Stoned

this is the latest that I've been obsessing about lately - I have a crick in the neck but it's worth it for the meditative state you have to go into to paint each individual pebble.

still a few more to go ....

Bingara Farm

Well I hope she likes it, Floss that is.. am still not convinced it's finished it looks too flat and too 'two dimensional'. The tops of trees need a lot more work and the dead tree looks like a refugee from a Dali experiment, and well the middle pooch, poor didge, just doesn't seem to have evolved as intended... but apparently it's finished.

This week has started badly, first the car accident - which was not my fault but doesn't alter the fact that my little car now resembles a hatchback plague victim with all many strategic 'pock' marks adorning it's hind quarters and the latest scar though not structural, technically 'writes' the little red beast off, and I'm still shaking and the the confidence is not great; then I had to miss the office Xmas Party, which well - I'm not a Xmas party person but it does leave my co workers with the idea I'm anti social which is ... okay yes the truth these days but still it's not good form ... today also involved a visit to the dentist - though I have a great dentist and I did score points for excellent flossing; and to top off the second week of December, a rather large cheque which was supposed to assist with the mortgage seems to have gone missing curtesy Aust Post.... but my painting's finished, I think... well peoples say is though really I think the jury's still out ...

Water water everywhere and not a drop to drink ...

... there are many things about Melbourne I am loving but proximity to the beaches is not one of them - Surf beaches that is, port or harbour beaches barely make it as water ways and I'm sorry to say that Balmoral has it all over St Kilda in the waterworks stakes - hands down, storm drains and all.

It would be honest to say that I've been spoiled for beaches in the past living in Sydney and holidaying on the far north coast of NSW, absolutely spoiled rotten!!! Queensland beaches are 'in' with a good chance but if you go too far north you hit 'stingers', mangroves and grey tidal mud becasue you see, it's all a combination of sun, surf'n'sand and there are pretty much only two states that can offer a decent combo of all three ... which is why this second(or rather my first) painting happened - Bunbury Beach WA at sunset - the water was this intense green and the ocean itself to overflowing, so heavy and cold and with a depth reminiscent of myth & lengend. Well it did when I photographed it at last light, last April.

The painting, though in reality it's not nearly as dark as this jpg (the better .pdf file just wouldn't load), is not a patch on reality and irksomely reminds me of those icky Baliness 'student' paintings people were pestered with door to door in the late 70's - it kind of has this almost 'flock'(spelling?) look to it don't you agree .... but it's posted here because it reminds me of how much I've loved Tuesday nights this year and the lovely and talented people I enjoy painting beside.

Sunday Too Far Away

... and I'm not even a shearer, but it's in keeping with my latest painting and it works with the fact that it's only Wednesday.

I'm doing this one for a friend who lives over in the west and who's battling to keep the family farm actually in the family. Bugg*r is that various plagues have been sent to slay her and I'd reckon if you count back the generations she may well be descended from Job.

Hoping this may cheer her up - may be an incy bit. Of course the painting still has a way to go yet, shadow, detail and much, much more, in fact one tree is completely missing, but will hopefully getto her by about Easter as a late seasonal gift.

It's mainly being painted for the memory of the middle hound, a dog of gentle though manic disposition who sadly took on the wrong end of a visitors ute in late April this year and lost the argument rather permanently.



R.I.P "Didge" ...

Brain Dead

Very quickly cos it's late and I'm a bit knackered.

Went to art lessons tonight loved it - wonderful therapy - forgot my paints though, hence the title of this blogg. However, my class mates were most generous and lent me dabs of colours. How do you pay back generosity like that? In fact how do you repay paint.

Anyway thought I'd upload this one to the blogg .. long way to go yet, yes - complete novice and lifes a learning process. I'm enjoying this painting, it's meditative and a great way to chillout - probably a good idea to note that the pic was taken with a mobile phone and flouros aren't great for detail. there is a lot more yellow and russet in the trees.

Ahhh speaking of russett - red wine calls......

Been A While

Tried to post something a week or so ago but all fell apart and I lost a carefully executed post + photos so gave up and went to bed in disgust at my own incompetence mixed with disapoint ment at the Optusnet broadband offer I recently took up which occasional decides to pack up and go hide somewhere in the ether at the worst moments ... news though is that I'm back with the paints - back at classes - Tuesday nights instead of Thursday and I do mis the original cohorts but Linda - my lovely teachers says she's going to try and hook us up again on a new Thursday night class - when we can bring red wine and cheese and laugh a lot .. current group are very nice people of course but there is a, well a certain spark missing if you get my drift ..

Anyway the main point is that I am painting again - my Bunbury Sunset in class which I should (fingers crossed) actually finish tonight - please god as it's sending both me and poor Linda quite mad, and yet another attempt at the Sandon Beach dots which is sitting at home on my art bench (my art bench as in the photo at right) is a litereally a bench originally intended for 'bums' but now holds all my art supplies and quite frankly I think looks rather, well, 'cool'.

So hopfully if I can eventually co-ordinate camera, paintings and my own thumb in a couple of days I will be able to post a couple of photos of my recent attempts at 'puddling' in oils - if anything the mental 'time out' involved soothes my rather scrambled brain.

Quilt'n Update

Actually I was incredibly productive yesterday as I also started to trim back my patchwork in prep for the backing and packing to go in and on, so I can eventually call it a full blown quilt - this needlework marathon has sofar taken two or is it three years to get this far. Gawd actually I think it's more like four - talk about waiting - but I'm pretty sure I can still count on one hand how many years it's been since we were unceremoniously dumped from the Quilt'n Club, Clovelly chapter. This in itself is quite a feat and I can't say I'm not a teency bit chuffed to at least have one expulsion on my record having been a hopelessly boring wall-flower at school.

And quite frankly it's a wonder those green stiched swatches haven't grown matching lichens in the mean time, stuck up in the cupboard in a brown paper bag for so long it assumed an adour reminicent of something pulled from an octagenarian cat lady's house.

But yes, to get to the point, yesterday I finally sat down and as the gesso'd bowls dried out by the window and carefully snipped myself a carpet of cotton confetti out of the dag ends and daggy fibres of the(roughly) queen size patchwork - I have metres and days to go yet, but it's a start.