Artists Blog

I’ve noticed in the last few weeks that the Dragonflies in our garden have become super territorial. They have always chased away any dragonfly intruders, but now they are telling us, and the cat & dog, that the backyard is THEIR domain and we’d better keep our distance from THEIR chosen spot. (Pretty much anywhere near the pool).

No longer are they happy to sit still on a leaf or twig, now they are constantly on the wing and in your face if you venture too close. I thought I’d try and capture these flying jewels with my camera - much easier said than done!

Look you far square in the eye they do, that glittering head swiveling to follow your every move.

Bling in the backyard - beautiful.

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!

Watercolour study of Dysphania fenestrata  (ACEO size 2.5 x 3.5 inches)

One thing I miss about FNQ are the flamboyant, even gawdy, butterflies and moths that are everywhere. The Four o’Clock Moth was one of my favourites. Named as it usually appears late afternoon, it is one of the very few FNQ moths that flies during daylight hours.

This fellow was in no hurry to leave me - he just didn’t fly anywhere, even though his wings seemed in perfect shape.. He just hung around for days, so in the end I fed him nectar from a little dish which he sucked up with gusto.

The colouring of this moth is just awesome. Tiny scales shimmering and glittering in the late afternoon light kept me fascinated for ages - what do they say about shiny things and small minds….

His wings are translucent in the white patches - letting subdued sunlight shine through onto the leaf below. Just gorgeous!

I think I’ve written about this little guy before on the old blog. I did manage to grab screen shots from the old Bigblog before it was turned off - when I have time I’ll process them all and upload them retrospectively. Could be a long wait - there was a LOT of blogging back then!

The feathers in my last post were kindly provided by the extended kookaburra family who lived in our backyard and beyond. With the arrival of Baby Kookie, the parents and Uncle/Auntie were hard pressed to keep the hungry beak filled. When we were in the garden digging, they were always by our shoulder hoping for big juicy rhino beetle grubs (about the size of your index finger) to be unearthed.

In fact any grub would do in a pinch. Here’s Dad with a small grub for afternoon tea.

Baby Kookie has seen it and has gone into feeding frenzy mode. Nothing will get between him and food.

He has the worse table manners I have seen (apart from the pythons!). He almost swallows his parents’ beaks whole trying to get dinner down. Unfortunately I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the “snatch & swallow” moment, but his dad shook his head afterwards if that means anything!

Have you seen a cheekier bird? Check out the direct look at me, asking if there’s any more on the menu?

Got to admit he’s a cutie though….

What sort of smell do you think this flower would possess? A hint would be the insect below.

In Australia this is called the Dead Horse Plant. It is a Carrion flower from South Africa, the Star Flower Stapelia Variegata, a cactus-like succulent with a stench of rotting meat.

I picked up this plant at a school fete to add to my succulent collection before it had any flowers. Now, lots of flower buds are about to open…not sure how I feel about that!

Even though I’m an old Sydney girl, it’s good to be back home.

Have been busy working on pieces for exhibitions - here’s one that was inspired by the wildness in my FNQ backyard.

 (watercolour & gouache on illustration board)

We had the wonderful privilege of watching a baby kookaburra incubated, hatched and raised into a very cheeky bird. Along the way an Uncle/Aunt joined the family and then there were four. When it was brekkie time you certainly knew about it! Four Noisy Kookies on the bench, or going from window to window to see where I was. Ever been stalked by a hungry kookaburra?

Can you spot the Cheeky Baby?

Up until now I haven’t givent the full account of the Python vs Cockatoo sagas, as I was under obligation to the media. Diane from Adventure before Dementia has had a slithery visitor recently and wanted to know where the story was. So here is possibly the longest python post in the world….

Tropical North Queensland is a hotbed of prolific wildlife activity. Both day and night we witnessed the most incredible scenes right in our backyard. My home backed onto Deep Creek (where a very old salty lived), and out front Dead Man’s Gully (I assumed someone met the salty, judging from the name of this creek). Lots of water, constant temp & humidity and remnant rainforest are the favoured habitat of wildlife around here. Humans are merely visitors in this landscape.

