Artists Blog

Watercolour & ink on 225gsm rough.

It’s been a looong while, but here’s my submission to Illustration Friday.  Topic of the Week - EARLY.

I thought of all the usual images - early bird catches the worm, early morning cup of coffee etc, but nothing really grabbed me to pick up the brushes until I remembered our Beach Almond Tree in the Tropics.

The Beach Almond tree out the front of our house, full of bats at night and birds through the day was a bit confused with it’s one red leaf  - very very EARLY for Autumn! You can read the full post here.

Working on today’s piece was fun, playing with cling film to collect or disperse pigments, and then going in with fine ink pens.

Here’s to an inspirational week!

For artists who work from a Home Studio, constant distractions are never-ending - the phone ringing, the drop in visitors, school commitments… even the housework can seem like a pleasant diversion when your creativity has hit a brick wall.

Then there is the Studio Muse/Supervisor.

I’ve had my fair share of these creativity companions. I  scanned in some old photos of this ”muse” from waaaay back (must have been the 80’s - look at that typewriter!). She may look sweet but she was an absolute spit fire of a cat - only the dog could get near her without being shredded. I blame the family I rescued her from - a gaggle of kids who threw kittens around like tennis balls, and the fact that they wanted rid of her at just 5 weeks of age.

A Muse can take many forms…

This Male Orchard Swallowtail butterfly was having a lovely drink of watercolour.

Fingers crossed the cobalt wasn’t toxic!

My current puss is a real bugger when it comes to knocking things over, putting paws in wet paint, and generally getting her whiskas in where she shouldn’t. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

More digging through old files and I find a drawing done at an illustration workshop some time ago. Done in graphite, coloured pencil and ink.

Funny how many mums say they’d like a print to put up in their kitchen….

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!

Life sure gets in the way of all those best laid plans and all.

New jobs, old jobs, long term visitors, Christmas, New Year, Starting Senior School, the list is endless! All I can say is that I’m here now and am planning on hanging around for a goodly while.

It was a hearty farewell to 2009, and man was I glad to see the backend of that year. We calculated that our car has done so many more ‘000’s of kms on the back of a transporter than it has actually ever driven under it’s own steam. I’ve lost count of the moves we’ve had, I think people have given up writing in ink in their address books - one good friend confessed that she’s only used pencil for our address changes since 1990!

And wasn’t the start to 2010 spectacular - a Blue Moon AND eclipse all rolled into one.

I must admit that I didn’t know at the time it was a partial eclipse - I thought my eyes were a bit worse for wear with the evening’s celebrations. Luckily I was still awake (just) at about 3.30am to take the photo.

It’s been a big weekend for all of us, especially our son Jez. The Wanneroo City Council recently built and opened a spectacular Cultural and Exhibition Centre, and hosted their Art Awards Friday Evening. Jez had entered the Youth Category with a potrait drawing of His Mate Max. When they anounced the 3 youth winners and Jez wasn’t one of them, we all felt a little disappointed. Then the Open adult awards were announced. Jez was declared winner of the Works on Paper category, blowing us all away. Photographs with the Mayor, shaking of hands and presentations of certificates (and cheque!) all followed in a blur. We are all still stunned.

He’s had his work shown in a shop window recently, and thinks that there maybe a future in art after all. (If he needs something to fall back on after skateboarding you understand)

Can you tell I’m a proud parent?

Thank you to you all who have taken the time to read and comment. I promise to catch up on all the news.

And yes, the mystery of The Fish Skull has finally been resolved with the help of our Marine Research friends at Murdoch University. All will be revealed shortly…

And lastly,

Kung Hei Fat Choi - Happy Chinese New Year of  the Tiger

Image courtesy of the Bureau of Meteorology

Cyclone Hamish could be here as early as tomorrow night/saturday morning. There goes the weekend plans of exploring the Tablelands. Still, might be less crowded at the Coffee Plantation.

