mycamerandme365

Queen Parrot?

2012-02-21T15:44:00.000+11:00

This is the female King Parrot, just as beautiful in her own understated way. They really are stunning birds.

A Beautiful King Parrot in the Garden.

2012-02-20T19:03:00.002+11:00

Whilst Parrots usually feed on seeds of indigenous plants, this male King Parrot and his harem of 4 females, were having a great feast of the seeds of a European tree, probably a Sycamore. They were very cleverly nipping off each winged seed and in one deft movement eating the seed and discarding the unwanted wings.

A Bee's Bum.

2012-02-19T18:59:00.000+11:00

The 4 Spot Cup Moth Caterpillar.

2012-02-18T18:56:00.000+11:00

This rather spectacular caterpillar has fine stinging hairs on it's body; we used to call them Spitfires when we were children. While photographing this one I inadvertently brushed my inner arm against another one that I hadn't seen. It certainly stung me, bringing up a red welt that took some hour or so to disappear.

Alien World 2

2012-02-17T16:19:00.001+11:00

Not sure about this image, the lightning is out of scale I think.

Alien World?

2012-02-16T21:13:00.002+11:00

This is actually a slice of polished stone, not sure what kind of stone, maybe quartz. I popped it on the scanner bed and put the resulting scan on a black background and to my mind it looks very like a moon or something similar. I think it's an image that is worth playing around with anyway. Watch this space!

Birthday Treat.

2012-02-15T16:42:00.001+11:00

No party with balloons and games for this young man, a day at the Wildlife sanctuary and a play in the creek is much more to his liking. He did however get to pat a platypus as a very special treat, the grown-ups enjoyed the encounter just as much I think.

More Photoshop brushes.

2012-02-14T18:32:00.001+11:00

I couldn't resist making another one, it's very addictive actually.

Photoshop Brushes Play.

2012-02-13T16:57:00.003+11:00

This looks like a bit of a mess really, but I was surprised at how complex an image can be made into a Brush in Photoshop CS4. This was originally just part of a large and complicated wooden print block that I isolated and made into a brush and printed it randomly in different colours. Lots more fun to be had here I think!

Happy 4th Birthday!

2012-02-12T19:25:00.000+11:00

A turtle cake was requested by the birthday boy, so Mum & Dad made one, plus all the little cup cake baby turtles for the kindergarten friends.

Nothing like a Good Massage.

2012-02-11T19:02:00.002+11:00

Gathering More Stuff.

2012-02-10T17:18:00.000+11:00

We are fortunate to have two recycle outlets in the area. They stock factory offcuts and all sorts of goodies for art and craft work. I wanted some pieces of Perspex for mounting my hand carved stamps on and I also wanted to get some interesting foam shapes for stamps or stencils as well. A large plastic garbage bag full costs $25, but I made the mistake of carting it around the factory with me instead of loading it into a trolley and wheeling it around. By picking it up and dragging it around, all the pointy things like the corners of mount-board offcuts tore the plastic and I couldn't fit as much in. Still I did get a fair bit of 'stuff' including the Perspex, some very long heavy duty zippers, foam sheets with different sized holes punched in them (stencils) the mount-board and a huge quantity of coloured paper, balloons, sticky labels and goodies for the junior craft box. I spent a fun hour collecting up the bag full.

Seed Pods 2.

2012-02-09T18:33:00.000+11:00

And that's all folks!

Seed Pods.

2012-02-08T17:18:00.002+11:00

For many years now I have collected seed pods from around the country, adding them to an old wooden bowl full as the years past. Noticing today that there were several falling apart and that the whole lot needed dusting I collected them into similar looking groups and photographed them. More to follow tomorrow.

News from the Past.

2012-02-07T17:27:00.002+11:00

The coronation featured in this old copy of the Illustrated London News is that of King George V in 1911, and the Royal Jubilee being celebrated is his 25th. The Star newspaper is dated 1935.

Still Clearing out the Old House.

2012-02-04T17:28:00.005+11:00

I haven't seen any of these for a very long time.

2012-02-03T17:39:00.001+11:00

A lunch party for 7 today to welcome home one of the group who has been visiting India on a textile tour.

We had so much fun as she showed us all the goodies that she bought, mostly textile, but not all.

