Artists Blog

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!

A day of fun firsts. My first Pastel kitty – a work still in progress. We recently visited the zoo on a very windy day so all the big cats were up and about. It’s been fun painting a big cat in pastels, I’m sure I’ll work my way through all the species eventually!

And the other big first – Jez finally got the keys to his very first car!

How old do I feel??

Carrying on from my last post about the pastel students, here are some pieces from the watercolour bird students. Some of these students had never used watercolour and gouache before, so the results are quite something.

Above are Deb’s birds, the one on the left is on Illustration board, the other is on Claybord.

Vera’s just about finished her portrait of a cheeky bird she met on an overseas holiday.

And Thea’s not got long to go with her Gang Gang Cockatoos.

Great work by all!

A pastel collection is never complete – there are always new colours, new brands, new shapes to try. Resistance is utterly futile. Give in little and often.

Saturday’s pastel workshop has some amazingly talented students.

Jen has been busy, above is her wave painting, below an impala piece in progress.

Jackie was pleased with her first ever pastel piece, Mindarie Beach.

Heather is quickly building her collection with her 3rd pastel piece below.

Whilst Lil has almost completed her vibrant waterlily painting.

You are such a pleasure to teach – well done all!

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!

Gaye Godfrey-Nicholls, a good friend (and one of the best calligraphers I know), has embarked upon a huge calligraphic project/adventure for which I have been taking photographs. She has the most incredible collection of calligraphic accoutrements,

Spot the kitty above?

An amazing assortment of pens and paints for every occasion.

I admit loving to see inside other’s watercolour paintboxes.

They are like works of art in themselves.

Pencil collections and their storage methods I find extremely satisfying (Is that weird?)

And Gaye has pens of every description.

Working from her home studio, she has the ideal environment to get into the “Zen” mindset.

Whether inside or out, her calligraphy is ever present.

Even the windows bear her mark making.

Thanks Gaye for a peek into your world of words!

I was honoured to be asked to judge the annual St Stephens Art Awards last week. What a task! So many incredible works of the higest calibre. The imagination, dedication and story telling abilities of High school students are second to none. Opening night this evening was a lovely affair, with students, their families and teaching staff all admiring the amazing talent on display.

Every type of media is represented in this exhibition.

And the band were brilliant.

The exhibition is open until Thursday late afternoon. Get along to see it if you can at St Stephens, Tapping Campus.

You may remember last month Jez suffered a serious accident. He had just completed and exhibited Part 1 of his Yr 12 Major Art Work, the ballpoint pen self portrait (above right and below).

Last week he exhibited Part 2 at the Art Awards, and yesterday won the People’s Choice Award. Below are more detailed images, please excuse the uneven lighting.

It’s been a huge year for him, with only a week left of High School and Final Exams looming.

Working from photos taken standing clothed in the pool and bath, it was atfer his accident that he decided to add the “extras” to his final piece. It really gave him so much to think about. You’ll see what I mean from the last reference photo below. I still can’t look at that image without feeling overwhelming fear.

Fingers crossed for smooth sailing through exams! 

After showing the work of the weekend pastel students in my last post, it was only fair to show the finished pieces of the weekday group. Above is Kim’s Mindarie Beach, hot off the framer’s workbench.

Joy and Beaumaris Beach.

And the secret to Kelly’s North Hillary’s Beach piece is the being held aloft by Inga! 

You may remember the post about my violet shell which I sketched and unfortunately broke. My lovely husband Jeff found this shell today on his beach travels and left it on the kitchen bench for me to find. It is adorned with goose barnacles, a lovely lilac hue themselves.

That wasn’t the only amazing object to grace the kitchen bench this afternoon…

this GINORMOUS mushroom is slow roasting in the oven for dinner – yum!

The work produced on Saturday’s pastel workshop was just wonderful. The students are really spreading their wings with their paintings. Above is Thea working on Mogo Crater Creek rainforest in the Atherton Tablelands.

Albert proudly shows off his first pastel painting in many many years.

Heather shows us her vision of Quinns Beach, her 2nd painting ever!

Cathy is working in a very fresh and loose style on happy sunflowers from The Continent.

Lil is re-creating a stunning waterlily form Port Douglas.

We all share laughs, stories, tips and chocolate on Workshop days.

With finished paintings at the end to share with a wider audience. Thanks to everyone for sharing their work.

So impressive is the calibre of the students work, we are going to hold an exhibition on the first weekend in Decemeber. Stay tuned for details!