Spring brought masses of nectar filled blossoms, with the whole tree canopy covered in birds and bees all wanting a share of the sweet smorgasboard. Weeks later the tree was covered with lots of  pea sized little ovals. Looked very promising.

Then one morning I walked out to inspect my ripening bounty to find it   a l l   g o n e.

To where? What had happened? Surely bats would find the small hard green lumps sour and unappetising? Or had the tree itself jettisoned the crop? It has been very brutally “pruned” over the years, with suckering growth forming most of it’s branches.

With nothing to do now but wait for next year, I set about lopping off all the lower branches, which had been sweeping the ground. Just making sure I can see what’s under that big dark tree before I step on it (thinking slithery friends here).

And then today I saw it.

ONE last lychee.

Only one.

Will it make it?

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.

One thing I miss living up here in the tropics are the long, lanquid twilight times. And sunsets over the ocean.

Blink, and twilight is over up here - once that sun dips behinds the mountains it draws the curtains immediately and it’s dark.

When I used to walk in the evenings along the ocean path in Perth, I would always make it a habit to stop and watch that glorious golden orb sink into the waves. Lots of others did the same, with loud “oohs” and “aaahs” as the last rays spiked up over the horizon.

Feeling melancholic as I flick through digital memories. That’s a pic of my once local beach, Beaumaris. Endings and beginnings always make me wistful.

2 friends visited yesterday. As we sat on my couch, one asked” So what are you going to do now that uni is over?” Hmmm.

“Well”, I began. “At 5 pm Friday I took off the Full time Uni Student’s hat”. As from 8am this morning, I put on my Artist’s hat.” So it’s offically my new occupation. Sounds strange.Feels weirder.

If you’ve been following this blog, you may remember my recent painting, the very first I’ve sold - of the birds eating the snake.

Even the journalist said it was an amazing karmic coincidence.

In this internet age, it is simply astounding how this news has travelled the globe, proving it’s just not Far North Tropical Queensland that holds a fascination for such things. According to London newspapers, I live “in the jungle”. That’s inside the house I reckon!

On a sadder note, the departed cocky has left behind a lonely mate, who sits in the same spot in the bouganvillea all day, looking a little lost. Thankfully the python won’t be hungry for quite some time…

17 November 2008

Unfortunately my last sentence above proved horribly incorrect. Or maybe it was another python. But he was taken also. This one we tried to save. (I had only hours earlier removed a paralysis tick from above it’s eye). I hosed that python with a full strength hose, but he wasn’t giving up his catch.

There are a lot of images, and I think everyone’s seen most of them around the internet sites and newspapers, so I’m not sure if you would want to see them again on this blog?

Let me know what you think.

A new evening job is to make sure there are no guests sleeping over in the The Tree of Death….

Each month the full moon shows a different face, a different colour even. New craters, new mares (the flat “seas”), new mountains to look at. If you’d like to know the names and details of these features, click here. It’s amazing to think that all those bumps and craters have been named.

I feel so light.  Free at last from uni pressures.

Thank you all for your words of encouragement during my last few  s t r e s s f u l  weeks. They meant a lot to me.

Expect me to be back to full posting strength by Monday.

If you get a chance, go outside and catch a glimpse of the gorgeous girl herself - she’s out there right now doing her thing.

Another casualty in the backyard this evening. I don’t know what had befallen this sad fellow, but he couldn’t fly, couldn’t walk and was generally just miserable. I tried to coax him with some water and seed, but he was having none of it.Time for a Vet Visit.

Dear husband calmy remined me of the carnage last Cocky Rescue Mission inflicted on my finger.  ( You can relive the blood and guts here)  After all this time I have almost got full feeling back in my fingertip.

No chances this time, thick towel and box at the ready, but this cocky had no blood lust and was quickly and quietly wrapped and whisked away in the car. I’ll ring the vet tomorrow to find out how he fared. And a lovely vet he is, kindly giving me his limited edition bird calender off his surgery walls when he learnt of my interest.

I have so much news and photos to share, of the exhibition opening night (sold a piece too!), Jez’s Awards Night, and much more. I just have to get through the next 2.5 weeks with all the folio’s, assignments, presentations etc. It is also the big Open exhibition (with prize money, although I’m not that hopeful) on Friday. I managed to deliver my 2 pieces with 11 minutes to spare. See, I’m getting better.