Old Leather Working Tool

2012-02-02T20:52:00.003+11:00

I recently came across this tool and had absolutely no idea what its purpose was. No-one else that I asked seemed to know either. After contacting our wonderful Melbourne Museum we were delighted to find out the identity of the tool. To quote the museum... It is a ‘glazing iron’ used in leatherworking and is described as follows:

These apparatuses were used hot after applying wax, inks, special polishes or heel balls to give the leather surface lustre, particularly within the soles and heels. This particular tool bears the tool manufacturers trade mark "ALS / Barnsley/ Sheffield / England". George Barnsley and Sons produced shoemakers' tools in Sheffield, England (1835-1990)

Fringe Lily.

2012-01-31T19:48:00.001+11:00

I thought that I had better show a picture of the original plant before I begin making a stamp or any other artwork deriving from it. You can see the buds on the right that I manipulated in Photoshop and posted a day or so ago. Whilst I will make an actual rubber stamp, here is one made in Photoshop.

Bird Orchid

2012-01-30T17:26:00.002+11:00

This little orchid is named after a nestling with its open beak waiting to be fed. The angle of this photo doesn't show it very clearly, but if you use your imagination you can see a gaping beak in the centre of the plant.

New Artwork Design.

2012-01-29T18:30:00.002+11:00

This is the beginning of my work on a new Wild flower series. This is the elegant bud of a Fringed Lily, one of the prettiest wild flowers in the bush, you can see the flower in an earlier post.

Window in the Bush.

2012-01-28T18:13:00.002+11:00

Photoshop Phiddling.

2012-01-27T16:52:00.000+11:00

It's amazing what a difference a simple filter in Photoshop will make to the look of a photo. This seed head lying in the leaf litter was quite interesting, but invert the colours and I think it now looks like a group of sea urchins in a tide pool.

2012-01-26T18:10:00.003+11:00

This one is easy, it's from an Eastern Rosella, a very pretty parrot.

This one is from another parrot, it's from the crest of a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

This is probably from a black and white Magpie.

This is probably another one from a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.

Since my topic at the moment seems to be birds, I thought that I would photograph the feathers in situ that I came across on my morning walk and see if I could identify the ex-owners of them.

2012-01-25T17:14:00.000+11:00

You can't see the beak of this bird properly, but it's long and curved, just right for getting nectar from these Red Hot Poker flowers. The bird is a juvenile Eastern Spinebill.

2012-01-24T16:46:00.002+11:00

It's been so hot here for the last few days, so the birds really appreciate a cool drink and a bath.

2012-01-23T17:16:00.002+11:00

This is what yesterday's caterpillar will become, a Dainty Swallowtail: Papilio anactus.

2012-01-22T18:33:00.001+11:00

What a handsome caterpillar that will grow into a beautiful butterfly.

2012-01-21T18:30:00.000+11:00

A Hyacinth Orchid growing in the bush. This orchid is dependent on fungus in the soil and will die if moved.

2012-01-20T18:27:00.000+11:00

This is the work of some small ants, isn't it wonderful? It only stands about 2 inches high and is so beautifully made.

Stars, Detail.

2012-01-19T18:32:00.000+11:00

The machine stitching is finished, but it probably doesn't show up very well in this photo.

Now that's a Big Rabbit!

2012-01-18T17:59:00.002+11:00

Raw Material.

2012-01-17T16:20:00.002+11:00

This is just a view of the cut face of an old log, but I'm sure it has potential for computer manipulation.

Return to the Clematis Scene.

2012-01-16T20:06:00.000+11:00

I thought that the black and white version was a bit stark, so here is a warmer version.

For Dorothy.

2012-01-15T18:51:00.000+11:00

More Linocut Fun.

2012-01-14T21:12:00.003+11:00

This is another lino cut that I played around with in Photoshop. I'm not at all sure that I like the colour scheme however.

Eat Your Heart Out John Lennon.

2012-01-13T17:30:00.001+11:00

Another item from the old house clear-out, thousands more to go!

Unidentified Objects.

2012-01-12T08:28:00.000+11:00

These tools have turned up in a box of bits and pieces from an old house that is being cleared out by a family member. The box apparently used to hold fishing flies, but what are these brass items? They look as if they might be for cleaning a musical instrument, although they are a bit too heavy for that perhaps. For cleaning some sort of small machinery? Any clues would be gratefully received.

Flying a Kite with Grandad.

2012-01-11T08:20:00.000+11:00

Back Massage!

2012-01-10T17:39:00.002+11:00

The 19 year old cat loves to have a back massage (lick) from the 3 year old dog. Everyone's happy!

2012-01-09T16:43:00.005+11:00

Do you recognise the mouldy peach? With the simple invert option in Photoshop, it looks to me like an underwater scene. Hence the fish, looking somewhat surreal in their skeleton form.

