Artists Blog

Port Douglas was laid back as usual, with people kicking back with coffee and conversation.

Whilst we enjoyed our brews at the Marina, I heard the waitstaff whispering about “the lady who was doing some awesome paintings on the pier”.

I wandered over to say hello, and she surprised me by saying that she knew me! She was doing the watercolour class a few feet away from me at ArtEscape last month.

Her name is Delia and she’s also a member of the Cairns Art Society. After a brief but inspiring chat, I left her to her watercolours. I’m terrible with names, but I did remember talking to her about the class at ArtEscape. My memory definately needs some improving!

Granma & Granpa enjoyed a cuddle on the pier.

At Uni yesterday we got into the more intricate techie side of Photoshop. Here is my lecturer attempting to create 3D images from my photos. Ok, they are actually his sunglasses.

The first canetoad of the season reared it’s ugly (and I mean ugly!) head IN my fishpond.

The Man scooped it out.

Cool as you like it was. They never hurry for anyone.

Later in the evening we caught up for a farewell drink with Kim (Bigblog), her Mum and her Man. You can ask her about the binoculars!

The Art Room has been transformed into the Music Room.

Row upon row of gorgeous xylophones, symbols, tambourines and maracas.

What a job of setting up that was! The music teacher (standing on a ladder) was frantically writing out sheet music on the white board. That’s dedication.

Tomorrow the board will be wiped clean, and the room filled with the smell of turps and oil paints.

We have more lovely visitors escaping the winter chills down south.

Granma & Granpa enjoying a cuddle on the Palm Cove jetty today.

Kim (Hosky from Bigblog) is here in Cairns with her family.

Celebrations began with cocktails down at the harbour.

Kim was delightful. It was like catching up with an old friend.

Another cocktail, just to celebrate you know.

After pre dinner cocktails, it was on to the Esplanade to dine at Rattle & Hum.

Hopefully we’ll see her and her family again this week. More food, more cocktails!

Another whirlwind weekend - starting Friday evening with the opening of the “Titillate” exhibition.

This exhibition was made up of a collection of paintings, sculpture and installations all designed to smile and set the heart racing. Think burlesque meets vaudeville with sexy strip show thrown in.

My lecturer from last semester, Kristin, had work on show, as well as Adrian (from a few posts back).

Kristen made 6 of these groovy vinyl panels, of which I can show 4  here. (the other 2 are perhaps too burlesque for some!)

Same with Adrian, some great artworks, but I can only show the Patchwork piece here.

From a distance the patchwork was photolike.

Same with the mosaic.

Can you see who she is?

The “bouncers” by the door.

Yes, they are ping pong balls.

A quick wander along the Esplanade afterwards was lovely. Fire dancers were wowing the crowd.

I only had the little “Point & Shoot” camera, but being a hybrid, I could still play around with the shutter speed & ISO.

Trippy!

Kim Hosky (from Bigblog) will be here tonight- so dinner and drinks again. I’ll be sure to take the camera.

Amazing - I finished both pieces today! I only just made it for the BIG exhibition deadline by a couple of hours - that’ll teach me to start at the last minute. It’s a lesson I never seem to learn though!

                  “POOF!”    Watercolour on Pastel paper 160 gsm

In keeping with the “Camp” theme this week (I know the Aussies are all sniggering at the “Poof” theme), my “BIG” piece was inspired by the wildlife in the garden, the Kingfisher pair, so much in love, and the Green Tree Snake (much much smaller though!)

                       Title: “Honey, it’s bigger than both of us!”

                                  Watercolour on Clayboard

The painting subject starts tomorrow at uni - the creation of paint. I’ve been promised that we’ll all feel “mellow” by the end of class!

Well the smoke has cleared but today the mountain ranges were covered by a different kind of cloud.

The early morning fog spills down the slopes like a great big doona.

At the base of those mountains is a disused Quarry. Now filled with water from a natural spring, it’s called Moore Lake.

I fossicked about here for a bit for my pigment-holding rocks. We’re to make our own paint tomorrow the old fashioned way of bashing rocks to a powder.

Unfortunately Cairns is granite/quartz/basalt based (from the mountains being eroded away), so not very condusive to giving up colour. I’ve a few promising rocks, as well as purple mollusc shells and dead pastels, so I should be able to put something in my expectant paint pans.

Can’t stay and play, the deadline for the “BIG” exhibition has been moved forward to tomorrow, so I’m off to grab my brushes!

Smoke blankets everything. They are Helicopter firebombing again with self igniting pellets over the mountain slopes. It’s a combined controlled undergrowth burn with bushfire  simulation involving several goverment depts.

