Artists Blog

Whilst most of the garden is gasping in this enduring heatwave, my succulents are thriving on it. Above is my WIP of succulent watercolours. Micron pen outline first, then initial wash laid down.

These Echeverias and Sempervivums have such an intricate way of growing. And such beautiful colours.

I’ve taken lots of cuttings as they are outgrowing all their containers. I just pop them into tiny vases till their new roots grow (almost immediately), or straight into new terracotta pots. And something else in the garden is blooming in an intricate style…

…my bromeliad. I think it wants it’s portrait painted too!

There’s always something special about using a new writing or drawing implement for the first time. I’ve just finished an ink sketch with a new pewter and feather quill I bought at our last Calligraphy Guild meeting. As you know I’m a sucker for anything feathered. Drawing a bee at night, even with the aid of a real specimen (sadly drowned in the pool) & magnifying glass, wing vein patterns are a true challenge. A dragonfly was very helpful for the finer details.

At the Guild party I was also honoured to recieve a beautiful hand turned pen holder made from the Native Box tree sourced from the Goldfields. Thanks Gaye, it is truly beautiful and I feel complelled to get into my much negelected calligraphy this week!

Bees everywhere in the garden – such an inspiration watching them work so tirelessly. This is one of my favourite bee photos from my garden. Going back through my collection I realised I have dozens of them!

Hope you all have a creative happy week ahead!

I can’t believe it’s been so long since my last post. It’s been a wild whirlwind, with Graduation finalities, Awards nights, visitors from everywhere, art get-togethers and now it’s December and officially Summer. After my last workshop on Saturday it will be time to catch my breath.

Lots of visitors in the garden. Rainbow Lorikeets have “found” the weeping mulberry tree and are staking a claim.

Open the front door and heads pop up all over the tree. Serious mulberry addiction with these nectar loving birds.

The 28 lorikeets get their fair share as well. But it means everything is splattered and stained a deep burgandy. Park your car in my driveway at your peril!

Lorikeet lipstick?

Flowers have gone beserk with one of our wettest springs in a long time. Bees are rolling in ectasy through the magnolia pollen.

The salvia is a butterfly magnet. Painted Ladies cover them in numbers I’ve not seen before.

It’s always sad to see a friend fly away. Marie has returned to NY, but hope to see her again.

And an update on the exhibition from last post – all went really well. I was very pleased to see my paintings in the front windows. I took a new photo from a bit further away as I think Capt. Jack Sparrow lives above the shop…

Spring is the time for flowers and weddings. Some literally on your doorstep.

This afternoon a mini convey of American convertibles pulled up outside of my house. Car 1 with the Bridesmaids, Car 2 with Bride and Dad. There is a beautiful lake with gentle waterfalls a few hundred yards from my home, the scene of many a wedding.  They opened up the roof, the bride made a phone call, and they sat in the sunshine for a while. This bridal party said “the Bride does not want to be on time!”

Elsewhere drifts of Everlastings, or Paper Daisies, are nodding their heads in Kings Park and around the state.

The big flowers and buds of the Mallee are amazing. Like fireworks going off all over the tree.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

It wasn’t until I started writing about these afternoon photos that I realised that they are all associated with trees. And trees are some of my favourite people.

I recently bought a chunky ”Eco Pencil”. Made by Mayan artisans from sustainable forest wood and strung with cactus twine, it’s the perfect thing for pencil rubbings.

Leaves clockwise from top left – Gardenia, Pelagonium, Lemon, Red Flowering Gum.

There are lots of other colours available, next time I’m at the Zoo I’ll buy the others.

Did you notice what else was hiding in the tree?

A Willie Wagtail nest. (That’s a Rainbow Lorrikeet’s feather, not a B & W Willie feather!)

And the tree itself is a Port Wine Magnolia. If I only had Smell-o-Vision you would all swoon.

These little flowers pack a huge punch. The smell hits you and throws you to the floor as soon as you step into the back garden.

Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

The Dutch Iris in my garden are rather tardy this year, through no fault of their own. Last summer was a record breaker for extreme heat and drought, so for the first time I lifted the bulbs and stored them in the garden shed. Shrivelled like little balls of brown paper after summer temps in the shed exceeding 50 degrees C (122F), I put them into the outodoor fridge late Autumn. And then totally forgot them.

It wasn’t until I saw other gardens in the neighbourhood with bright blue blooms waving around that I remembered my neglected bulbs shivering away next to bubble water bottles in the drinks fridge. Rescued and then hastily scattered around the garden, I held little hope that they’d survived.

But Nature is a hardy wee thing. Up they sprang, growing with the speed and vigour of triffids. They are blazing blue for all the world to see. 

Spring in Perth is so fleeting. Blink and it’s gone. The mornings where dewdrops collect on petals are numbered. Summer is almost here.

Off on a tangent, it was after this photogrpahy session in the garden that I decided I couldn’t put off new glasses any more. Using my telephoto lense for macro photography means manual focusing. I thought the lense was all fogged up when every photo was blurry, and had to “guess” when things were in focus.

Saw the Optometrist today. New distance glasses in 10 days….

There was an extra guest during Saturday’s pastel workshop. This Southern Old Lady Moth was quite happy to crawl about my pastel stained fingers.

I took her outside and off she flew. Even though her colours were not as brilliant as the moths and butterflies of our last home, her patterns and wing “eyes” were just as captivating as the Ulysses below.

Word has spread about our backyard bounty…..

Thank you all so much for your well wishes for Jez.. Happily he is on the mend and back for his last 5 weeks EVER of High School. A torn liver means no physical activity for 6 weeks, and he’s counting down the days.

Even though Spring is not officially here till Thursday, the garden has got a jump start. There is a rosy red blush to almost everything. The strawberries are something else and are as big, sweet and juicy as apples.

I didn’t need many to fill the sassafras wooden bowl which I bought for only a $1! The strawberries cost marginally more at $1.75 per punnet.

The bowl had been neglected, but with a good wipe, and a couple of coats of Satin Varnish it has it’s honey glow back.

My Fuschia Tree is around 8 foot tall, as I didn’t prune all of it back over winter. I duck my head to avoid branches full of buds.

The South African Forest Lillies are flowering under the Fuschia Tree, multiplying every year with lots of new bulbs.

The Anthuriums thrive in the low light around my pond, red lights shining in the dark.

Dragon Wings Begonias blooming away.

The Hibiscus know that summer is not far away….

I hope everyone’s week is a happy one!

Sunshine and surprises. It was lovely surprise to see my work in the current edition (Vol 19 No 1) of Fine Art and Decorative Painting magazine. WIth the sun shining so sweetly after days of gales and lashing rain, it was so nice to get the easel out into the garden and paint.

Can you guess what  my new pastel piece will be? I wasn’t the only one to enjoy the deliciously warm sunshine, can you spot the sunbather in the photo below?

Have a great weekend everyone!

A big THANK YOU to the organisers and judges of the Expressions Festival held over the weekend. It was such a lovely surprise to be awarded First Prize in the Open Painting Category for my pastel piece Summer Shadows.

Wild weather still happening all around. More thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow with heavy rain that the garden is soaking up like a sponge. The lemon tree and lemongrass underneath are lapping it all up. I can feel lemon cheesecakes and Thai curries coming up…