Our house was surrounded by fruiting rainforest trees which brought the cockatoos (cockies) by day and bats by night. Unfortunately Beak and Feather Disease is rampant amongst the older birds, resulting in the slow loss of flight capability. A pair of “dodgy” cockies visited my yard everyday, but one evening one of them could no longer launch itself into the air. It decided to spend the night in my bougainvillea, approximately 2metres above ground. Bad decision.

Around 8pm I heard an almighty screeching from the backyard. Running outside with a torch, I searched the yard until coiling movement in the bougainvillea caught my eye. As I approached, I knew that it was too late to try and save the poor cocky - it was literally breathing it’s last breath as it’s eyes slowly closed (above photo).

The python seemed unperturbed by my close presence, coiling tighter around the cocky’s body. I ran inside to grab the camera, and then spent the next 2 hours witnessing nature’s life cycle first hand.

During the killing process, the python kept his head well above the “action”, appearing at times to be almost disinterested in what the lower part of his body was doing. Once the cocky hung limp, he lowered himself under the bird and opened his jaws around the back of the cocky’s head. The snake’s whole body rippled with each convulsive bite - scales shimmering with that trademark purple sheen.

Having eventually succeeded in swallowing his prey, the scrubby was happy just to “sit a spell”, tongue flickering at me as I took his portrait shots. Eventually he headed off toward the fence and into the darkness of the bush.

The next few days saw the remaining cocky pine away for it’s mate, as it too lost it’s ability to fly. Eight days after the first attack, at around 9pm, I once again heard a piercing screeching from the backyard. I didn’t have to go outside to know what it meant. This time the cocky was very much still alive, looking me straight in the eye, squawking for dear life. I had only earlier that day removed a paralysis tick from this cocky’s head, and had rung the vet about him. I thought I’d try and save this one. I grabbed the hose and turned it full bore on the python.

If a python could say “pfffft”, then this guy would’ve. He didn’t care less about the water or my presence. Once again the snake appeared distinterested in the bird until it was dead. At least this again was a quick death.

This python was slighty smaller than the last visitor (2.5 m compared to the previous 3.5). Once again, coils cleverly aligned wings and feet into a neat tube-like shape, as the cocky was slowly consumed.

We had a few witnesses to these attacks, and the python didn’t give 2 figs. My son recorded the whole incident on a digital movie format (lasted for about 1 hour), the neighbours came over and took some snaps (one had a visiting American friend who was completely aghast at the ferocity of Aussie wildlife), and even the cat and dog watched on.

Now the bounganvillea is referred to as “The Tree of Death” by the neighbours. I only wish the scrubbies could “take care” of the massive bandicoot that digs up the garden every night!

A new sign has been erected near the beach.

These snakes would be Dugites, quite nasty and fatal if bitten and you don’t receive treatment. Almost makes me fond of the Amethystine Pythons that were regular visitors at my last house. I’ve not told the story of the Python-That-Wouldn’t-Go-Away until now.

Just before we moved from FNQ back to Perth, we were inundated with all sorts of wildlife. I didn’t blog for quite a few months as life was full to the brim with all sorts of happenings. I didn’t stop taking photographs, so I’ve a huge backlog of adventures that will have to await their turn in the telling.

For a few nights in the old house we heard strange scuffle noises in the roof. Several times we cautiously opened the manhole cover and peered around with a torch. At either gable end were ventilation holes covered with wire, so we thought access by Killer Pythons was impossible. In our street there was a python apparently going from house to house, devouring unwary cats and dogs. In the next cul-de-sac 2 yorkie terriers were taken, with one regurgitated back on the door mat. (Python’s eyes bigger than it’s belly?)

On with my tale. One evening I was searching for the cat, who would sit by the door lusting after geckoes attracted by the porch light. Go out - no cat. Walk in the dark towards my car and almost stumble on a length of PVC pipe that lay by the path. “Why did Jeff leave that there?” I grumbled to myself.

And then it moved up the wall.

My backwards vertical jump was worthy of Olympic Gold. And did I SQUEAL!

