Swim School

I have been continuing to see how I can make repeat patterns from my previous images. It is really interesting to try and think about the way an image can be used and reused for several purposes. It can be redesigned for a new use. I like this idea of being resourceful so  I made a pattern from the original design above which could now be used as a fabric design or it can be applied to paper for a use other than the original one.

 

 

I also did some work on photoshop and created a digital collage which generated a completely different type of image from my original mackerel design. This is a great way to make the most of designs and be creative with what you have already got.

 

 

 

Watercolour Experiments

Since I am doing some watercolour painting I did some experiments to see how the pigment can be manipulated to create effects which could be used in the creation of an image.

It was interesting to see how the pigment moved when the methylated spirit was dripped onto it. This could be used to create some interesting bubble effects. As well as dripping the methylated spirits you can also paint it on with a round brush.

The salt on wet paint created some beautiful delicate effects.

Life imitates art, again!

Is there anything as sad as a birdless wing? I felt a little bit sick when I opened my front door to find a lorikeet wing on the mat! Wings are symbolic of freedom, of flying and soaring above the world and leaving your troubles behind. It seemed so sad that such a bright colourful, and no doubt noisy bird should end up in this way!

 

 

I have my suspicions about who did it too.....  

 

 

 

 

The wing theme continued as my daughter brought me a beautiful dead butterfly.  Hopefully it died a more natural death after a long and fruitful butterfly life. 

 

 

 

It is ironic that wings should feature so strongly in my week as I was painting owls and especially thinking about colourful wings. Sometimes this happens, you paint something and suddenly that thing is everywhere. It happened when I was painting my cat narrative also.

(Read about it here.) 

 

 

The little owl I was working on here has developed a personality. She is now a she...(a good start), and she is called Hephzibah, a Hebrew name which means "my delight is in her".

To- wit-to-whoo

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved owls. I don't know why this is but I have vivid memories of drawing owls again and again. I remember seeing a few up close. The father of one of my childhood friends rescued one and brought it back to health and I remember seeing it in their shed. It just sat there blinking at me with it's big round, orange eyes. It wasn't a bit scared and in fact it was peaceful and relaxed. Maybe that is normal for an owl, to sit there cool as a cucumber..is this why they appear to be wise? Another time I saw a beautiful barn owl sitting on the roof of my uncles house. He called me outside to see it. It was one of those special moments you remember for ever. Isn't it amazing how we are so moved by creatures that we don't normally see.

I am working on a narrative about an owl so today I have been playing with stylising owls and feathers. These are a few sketches out of my journal.

Happy Autumn!

Watercolour , "Autumn leaves and berries".

Peach boy, the three little pigs and a surprise in a gumtree

 Since we hadn't been to Carrick Hill for a long time it was decreed that today was the day.Carrick Hill is an old period home built by Edward Hayward and his wife Ursual Barr Smith after their marriage in 1935. It is very much inspired by 16th, 17th and 18th century fixtures they had bought on their travels and which they commissioned their architect to incorporate into the building. It was a little piece of high living in the suburb of Springfield, Adelaide It is filled with antiques and has a huge William Morriscollection. It is just the place to go to have time out from the suburbs but still remain in Adelaide.

 This time although the scaffolding was up  the gardens were still lovely.

Mr McGregor still did not want bunnies in his garden,

and the scarecrow was still scarey!

Momotaro, (Peach Boy) was still there with his dog and his monkey.

The fairies still watch over the garden

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The dirt was so dried up it was no wonder the wolf from The Three Little Pigs was howling!

*Note to self ask Santa for one of these houses for a studio for Christmas*

But the piece de resistance was not this,

or this....although it was amazing!

But this...............

can you see it yet? 

Yep, it was Blinky Bill!

A good day!

If you want to know more about Carrick Hill click here

Thanks to Holly Clarke for the koala pics.

Robins in Autumn??

It is autumn here in Australia right now, warm and pleasant days followed by cold nights. In fact our clock went back one hour last night giving us a delicious extra hours sleep.  So why you may well ask am I drawing robins with all their winter connotations? I think it is a throw back to my recent winter holiday in Ireland where I was inspired by the sights and sounds of winter.

 I have been continuing to explore the oil pastel medium where I scratch the image onto the paper through several layers of pastel. It feels really intuitive for me to use this technique so I would like to see how far I can go with it. It is challenging to place colours where I want them to be when I scratch through the surface. It is  also challenging to have a top layer that isn't black so that is what this little experiment has been about.

 I love the velvety texture of the oil pastels which gives a mellow bloom to the surface of the paper.

Sorry that the pics are not very sharp but I photographed them rather than scanned them as I am waiting for a new scanner.