Embroidery from India.

This is also an old embroidery, you can see where the Shisha mirrors are buckled and discoloured.

Embroidery from Turkey.

Two little images that are part of an old embroidered panel from Turkey. The flat thread used appears to be gold thread.

Trilobite

Into the stamp carving again with this little trilobite. The spiky edges proved a bit difficult, but I think it will do for the project.

Amazing Leaves.

I picked up the first leaf shown here and was amazed at the lovely colour and at the strange shape in the middle. The colour was as vibrant as the photos shows. A little later I found 4 more, but none of them were as bright a colour as the first. I think they come from an ornamental pear that is growing next door, but why the colour and pattern I have no idea, perhaps as a result of the long hot spell that we are having and the consequent lack of water.

Gateway to Nowhere.

The Rock and the Tree

I wonder how long it has taken the tree to grow around the rock.

Getting Results.

Whilst not all parts of the prints are usable, I should be able to get enough good bits to use from each one.

Plant Bits.

Some of the leaves and grasses that I am printing with. The leaves I picked up on the forest floor many years ago, knowing that they would come in handy one day. Unfortunately they aren't completely skeletonised, and the bits of old leaf get stuck on the printing plate. This is one reason that I really prefer a gelatine plate, as it doesn't seem to be quite as sticky and I'm always nervous about making a hole with my forceps in the commercial plate as I lift off the tiny bits of debris.

Work Underway.

All systems go now with mess everywhere, but some nice prints, or parts thereof are beginning to appear.

Getting Started on Some New Art.

With a date for a possible exhibition entry looming, I managed to find the time to get started on some new artwork today. I'm back to the monoprints using vegetation again, this time with the Gelli plate which I'm not really keen on. It's a bit hot for a home-made gelatine plate though, so needs must.

At Last!

The first flower on the Tiger Lily today. It's never flowered before, so it's quite exciting.

Gate to Nowhere.

A lonely old farm gate that has seen better days.

A Gate to Nowhere.

A lonely old farm gate that has seen better days.

All Done!

I have now finished the last 3 ATCs in the list, Shoes, Australian Plant and Beach. The Australian plant is the Native Clematis and I have used the flowers and seed heads in the image. The beach depicts a piece of really distorted driftwood.

The Rock and the Tree.

I wonder how long it has taken for this tree to grow around the rock.

Textile from Turkey.

With another textile group our challenge for this year is to produce an A5 design based on the textiles of various countries chosen by each member of the group in turn. Sarah chose Turkey and gave each one of us some cards that she had bought in Turkey, featuring photographs of textiles from that country. Here is the card that I was given with the piece that I made based on the designs shown on the card.

Finished at Last!

They're finished at last, the 4 Artist Trading cards that I had printed out onto fabric ready for stitching sometime last year. The designs are based on the glazed decoration on a small pot that I bought in Central America many years ago. I have now finished 4 of the set topics with another 3 still to go. I've completed the ATCs of leaves, shells,a design based on a small perfume bottle and now the pottery design. Still to go are shoes, beach and Australian native Plant.

Eucalypt Fairy Ring.

It is said that when a large tree is under stress such as during drought conditions, it drops copious amounts of seed to ensure the survival of the species. We had 10 years of drought and this wonderful old Eucalypt tree in the paddock threw out a ring of seeds a couple of years ago. We now have an almost complete ring of sapling trees all growing fast. The juvenile leaves of many Eucalypts are a different colour to the adult foliage, hence the very blue colour of the sapling leaves in this picture.

Flaming Sunset.

With many parts of the country suffering the ravages of bushfires, these photos could easily be of a distant bush fire. Luckily it is of very pretty sunset instead.

Golden Grasses.

I just love the way the light makes this field of dry grass glow. The dog managed to squeeze into the photo unnoticed.

Cactus Flower part 2.

The Red Teapot.

What to do with a tea pot that has been dropped and the enamel chipped inside...........make holes in the bottom and plant with a strawberry seedling.

Reach for the Sky!

A pair of sunflowers in a tiny courtyard garden reaching for the sky way above the roof.

Image One.

Here is the result of a little play with the jars image in Photoshop. Lots of scope here I think.

The Empties!

Having decided to store my large collection of beads in another way, I have this collection of empty stacking storage jars. I really like the image of them all on the black background and I wonder what I can do with the image in Photoshop!

Idiot's Work.

Some fool has written a happy birthday message with weed killer into the lawn of a public parkland!

Summer cactus

Spider.

This wonderful spider and its web is part of a gate into the childrens'  garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens. It's a bit hard to photograph with everything beyond, but I think it's interesting all the same.
As always, just click on the picture to enlarge it and you will see it all a bit more clearly.

Two Towers.

Once upon a time, the only tower seen from the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne was the tower of the old Government House.  Now however we have the huge tower of a new apartment complex which I think is called the Grollo Tower after it's developer, looming on the skyline. I know which one I prefer the look of!