My birthday coincides with the blooming of our larger Orchids. My wife presented this Orchid cane full of blooms to me on my Birthday. This orchid lives under our Wisteria trees and is mostly left to its own ways. When it blooms it usually throws a number of canes full of beautiful flower. I painted this cane against a dark velvety backdrop to enhance the spirit of Spring’s renewal emerging after a dark Winter’s slumber.
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40x60cm 2020
An early Spring morning, the clouds were inky blue and thickening. The sun low on the horizon threw a cool yellow light. A storm soon arriving. After a warm winter it looked like lower-than-average temperatures were upon us. I wanted an abstracted view of the landscape, the heavily laden clouds, the sunny breaks, the shifts in the wind a glimpse of the built environment, all of which added to a sense of the drama of the approaching storm. The wonder of nature’s power.
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40x40cm 2020
Under the shadow of the mist, looking up through the tree, the early spring leaves on the pin oak were starting to thicken up. Looking up I could see a misty dampness on the new spring leaves. Like confetti, creating a ceiling of sparkling bubbles.
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40x60cm 2020
Walking down through our Powerful Own sanctuary towards our “Rainbow Trail”, so named by the chalk drawings made during our long winter lockdown by the many children on the pathways to the trail, our eyes were taken up to a flock of ducks in an old long dead tree. The tree with its top long blown out was being used as a resting spot for the ducks. Down below was a small seasonal lake that was also used by these casual visitors.
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40x60cm 2020
It's October 2020. Lockdown continues and our October birthdays approach and another milestone home alone. The roses are blooming, flowers abound from our garden and from gifts. Albertine’s renovation is looking very successful and between birthdays a magpie lands on one of Albertine’s oldest canes (30 years old a gift from friends and still going strong). It must have loved its new lease of light!
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60x40cm 2020
Our garden is a sanctuary for many different flora and fauna. They all co-exist. Mixing them in a collage is not difficult as in many places they all grow together. Descriptors include: a cacophony, a cottage garden, overgrown. The painting was made late winter with the brilliant deep blue of the Iris and the new succulent growth with the late glow of the day on the fern fronds.
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40x40cm 2020
Walking through the Olinda Creek wetlands we came across a reed protecting billabong. The lone Ibis was hiding, resting, relaxing, looking for a feed perhaps waiting for a mate. The beauty of the ordinary is always around the corner, waiting, but mostly unsighted by human eyes.
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60x40cm 2020
Remembrance Day is many things to many people. For me, my families, my: father, great uncle, grandfathers, their wives, mothers and other family members, all in different ways. We have a rose, now more than 30 years old, forming strong canes with clusters of blood-red.
Full description below.
