A Glimpse and a Piece of Sky

Silk wrap just out of the pot

Like sky lying on my

artificial grass

Another silk wrap

cold dyeing with

what I believe to be Sea Almonds

Terminalia Catappa

They are now ripening and 

the trees are full of Red Tailed Black Cockatoos

eating them

Fortunately they drop a few

ripe ones for me to collect

and some new little paintings 

experimenting 

with shellac based inks

here in plain water

here in black tea

this is found rusty shapes

in black tea

all have been sealed with wax

and are 

10 x 10cm

This is a detail

of my entry to

the Cardwell Art Prize

and on an entirely different subject

this is my thumb

it is now on the mend

This is what happens when you are allergic to band aids

and are forced to use one

For days it was really swollen

and so painful

But now it just looks ugly.

x te

Another Trip to Cairns

Cane Sugar in flower

We are sorting out issues with our new to us car

which entails trips up to Cairns

It is a 2 1/2 hour drive not helped

by lots of road works

and this time

pouring rain

But we did find the pool on the Esplanade

tihs time

Right there in town on the waterfront

a free pool

Here you can see one of the life guards

there are no fences and no charge

to get in

what an awesome idea

Course part of the reason is you can't swim in the ocean

this day the tide was out

and you could see the muddy brown bottom

Lunch time saw us at Barnacle Bill's

Though my dining companion

was a little preoccupied 

Even older folk do it

This is a sample of the weather

we have been getting

Grey wet and windy

But not cold

It takes some getting used to.

Car issues still not resolved

waiting on parts

so there will be another trip

North

x te

Echidna Blue

SOLD

New in my Etsy Shop

this one has a feather in a pocket

leaf prints

drawing

wool patches

a shell heart under mica

plus an Echidna Quill Closure

with Indigo Blue 

Cretan stitch 

and this is coming up locally

and as I have entered 

I best get on with making something

So above is a beginning

Silk Noil glued onto board

and coated in starch paste

Very wet and windy here

But still very warm

most strange

x te

Tyto and Wallaman

Last Friday Dan and I went on a sightseeing trip

around some of our local area

Above is a view of theTyto Wetlands

located in Ingham

and named after the 

Grass Owl Tyto longimembris

(on a tangent this looks interesting)

There were very curious turtles

who raced towards us

as we stood on the bridge

methinks some one has been feeding them

some of them even 

sported fancy head gear in the form of

iridescent blue dragonflies

This not only has the wetlands

but also an art gallery and 

a very nice restaurant

called Tiddalik

after the story of the Frog

who drank all the water

We made some very wise food choices

It was their first day

so we are looking forward

to going back and trying them again

hopefully it will only get better and better

Then we went off to visit Wallaman Falls

which are quite spectacular

I must warn you though the road in leaves 

a lot to be desired

very windy in parts

and partly unsealed

not to mention the 10km stretch 

with cows on the road

they promised Cassowaries as well

but still no sign of those elusive beasts

at the day use area

we went for a walk

found this awesome

strangler fig

with fabulous patterns

and Dan found some where for a swim

I think his totem has to be the seal

Being a Leo perhaps it is really the sea lion

and in the studio

playing still happening

This is a sheet of Hahn 150gsm

Print paper

Currently I am exploring 

tea, rust, ink, xanthorrhoea 

and a bit of indigo glue paint

This piece is about ready to tear up 

into a series of concertina books

which I will work back into 

and make cover/s for

x te

Etsy Revived

A little something in my Etsy Shop

Begun in the workshop with 

Elizabeth Bunsen

In Ballarat Victoria

finished

in Cardwell Nth Queensland

x te

Touristing and Playing at Home

Last weekend we went for a drive up the coast

to visit Mission Beach

Where we found 

a beach that looked like this

Wonderfully decorated by small crabs

Every now and then 

one would pop out of a hole 

and race across the sand to another hole

Then we had lunch 

and we sat down at a table

looked up and there on the wall

a picture of Hillary's Boat Harbour

we used to live up the road from here

And had dinner there on our 

last night in Perth

Walking out around Port Hinchinbrook Marina

Interesting to see how neatly the tides arrange the sticks

very Andy Goldsworthy or Chris Drury

And then up in the studio

I had a visitor

I don't think he really belongs

on the third floor

so I moved him back downstairs to the garden

Some solar dyeing is happening

Using plants gathered on my 

morning walks

The indigo pot is begun

I have started the process with

banana and custard apple

The work bench is looking fuller

with a backing to protect the wall

and a cover for the bench

it is some cement sheet 

so will also be good when I get out the blow torch

My two wax pots arrived this morning

at only 100watts each

I have decided to work just with clear 

and white for the time being

I will underpaint of course

Some staining and rusting has commenced

as well as finding lovely purple

seed fruits that when ripe

give great colour

this is just rubbed on

The seed to the furthest right

has had the out coating removed

I assume by birds

before I gathered it

and this little spot I have dropped on

some alkaline water

and the colour has shifted

 to a more greenish hue

x te