Thanks for all your lovely comments on the last post. I was hoping to be able to get a lot of painting done, but the Evil Taxation Return had other plans for me. It’s still not completed, and it’s like an infected thorn sticking in my toe. I was wading waist deep in papers, some going back to the 90’s, which thankfully are on their way to a new life in the reincarnation recycling bin. You know what it’s like, once I get bitten by the Purge Bug, I keep doggedly on, ripping up old bank statments with maniacal glee. Tax returns from the 80’s (just how did we survive on incomes so low?) even surfaced. I used to keep everything. Just in case. (Margie I can hear you laughing from here you know…)

Anyway, in an effort to tear myself away from all things mind numbing and soul destroying, I unwrapped a beautiful new Italian sketchbook (The Moleskine) this evening, and felt quite inspired admiring it’s creamy blank pages. Elli commented on linework in the last post, and linework is just what I need right now. There is an exhibition entitled “Line” closing soon, so I need to get a wriggle on. The lovely Elli also commented on museums being the source/inspiration for good work, and I do sadly miss them living up here. One of my favourite was the London Natural History Museum. I could live there and never ever get bored. The moment you set foot in that wonderous building you feel awe (and that Harry Potter might appear any minute). When I was there a while back I took so many (poor) photos. (This was still the age of film). I really think it inspired me to build my own naturalist’s collection, which I have been doing since I was a wee thing, much to my mother’s disdain. A decomposing red-bellied black snakes’s skin was binned whilst I was at school one day.

Everything was just so beautifully presented in polished timber cases. Did  anyone see the ABC’s recent series on the London Museum? How pedantic were they with dust getting into displays? Amazing dedication.

And the organisation - oh! It made me want to swoon.

So once back in Perth I built up a collection, mainly of beachy things, as we lived on the coast. After winter storms were the best time for finding unusual things, when the sea bed was trawled up and dumped on the sand. A lot of it stunk to high heaven, even after lots of bleach was involved. An outside collection was the best place until the smell disappeared.

When I proposed a piece for a Royal Show exhibition, I turned to my collection. I was able to use my finds, and gathered knowledge to put together a huge body of work, which won the Blue Ribbon at the Show. It met an untimely demise which I haven’t written about, but I did post some better photos under a post (click) HERE.

Below are some really bad photos from the film days.

So now I’m really keen to get some of my Tropical finds down on paper, captured in lines. Maybe even a splash of colour as well.

The Tax can wait.

Whilst visiting another lovely blog by Doda, I found myself getting that adrenlin rush from 2 loves of mine - collections and their boxes. I am a Hopeless Beachcomber. I can wander for hours with my eyes fixed on the minutae in the sand. Others dash into the sea and surf, watch the skies, sunbathe. I fill my pockets and hands with sandy (often smelly) treasures.

The absolute best time to beachcomb in Perth was after a wild winter storm - what bounty was thrown up on shore! Each beach along the coast had it’s own special secrets to throw up - the beach north of Hillarys Marina speacialised in sea urchin tests of all colours ad sizes. Mullaloo, Ram’s Horn spirals. North Cottesloe has violet shells, which in ancient times was the only source of the colour purple for royalty.

I once completed a Calligraphy piece for the Royal Show which was centered on my beachcombing expeditions. It allowed me to “use” up some of my huge collection.

The finished piece was many, many metres long, but came to an untimely and soggy end whilst I was photographing it late last year. I think there’s a whole other post that needs to be devoted to it’s demise….

Anyway, getting back to my other love/addiction are the boxes that houses these collections. Wooden display/museum boxes. I go weak at the knees when I see them. I have a secret desire to be a Natural History Museum Curator I’m sure. I have quite a few of these wooden boxes. And some Perspex ones as well. They are filled with all sorts of treasures - nests, skeletons, seeds, shells, fossils, feathers, skins, eggshells, nuts, bark. You name it, if it’s been on the ground, fallen off a creature, or just plain smelly, I’ve got it in a box.

Getting back to Doda, she has some exquisite paintings of Collection Boxes. Hailing form Scotland, I told her of my beachcombing finds on a shoally beach at St Andrews that now reside in one of my boxes.

Jez entertained Moss and Jem (Border Collies that couldn’t get enough of the frigid waters) whilst I searched the shoreline. Apart from the beautiful sea glass, tiny crabs and unusual northen hemisphere shells, I found a piece of old china that made my heart skip a beat. Rubbing away the grime from the crest, I read my family name printed there. Amazes me to this day.

I do apologise for the bad scan of this illo - it was done some years back for an interactive CD package for schools. The original watercolour had rainbow holographic glitter featured all over the sail.

It ended up on the DVD cover (I apologise again, when I resized this the text Drop Shadows went wild!):

The illustration for the first story (of 20), featured the Woodlum (the animal’s “ark”) in the background. Not such a fantastic scan either!

I’m just in the door from the movies - we saw “Wanted”, with Angelina Jolie at her gun totin’ best. I had planned to do a watercolour of a big & beautiful sail fish for this week’s topic, but the movie won out over sitting at the drawing desk!

Lots of work to do before painting class tomorrow, I believe I’m to be introduced to oil paints - very exciting!