Tuesday 18 August 2015

West Australian Wildflowers

It isn't officially spring until the beginning of September but it has sprung early this year. There are many patches of remnant native bushland dotted around the Perth metropolitan area which are a delight to visit at any time of year but particularly when everything is in flower! Nearly two weeks ago a friend and I went for a walk in the bush just adjacent to Landsdale Farm. So many pretty flowers to admire including the ubiquitous hibbertia and Swan River myrtle.

 





 
 Above is the carnivorous sundew drosera.
 


 
Today my friend and I visited the Hepburn Heights bushland reserve which looked particularly pretty in the mid-afternoon light. Today was one of those ridiculously perfect winter's days when the sun is shining and the breeze is fresh.
 


 
                                                                         Moi!

 






 

Tuesday 4 August 2015

And the winner is....

 
Thanks to all of you who kindly left comments on my last post and went into the draw for a copy of my shiny new book!
 
All the names went into a hat, and the lucky winner is..........Debbie Nolan (View from Harmony Hills). Yay, Debbie! please email me your address and I will send you a copy ASAP.

I am also excited to announce that my book is now available online at Amazon, and other outlets such as The Book Depository will be soon to follow. ***Update*** now also available on The Book Depository - and they do free delivery.

 
The idea for the book came about when I embarked upon a ten day painting challenge in 2012. After years of procrastination, I was thrilled at how potent and motivating the challenge format proved to be.
 
Below is the painting I did on the very first day of the ten day challenge, and the following is the same subject matter painted in a more stylised manner about six months later. There aren't any photos in my book but a lot of the paintings mentioned can be seen in the older posts on this blog.
 
 
 
The photo below is a clear example of the progress I made through regular painting sessions.
Using the same props, the still life on the left was done about a year after the one on the right.          



                                      Acrylic on board and canvas board respectively (2012)

And to other matters - there is a lot of prettiness in the garden at the moment but only when it comes to my pot plants. The garden in general has gone to rack and ruin. I hope to get out into the bushland soon to take photos of the emerging wildflowers.





                                                             
I hope you are all having a great week!