Extreme Rain… and some local inspiration
Like most of South East Queensland and Northern NSW we were inundated with rain. The rainforest truly came alive with rushing gullies, waterfalls, copious croaking frogs and my studio was like a boat in the middle of water. Luckily aside from a mildly leaking roof and muddy pool, being on the side of the mountain the water raced down and around us so we were fortunate with flooding but were unable to get over the very high raging creeks for three days. The chickens were looking very sorry for themselves and at one stage I was worried about them getting swept away from the force of the water around their coop but they were all safe. It was a productive painting period and I completed some Australian botanicals on abstract backgrounds inspired by a recent trip to Byron. I have enough inspiration for so many paintings and the combination of rolling green hills and salty water is the ultimate therapy for me.
Before all the rain we visited a gorgeous Elderflower farm in the scenic rim for Valentines Day with pick your own zinnias which of course, will live on forever (well a long time….!) in a small painting. This year I have started art classes with Brisbane artist Natasha Rushka who has such a loose, beautiful painterly style. I have also been practicing trying to create and photograph compositions for paintings such as this one below with apples, the flower farm zinnias and one of my favourite books. It is quite tricky to get a good composition in terms of placing the objects, colour, tone, texture and light. The pears are a practice I did in Natasha’s class. Most of my work is leaning towards slightly abstract landscapes but I will keep doing the odd still life for practice and variety. I would really like to paint our chickens and chicken house at some stage soon too! Most of the time I am loving painting but as with most people that inner critic can be so persistent and so many amazing artists particularly what you see every day on instagram it is usual to have some self doubt. I think I will move to start selling my work in a few months time hopefully as it is piling up everywhere!
A lot of light relief from the dog/cat gang this month so this post deserves quite a few pet pics I think!
The weather has annihilated most flowers in the garden except the gingers which are absolutely loving all the water. Though I have had a few beautiful cafe au lait dahlias - I’m hoping the plants can survive a little longer of wet feet.
After Christmas we were all set to go to Sydney for a few days to visit the galleries and for a bit of a holiday but our plans were thwarted by the impossible covid test requirements at the time so we rescheduled and just spent a few days last week. It was the first time I had been to the Gallery of NSW. There was an exhibit of the Art student HSC submissions which were just awesome in their freshness and perspective. The gallery itself is stunning but I was very disappointed that not one of the William Robinson works were not on display. I would love to see some of his biggest works in person. Even in the city I was still finding cute little ferns in the sandstone and the most lovely art store in the Rocks (Parkers). We were also treated to what must be Australia’s most glamorous bin chicken (below) otherwise known as ibis/tip bird posing in the Chinese Gardens!
As beautiful was the city was and we stayed in a hotel with awesome views, I missed my rainforest and it was so lovely to wake up back in the bush (and I’m glad that my preferred living place is millions of dollars cheaper!). At some stage soon I hope to write a detailed article to share my experiences with plant medicine and consciousness which have been life changing. I think the tide is certainly turning in this sphere which is wonderful and exciting news.
I love places that you can be so close to nature - little to no marketing, advertising, ego…… Straddie meets the criteria here! Here is a little work I completed while flooded in of Stradbroke Gorge and I have a bigger one in progress of the view from the Straddie Gelato shop based on a photo I took a couple of years ago. Someone has taken the time to create the cutest little succulent and cactus garden alongside the road with the ocean behind.
