Flock

A group of crows is called a flock. Or, more poetically, a murder.  I prefer flock I think...

Dreaming again

I feel Christmas coming on. The feeling always comes with the smell of summer. It's making me want to paint birds and use gold paint. There is no gold paint here yet. I think these motifs are unfinished and I don't as yet know where to put the gold.

There is probably no excuse for bad photography these days except perhaps it's late and the only light I have is a little side lamp. Sorry. For the first time however have used the 1977 filter on the Instagram app. I think it is lucky for it is the year I was born.

Blue Wren

 

I was hoping the road trip would bring plenty of opportunities to photograph birds. As it happens, what I already know was confirmed - birds are so hard to photograph!

This little guy visited our tent and wasn't the least bit shy in saying hello. He even stayed around long enough to get a couple of decent shots.

x 

Sparrow head

A step on from my little clay birds.

I have been wanting to do something a bit different and make a pretty little fairy doll.

Once I had done the head and neck however, I quite liked the look of a mini clay bust. And then, of course, the bird just had to be added.  

I hope it doesn't fall apart in the kiln when firing!

x

Perfect

Nature is so perfect.

In the wild storms of a couple of months ago I found this nest.

Tree branches and leaves lined the streets, having been ripped from trees by the wind.

In a lovely mass of twigs in the middle of the road lay this beautiful nest.

It is not small. About 20cm.

It is perfect.

The white fleece in the centre, amazingly was placed there perfectly by the bird who made it. It looks like it was done by a human hand.

The little native leaves, and a tiny little bit of banksia blossom were also there when found.

Perfect.

Just to let you know, I would never pluck a nest from a tree. Ever.

Near my house in the undergrowth is a finches' nest. Like a little hidden bundle of woven twigs with a perfectly round entrance.

If I move the reeds I can see the nest. I dare not touch it. It looks like it is not in use but I would hate for my touch to ruin someone else's home.

So, I claimed this nest pictured for my own and would like to share it with you.

Love

x

Birds of a Feather, Christmas Together

After such a long time of not posting, my photography has gone a little downhill. It was hard to photograph these little ceramic birds. I have made them for Christmas presents - a touch of blue and green and a rubbing of gold dust. I have heard other bloggers say the same, but after making presents and decorations I feel no desire to buy anything - no tinsel, no nothing. It's a nice feeling.

Mini Print

I watched 'Julie and Julia' on the weekend. A very good movie about food, cooking and blogging - what else is there really? Except art of course.

At one point in the movie Julie types on her blog 'Hello, is anybody out there' or something to that effect. This was slightly reassuring because I often wonder this myself. Is anyone out there reading this? I would love to know if you are.

Sometimes I like to make little mini stamps out of lino. I use these on cards to stick to an envelope as a sort of pseudo stamp.






Today is the last day of Autumn. Awwwwwww. I have really loved Autumn this year as all you beautiful bloggers who are inspired by Waldorf, etc. have really put me in touch with the seasons. I feel a little sad that Autumn has come and gone so quickly. But I ddo have such positive thoughts for winter!

Possibilities

Is it possible that fairyland can co-exist with suburbia? I think so.

It's been raining for days. I cancelled a trip to the Biennale with a friend because I thought the cyclonic storm would hit, but it looks like it is really going to effect down South.

So I rode my bike instead. The rain has brought forth the mushroom fairy shelters and ducks and water birds play happily.

I wish I could live in the country, but in the meantime, I think finding the magic around me can be easy. See for yourself...















I haven't been able to blog much lately. School term makes working on my own projects difficult so I have to do little bits and piece which I love - a photo trip here, a sketch or two there, a spot of reading the arts section of the paper on the side.

Back into bed now to read the paper. I am sure I saw fairies and other woodland folk today!

Little Rainbow

This little baby Rainbow Lorikeet sat comfortably in my frangipani tree yesterday, happily letting me photograph him.

Birdy Hide and Seek

Sometimes when I ride my bike through the bush I like to go really really fast. 

Wooooo hooooo!!!

But today I wanted to go very slow so that I could photograph the beautiful birds that play in the trees by the lake.

 

The problem is, whilst these birds are very noisy, they are also very very shy.

 

Stand still for a few minutes and you will see one finch hopping on a branch, then another finch, and maybe a wagtail, then another bird until you realise these birds are everywhere - you just have to stand very very still.

 

Catch a glimpse of the little things and you will see how beautiful they really are. 

So my photos today look like bird version of Where's Wally but it was the best I could do without standing like a statue for half an hour.  

One of my favourite books (such a geek) is Robert Hughes The Fatal Shore which is about the colonisation/invasion of Australia by the English. I think he describes the bush perfectly...

'...the landscape was alive, but secretively so. Here in the Australian bush one needed to look, and look again, before glimpsing the gray koala camouflaged against the fleshy gray burl of its gum tree. The voices of the animals tended to be out of all proportion to their size. Just as space was drained of perspective by the random, flickering of the trees, so it was hard to guess where sounds originated' (p.7).

I love the bush

x

Boo...book

Two more oil paintings. A boobook owl...

And, in a little departure from the birds, a little doll...The colours of this painting did not photograph too well - the background is more of a warm cream colour.

But now, some blank wood pieces to prime with gesso. Like trying to start a uni essay, I have no idea where to begin. Hopefully some ideas will emerge soon!

x

Oh they have taken so long and sometimes I have even wanted to throw them out the window but they ARE coming together. Little birdy paintings of oil on wood.

Bye for now

x