What a Shame!

2012-01-08T17:21:00.002+11:00

Unfortunately some of the beautiful peaches became mouldy before they could be eaten, however they made interesting subjects for photos, and a starting point for manipulations in Photoshop.

Fresh Ripe Tomatoes.

2012-01-07T16:41:00.000+11:00

At least the animals have left our tomatoes alone............at least for the moment anyway. There were 3 different varieties of tomatoes ripe enough to pick this morning. The orange ones are a new type that I tried this season. thinking that they would be less acidic than the red ones. I've grown yellow varieties before and they seemed to me to be less sharp, however this orange type is just as acidic as the red ones and just as delicious.

My Maternal Grandmother.

2012-01-06T16:57:00.002+11:00

Anne Louise, my maternal Grandmother in the 1920s. How about the headband, isn't it wonderful?

Who's Sleeping in My Bed!

2012-01-05T16:52:00.000+11:00

2012-01-04T18:01:00.001+11:00

This booklet was recently found amongst a huge heap of publications from an old family home being cleared out prior to selling. I don't think that it's ever been opened and read.

2012-01-03T17:16:00.001+11:00

With an extensive vegetable garden and several fruit trees, it's always frustrating to lose fruit and vegetables to the efforts of the wild life, birds, possums and rats! The peach and nectarine trees have been shrouded in nets for weeks and bait has been put into PVC tubes for the rats, replaced almost daily as they enjoy a good meal of rat poison! I gave up today after finding 8 or so beautiful nectarines, almost ripe with a bite out of each one. So I stripped the trees of the remaining fruit even though most of it is bullet hard and still unripe. The beasts hadn't started on the peaches yet, maybe put off by the furry skin, but I'm sure that once the nectarines had vanished they would soon turn their attention to the peaches. I got about half the number of nectarines that were on the tree a week or so ago. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Clematis under the Stars.

2012-01-02T17:53:00.000+11:00

As it was just too hot (38 C) today to do anything much except play on the computer, I put together a little scene using all the various Clematis stamps and lino cuts. I love Photoshop brushes too, so combined several of them with everything else as well. Goodness knows if I could actually get any stitching into this, it's really too complex. Unless of course I enlarged it perhaps.

More Work with Clematis Designs.

2012-01-01T18:20:00.004+11:00

Happy New Year!
Continuing on with my Clematis theme, here is another simple design as a stamp. Not long before I can put it all together, fun, fun, fun!

Further work on the Clematis Designs.

2011-12-31T17:29:00.000+11:00

I had a light bulb moment today! Rather than spend more time trying to make a stamp for the stamens of the clematis flower, it occured to me that I could do the reverse technique and make a linocut of the flower and stamens together, so much easier. I then realised that if I was going to try and cut the seed head as a stamp, then it would be well nigh impossible. However a lino cut version of the seed head should work well. Unfortunately the weather is very hot today and the printing ink dried too quickly to make good prints, but it was worth a try.

2011-12-30T17:21:00.001+11:00

After quite some time fiddling about with different things to make stamen stamps I have narrowed it down to one choice, toothpick ends. They are nicely tapered and thick enough to stamp out like the thick stamens of the native Clematis. As you can see from the picture, I tried all sorts of things and nothing was quite right. Either they were too thick, (foam sheet), too thin, (wire) or too textured (woven cord)Now to combine the elements into a nice Clematis stamp.

2011-12-29T18:51:00.001+11:00

Having had reasonable success with the dandelion stamp cutting, I decided to tackle something a little more challenging, a native Clematis flower, leaf and seed head. The flower looked pretty straight forward, but it wasn't! First I carved out the 4 petals, easy peasy, but adding the stamens was much more difficult as they are so thin. Using the lovely new carving tools that I bought myself for Christmas I made the first stamp, not so good. I decided then that the image should be made in 2 parts, the petals and then the stamens. The petal carving was simple enough, but how to do the stamens? Too thin to carve out, but maybe something stuck onto a block would do. I cut up lengths of fine florists wire, but that didn't work very well either. back to the drawing board.

2011-12-28T17:45:00.000+11:00

While out walking early this morning I noticed all the shiny snail tracks on the footpath. It's been very wet here recently, so they must have all decided to go for a walk. The patterns are amazing, rather like stitching actually.

One Day's Worth of Beans from the Vegetable Garden.

2011-12-27T18:53:00.000+11:00

The Fun Continues.

2011-12-26T14:12:00.000+11:00

Her First Christmas.