Fire starters: The plastic balls dropped from helicopters to spark fires in hilly terrain.  - Courtesy Cairns Post

Can you spot the shiny helicopter in the photo below?

They were flying through such thick smoke clouds that they disappeared frequently.

Noty many people are happy with the situation. Doors and windows have to be shut tight, but the choking smoke still finds its way in.  My neighbour is having asthma attacks and everyone’s washing smells like cigarettes.

Still, we’re not as badly off as this family’s home. Even the helio was hanging around them, just in case the wind changed….

Here’s hoping for clear skies again soon.

Helicopters were firebombing today. “Bombs away” and the mountains were ablaze. 

Quite mesmerising watching that curling smoke.

Orange flames snaked their way downwards. In the twilight the mountains glowed a gorgeous orange against the darkening sky. No camera for that one sorry, but you can imagine how lovely it looked.

Busy, busy again, a longer post tomorrow I promise. I have to find my mortar & pestle - an email from Uni requesting I bring one next week, very exciting.

Makes spiders seem almost cuddly.

On Sunday the cat spent several hours looking up into the tree outside my studio. I went to investigate and found this.

When I showed my neighbour, he said ‘that’s only a baby python, I’ve got skins in the trees 4 mtrs long”. Very reassuring.

Not sure if I’ve shown you the photos he took recently of the python in the trees which overhang our yard.

I received a reply by email from the Tropical Zoo about this snake (see end of post). 

Well today I saw a snake that was not a python, a couple of metres from my car in the overhanging tree. Maybe the warmth of the car engine attracted him (it was pretty cold this morning for the Tropics).

When I sent off an email with photos to the Tropical Night Zoo, they kindly sent back this reply:

“These are all Common Green Tree snakes, nothing to worry about unless you happen to be a frog! Their diet is approx 90% frogs.

They won’t eat caged birds and your other pets don’t have to sleep with one eye open.”

 He was happy to have his photo taken, but watched every move I made. He’s gone now, I don’t know where. The manhole cover is off the ceiling now. I still don’t know what’s up there, unless I get up and crawl about with a torch. After the Zoo Man’s email (below), I don’t think that’s going to happen:

“This one is an Amethystine Python commonly called a scrub python or “Scrubby”. They are Australia’s largest python and regularly grow to six metres – the largest (unofficial) was believed to be eight metres.

You should lock up wee dogs and cats while they are around as these snakes find them very tasty. Hopefully they will take out your bandicoots.They are non venomous but can bite (they have about 90 teeth), and kill their prey (rats, mice, bandicoots, wallabies, pets etc) by constriction.If you think they are living in your roof, you could try the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service Snake Hotline on 1300 130372. But I prewarn you – nobody will actually get into your roof cavity to remove a snake. I had a four metre scrubby living in the roof of my last house for around five years – I had no roosting bird problems and he left my Burmese cat alone.”

On Saturday night we were privileged to be asked to have “Dinner on the house” at a brand new Cairns fine dining restaurant. It hasn’t opened to the public yet, so we were the first to sit at the tables, read the menus and soak up the sumptuous atmosphere.

We had a table by the new gardens and waterfall pool, all beautifully lit with inground uplights. But the most beautiful light was rising a huge golden yellow behind the pyramid of Earl Hill in the distance. I did take several  photos, but as I had the antique 2megapixel camera, they are hardly worth even mentioning, let alone showing you. The other diners around us “oohed and ahhed” and all had their camers out. The glowing Full Moon cast a very special ambience that not even the brand new designer furnishings could match.

The menu was rather special as well, such choices!  For starters Plump Oysters of course.

 Two shot glasses, one of lime juice, the other chilli.

For mains did I go with the eye fillet of Wagyu Beef or Wild Barramundi?  I’d never had wild barra before, too tempting!

It was crusted with a fine layer of crunchy toasted sesame seeds - just delicious!

For sweeties (for me the most important part of the meal), I chose the mango cheescake covered in crushed berries. Heaven in a ramekin. So good there wasn’t even time for a photo to be taken. It demanded immediate eating!

Later we walked back to the car under the light of that lovely moon. It was such a balmy summer-like evening. The palm trees overhead cast wavy lines over everything, even way too full bellies! A delicious night.

PS. I’ve just come from another gorgeous dinner on the beachfront (interstate visitors provide a good excuse to eat out). First time I’ve forgotten to take the camera. I tried a whole roast Flounder tonight, another fish to cross off the list. PLUS a sampling of 3 decadent deserts. I’ll have to start exercising again at this rate….