Thursday, December 21, 2017

Coastal creativity

What has become an annual break at the Sunny Coast proved to be a relaxing and creative break, despite the odd trip back to Brissy to take care of a few things that couldn't be done earlier. Some photos, including some art work that I managed to do whist inspired by the magnificent view.









Saturday, December 2, 2017

Peacock

The other day when I got home, my daughter told me she had heard a bird call that sounded like a peacock. I admit that I dismissed it at first. But very shortly I heard the same call - definitely a peacock. Probably half an hour later what should stroll past the lounge room?  This beauty. He had obviously absconded from somewhere and was strolling around our estate. Haven't seen or heard of him since. Hope he got home okay.


Monday, November 20, 2017

Koala spotting

A bit hard to see due to fading light, but this koala was in one of our trees at the front of the property this evening. Koalas are very vulnerable due to indiscriminate land clearing, particularly around here, so it is good to know that our little patch is sustaining some individuals.


Sunday, October 15, 2017

Spring

Spring has sprung, and I have been inspired to photograph some flowers. These ones are just from plants under my patio the other day...orchids (yes, I have orchids - they are alive and everything!), a slightly out of season zygocactus and the weird and wonderful broms). The hot weather has convinced them to all pop out, although today it is wet and cool. Not that there is any such thing as climate change, mind!










Sunday, August 6, 2017

Local wildlife

Today I went for a 'wildlife' walk instigated by my son who had previously discovered this little gem in the next suburb that I didn't even know about. I am discovering that Moreton Bay Region is home to many of these little reserves of nature that defy the built up areas around them. This one is Mungarra Reserve on the North Pine River down stream from Young's Crossing. Here are some of the creatures we encountered today, including an impressive shag and a mum and baby koala combo.







Saturday, June 24, 2017

Mosaic Metaphor

This last term I had a lovely bunch of year 8s for a ceramic unit. I got them to make some 'practice' tiles so they could experiment, understand the process, make mistakes etc before working on some animal sculptures. Many of the tiles didn't make it to the first firing, but I wanted them to persevere, as part of the learning. I wasn't going to mark them or anything - I have a strong allegiance to the idea of learning through play. Before glaze firing, I realised that I could take it further by using all of their experimental bits in a mosaic. It is small, only the end of a wall, but it constitutes the first permanent student art work on campus, and is a bright spot amongst all of the gun-mental grey that someone thought was the best background colour for a vibrant place of learning! Beyond that, the kids learnt that mistakes don't matter and can even lead to something beautiful, that even seemingly insignificant components can contribute to the significance of something greater, and recycling is easy and doable. A very good term's work, I reckon. Their animal sculptures are awesome too.



 


Monday, June 12, 2017

Fairy Wrens

Today I noticed a pair of variegated fairy wrens playing outside the kitchen window and the little boy was resplendent in his breeding plumage. I was tempted to give in to the universal law that says as soon as you get your camera, the birds will disappear. But I decided to give it a go and when I had changed my lens and peeked outside the lounge room window, guess who was sitting right there on the pool fence? While I was snapping away at his nibs, his lady friend decided to join him. Lucky day to get picks like this! They are so cute.




Sunday, June 11, 2017

Mixed Media Updates

Last year when I did the mixed media Webinar, I started a number of works on paper, and I posted them at the time. I have finished a couple of them and here are the end results.






Monday, May 22, 2017

A break in the forest

In order to recover slightly from a pretty stressful couple of weeks, we headed to the Blackall ranges for a bit of a breather over the weekend. Amazing what mother nature can do for frayed nerves.







Koala Politics

Looks like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, right? Well, a few metres away is a very unhappy female who, according to the internet, was telling him in no uncertain terms to take a long walk off a short branch. These two were arguing the toss in the front yard on and off for hours last weekend. The female sounded like a baby crying, but apparently she was just saying 'no'.


Thursday, March 30, 2017

Moreton Bay Art Awards

You may remember the baby water dragon I featured in a photo here a little while back?


Well, the magical version of him has been accepted in the Moreton Bay Region's Art Awards photographic/digital section. I have also had the 'Tree of Life' I made last year preselected.



Monday, March 27, 2017

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Little birds...again

The other day I noticed some little finches jumping around in the grass. It needs mowing and so they were sometimes hard to pick out. I was surprised when I looked closer to see that there were two species: the red-browed firetails and the double barred finches, all hanging out together. Exquisite little things. Some picks:





Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Art on the Edge

As I last mentioned, I spent the weekend up at Cedar Creek Retreat, enjoying a fantastic weekend with a dozen or so fellow weirdos looking at how we can grow our arts businesses. Awesome place (see some of the pics below), awesome food, awesome people. Thanks again, Michael and Ludmilla; and Amy and MBRC for the opportunity. The consequences will be significant and you will start to see some of the effects here and other places online. Watch this space!




Friday, February 17, 2017

Cultivating Creativity

This weekend I am off to Cedar Creek to participate in Moreton Bay Council's Cultivate the Arts program. I am really looking forward to it, and hopefully it will be beneficial. A weekend of nature, art and a bit of navel gazing, never hurt anyone! Thanks to MBRC for the opportunity!

Click here if you want to know more