an exhibition late last year I decided to go BIG. Having only ever worked small, painting one sq metre canvases was quite a challenge. I scaled up my Red Girl and then painted her mirror image in blue.

I enjoyed the large scale format so much that I have quite a few canvases (much bigger ones even!), stacked against the wall awaiting their appointment with the big brushes. Quite ironic when I consider  I’m working on miniatures for admission to the Australian Miniature Society!

On a different subject altogether, we seem to be “blessed” with scaly visitors. Not the Pythons of the Far North this time, but something more sinister.

This is a Dugite (Pseudonaja affinis), which can grow up to 2m, and can be fatally venomous (they are of the Brown Snake family). I picked this fellow up out of the gutter, but he had already met an unfortunate end.

And no, those aren’t my hairy legs, they belong to Jez! I’ve buried the snake in the garden, and look forward to unearthing a nice clean specimen skeleton before winter.

Ever heard a motorbike changing gears? Lots of kids imitate this sound when they “ride” around on pretend motorbikes. Well, we’ve had a particular motorbike under our kitchen window for weeks. And now he has a friend. Firstly, click this motorbike-frog.mp3 to listen to our nightly song.

One morning I found our songster haveing a quick dip in the pool.

 Chlorine and frog skin is not a good mix (even the human touch is bad for them), so I fished him out and rinsed him off.

He was back in fine voice late that night.

Two night ago there was a different sounding song under the kitchen window. Something similar to this:spotted-thigh-frog.mp3

He (She?) certainly looked different to the Motorbike frog, but maybe just juvenile. Perhaps it is the Spotted Thigh Frog? (Any froggie experts out there?) At least they aren’t in my toilet at night (see  this post and this post for past scares in the “wee” hours)

Frogs in the garden are a good indicator of a healthy environment, so I’m happy that my “rev head” guests are here.

The  deadly Dugites are another matter entirely…..

I’ve been “sketching” with watercolours today. I pulled out my little field kit and BIG brush (my tiny 20/0 brushes were given a rest today) and laid down some wet, wet washes on unstretched paper. No planning or pre-drawing, just paint splashed straight down.

The only restriction was that the dimensions were under 10cmx10cm - Australian rules for miniature art. Painting done with 4 colours, then finished off with ink. A very loose style which I’m quite unfamiliar with, but which I found very enjoyable.

Digging through some old artwork I found another piece that I’d forgotten about.

This was from a Botanical Painting Weekend workshop through Uni Summer School - fabulous company and so, so inspiring. Maybe it’s time to get those teeny tiny brushes out again tomorrow!

On Sunday I joined the North Coast Art Club. These artists get together once a month to paint with each other in really relaxed, supportive atmosphere. You can’t get much more supportive than boxes of good chocolates and cups of tea!

Whilst at the Art Club I started my next painting, a miniature, with a familiar subject.

These Forest Kingfishers lived in my garden and the surrounding bush, and were more than happy to pose for photos.

I hope to finish him at home quite soon.

Do you remember the Mystery of the Fish Skull? (click here for original post) Well, scientists at a local University have deemed it a BATFISH, which I had taken underwater photos of at the Great Barrier Reef off Green Island. I still wouldn’t have guessed it.

Thanks to all who took the time to offer suggestions!