First thing I looked for was for a big cat-shaped bulge in the belly - none thankfully. The cat was under my car and going nuts. The python was heading straight for her, so out with the hose, trying to send it on it’s way. It didn’t blink an eye. Then out with buckets of water. It decided to head up the tree outside our bedroom window and there it stayed for hours. The cat was in a state. We were all in a state. The dog thought it was all great night time fun. No-one slept well that night.

Next morning no python in the tree. During the night it had moved under the deck, under the door.

This was a job for the Professionals. I rang the snake handlers at the Tropical Zoo who said I was “quite capable of catching it myself. All I had to do was to be confident, and above all, DO NOT HESITATE. Just go in fast and grab it behind the head. If it does happen to bite you, don’t pull, otherwise you’ll rip your hands to shreds on it’s needle like fangs. Wait for it to decide to let go. It’s the fear of getting bitten that’s worse than the actual bite.”

Yeah right. But I did try. I got to about a foot from where it lay coiled under my door and thought, “Nah, I can’t do this”. I called the boys back and stood back to watch how it should be done.

A few bricks removed,

 and wham!  The hand is quicker than the eye.

It was a loooong python. But a very skinny, hungry one. Skinny enough to slip through a small hole in the roof gable.

So after a few photos it was off to the bush out back to release it - a good 300 metres away, and we watched him slither off at a cracking pace towards Deep Creek.

I must stress here that catching a python over 2 metres on your own is inadvisable. These boys told me that if a python gets a couple of coils around your neck, you’ll pass out very very quickly and then it’s goodbye. (This from their own personal experience, they embarrassingly told me.) Make sure there is always someone there to back you up.

So peace and tranquility descended at home again. For all of one night.

Two nights later the cat went missing again. Straight out the door on the deck, along the path to the car, nothing. Back towards the door and THEN….

I walked straight passed it without even noticing it. It must’ve been staking out the cat (and dog) who were in and out this door every evening. I’m sorry to say I squealed louder this time.

It was late, but we rang a friend who is quite fond of snakes and knows how to handle them. Unfortunately he was up in the Tablelands until the following night. With the broom I tried to shoo it off the bench. Off and up behind the Air Con unit, quite happy with his new cubby hole.

My, what a long tongue you have….

Another nervous night passed and by morning it had disappeared. We were told they were creatures of habit and would return that night. And return it did, right to the same old stakeout position.

By now I was over squealing and more curious than fearful. Our friend snake wrangler friend was coming over tonight, so we tried not to disturb the python too much. As long as you walked slowly past him, he didn’t even seem to notice.

Our plan,( if you can call it that!) was to encourage him into our laundry basket with the broom handle. This was Plan A. When Plan A failed miserably, we thought grabbing him by the tail and pointing him to an open bed quilt cover would seem enticing - Plan B. After a time it was obvious that Plan C would have to be implemented. By this time the snake had poohed everywhere and it STANK. Let me tell you that this smell wins hands down over cat, dog, orangutan poo, etc etc. A combination of laundry basket, quilt cover and a belt finally won the day. The Python was taken by car up to deep bush behind Palm Cove a couple of kms away, never to be seen again.

Of course the cat now has deep psychological isues, one of them being doorways. She simply cannot pass through them without leaping 3 ft high and 5ft long. I don’t like lengths of PVC pipe either.

Here’s a quick calligraphy piece done on canvas, originally intended for a Botanically themed Christamas exhibition by the Calligraphy Guild.  Needless to say it never made it, as it was only finished it this week! Highly stylised and done on canvas, it certainly is a breakaway from my usual work.

I do love my garden, fo all it’s unfinished corners and triffid-like tropical monsters. Unfortunately the recent Hail-Storm-From-Hell that hit Perth (going to hit a $billion in claims soon), decimated a lot of it, shredding leaves, flowers and a lot of my house!

When you have hail stones this size you get under cover pretty quick!

We have had several tradespeople come and go assessing the damage, and it it going to be a looong time putting things to right. There is going to be a severe shortage of Poly carbonate sheeting….

And these are but a few of the photos - we had rivers of water both inside and out!

But today a bright spot amidst the carnage - one lonely passionfruit flower escaped the onslaught - at a time when the vine should be dripping with fruit and flowers.

When this little blossom ripens into a delicious purple globe, it’s every man for himself!

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!