Will get back to you all as soon as I can!

POST SCRIPT : Word from the vet was that he could not be saved and was gently put to sleep

I went out with a couple of gurus in this genre, one the head of forensics photography and the other a prof with a penchant for slide film captures. (His Nikon from yesteryear weighed the same as a bowling ball!)

Setting up in the dark (Lit from my camera flash).

How the Police record an crime/accident scene at night is the technique we employed here. Firstly, you mark out the area you wish to photograph. In our case it was around 100m deep, and about 40m across. You need to have your camera on a sturdy tripod and set on “BULB”, with a remote shutter release attached. A small sheet of black cardboard is also required.

Two or more people are needed for this exercise, and even then, a large accident scene may take well over 2 hours to record thoroughly, I was told.

When ready, release the shutter and lock in the open position. As the setting is BULB it will stay open indefinately. The person operating the hand held flash will let off the first burst of light. Quickly place the black card in front of the lens to prevent further image burn. The Flash person will then walk down the left or right hand side of the area you wish to photograph for about 20m. They’ll yell out “Ready?” You yell “Yup!”, take away the black card, wait for the Flash and then pop the card back over the lens again. Repeat this 5 times down either side, being careful not to be in the field of view if you are the Flash person.

The pitch black pathway was transformed into the scene below with an exposure time of about 6 mins.

That blue light on the right is the Flash person being caught in the field of view.

The Full Moon was rising over the lake now, so we used plain old long expsures (around 30 secs) to capture the following images:

With the Moon’s reflection…

…and without.

And the gorgeous Golden Girl herself. With this one you need a really fast shutter speed (this was around 1/1600 if I remember), as the the moon is such a bright light source.

So go out and play with your camera at night - great fun!

You don’t know how good it is too be able to say that!

2 paintings delivered to the Tanks Art Centre with almost half an hour to spare. Mind you, I had to skip Uni today, had no weekend, and didn’t even get any photos of the Tree Loppers who took out the 4 huge coconut palms on our fenceline today. I’m not even going to mention the evil tap that spouted water all over the insides of my kitchen cupboards….

Even though one painting had to be substituted with an old one (due to airbrushing disaster last week), I’m kinda glad. I now have one “Representational” piece, and one “Contemporary” piece in the same exhibition. Interesting to see the results. Opening night Friday, will let you know how it goes.

My eyes have given up focusing. Must be because the bags underneath them are so HUGE. I’ll report back on the “Painting with Light” excursion tomorrow - it was wonderful. And I promise to catch up with all your lovely blogs. Thanks again for all your kind comments - just the motivation I need!

“Found My Bliss”    Watercolour on Illustration Board

(not a very good image of the painting I’m sorry, scanner was having an ”off” day.  Even though you may not be able to see them, I can assure you there are thousands of tiny brushstrokes, each one contributing to my current state of blindness….

 

This is a picture taken in more serene times. Isn’t pink supposed to be calming? I need a lot of calming right now.

I’m so cross. I’ve been battling my airbrush for the past 2 hours, and I lost.

Firstly, no ink would come out. Plenty of pressurised air, but nothing else. After fiddling with every knob with no success, I finally consulted the Manual. Yes, this was dire.

Half an hour later, with the whole thing in pieces, I saw the problem - a build up of dried ink along the needle length. Cleaning it was easy, getting the thing back together was TOUGH!

So, airbrush, compressor and inks at the ready, I let fire at 2 pieces I had prepared earlier. “Prepared” meaning sketched out, gessoed and masked - a 3 hour feat in itself.

What a disaster. Blobs, splotches, spatters everywhere. Plan B - switch to cheap and nasty airbrush from car parts store. Hose burst. Found the spare hose which held.Throw in 2 phone calls and the dog chasing cockies around me and I could feel my blood pressure just about to blow.

So my total output for the day is one semi-passable airbrushed background. One for the bin.

Thankfully to get my mind off airbrushing disasters, I am going out tonight to do some night photography with a forensic specialist. “Painting with Light” is how they record crime scenes. Sounds intriguing….