2011-12-25T14:10:00.000+11:00

The Tiny Christmas Tree.

2011-12-24T16:46:00.000+11:00

A Batch of Rather Rustic Looking Mince Pies!

2011-12-23T16:57:00.001+11:00

Another Wildflower, Austral Bugle.

2011-12-22T19:45:00.000+11:00

Icing the Gingerbread Animals.

2011-12-21T17:01:00.001+11:00

Hand Painted Version of Dandelion Print.

2011-12-20T18:29:00.001+11:00

Cloth Bags I made for Christmas Presents.

2011-12-19T18:09:00.001+11:00

Australian Wildflowers

2011-12-18T17:25:00.002+11:00

A fairy ring of seedling Eucalypts.

2011-12-17T17:24:00.000+11:00

The Mud is drying out..

2011-12-16T17:22:00.002+11:00

2011-12-15T17:21:00.000+11:00

Dressing Up.

2011-12-14T17:43:00.000+11:00

All Elements Together!

2011-12-12T17:58:00.003+11:00

I thought that once I printed the design onto fabric I should paint the various elements with pale fabric paint colours. Just for fun however I coloured the design in using Photoshop, all but the speckled grey leaves which were too hard to select individually that is. Now with the very strong colours it looks like an old style hand painted linocut. Which one would I prefer................?

Continuing the Dandelion Obsession!

2011-12-11T14:23:00.002+11:00

What Happens to Old Train Carriages.

2011-12-10T18:39:00.002+11:00

Something Here to Work With.

2011-12-09T17:34:00.003+11:00

Gelatine Plate Printing and Stamping.

2011-12-08T17:32:00.000+11:00

His First Ice-cream Cone.

2011-12-07T08:44:00.002+11:00

Shortly after this he declared it too cold, too big and too chocolatey! Mummy had to finish it!

The Dandelion Obsession!

2011-12-06T18:19:00.001+11:00

Back to the Dandelions.

2011-12-05T18:46:00.002+11:00

Lunch in the Courtyard.

2011-12-04T17:04:00.000+11:00

2011-12-03T16:52:00.000+11:00

First Christmas Lunch of the Season.

2011-12-02T19:30:00.000+11:00

Friends.

2011-12-01T19:53:00.001+11:00

2011-11-30T17:59:00.002+11:00

Still Working with the Dandelion Theme.

2011-11-29T17:23:00.002+11:00

I'm not Licking her Now!

2011-11-28T17:26:00.000+11:00

Me lick the Cat? Definitely not!

2011-11-27T19:21:00.000+11:00

2011-11-26T21:32:00.000+11:00

2011-11-25T18:49:00.000+11:00

Still Playing with the Dandelions.

2011-11-24T18:47:00.001+11:00

More Photoshop Play.

2011-11-23T17:37:00.001+11:00

Playing with Photoshop.

2011-11-22T16:21:00.002+11:00

Not quite the end of the Story.

2011-11-21T16:18:00.000+11:00

Oooops, he forgot the yeast!

2011-11-20T19:20:00.000+11:00

The Best Drinking water!

2011-11-19T17:00:00.002+11:00

Why do cats seem to prefer drinking shower water instead of water from their own clean bowl?

And yes, the dog is still licking her back and doesn't she love it! Misty, seen here is 19 years old which the vet tells me is equivalent to somewhere between 92 and 93 in human ages.

End of the Experiment.

2011-11-18T17:07:00.001+11:00

I'm not sure if this always happens with Dandelions that mature in a glass of water, but the neck of the sead head has rotted away.

Day 17.

2011-11-17T17:35:00.000+11:00

The top knot of dried petals has fallen off.

Definitely Something Happening, Day 16.

2011-11-16T15:33:00.001+11:00

Stamps To Mark Classic Australian Childrens' Books.

2011-11-14T19:52:00.001+11:00

Thirty Five Year old Train Tickets!

2011-11-13T19:49:00.000+11:00

A Discovery?

2011-11-12T19:47:00.000+11:00

2011-11-11T17:20:00.001+11:00

Summer Vegetables Looking Good.

2011-11-10T17:15:00.003+11:00

Patio Prize Tomatoes. I grew these last season and they grew huge, much too big for any pot and patio that I have, so this year they're in the garden all staked up for the expected growth spurt.

That's Italian eggplant in front of the tomatoes.

Sweet Corn.

Yellow Butter Beans.

Day Nine.

2011-11-09T17:14:00.001+11:00

I think something is happening!