closeup, diagonal & skyline

August Break Catch Up and I am cheating - all of these pictures were taken this year but not this week!

Day 5 Close Up

I love taking closeups so this was a hard one to choose...so here is something I haven't posted before. This was taken in an aquarium..

 

Day 6 Diagonal

I almost chose this one for the next category of skyline..

Day 7 Skyline

I couldn't resist this rural skyline..and what a sky!

sculpture at dawn

The alarm went at 4.45am this morning and it signalled our early morning adventure. Sydney hosts an annual open air sculpture exhibition along a popular coastal walk. Today we were going to photograph the outdoor art at dawn.

Other photographers, joggers and early risers were also on site but it was nothing like the wall to wall people who attend during normal sociable hours. It was so special to be able to take our time to enjoy each piece and use the morning light to capture our favourite shapes. Back home at the computer it is the silhouettes that have caught my eye.

"Sea nest" Oct 2012

Detail of "Mengenang" Oct 2012

Detail of "Mirador" Oct 2012

"Transition" Oct 2012

Colouring with nature's beauty

A few years ago I was introduced to eco-dyeing by my friend Deb Clarke on one of her art making adventures in the remote areas around Alice Springs, Northern Territory. There camping in swags on ancient lands with Larapinta Creative Camps, by day we would roam the local bush in search of suitable plants to use for fabric dyeing on the campfire at night.

Now back home, I have collected local leaves and flowers and created my dyeing practice on a small gas burner on my back deck.

Recently on a visit to a friend's farm, I collected a huge bag of pods from the Cootamundra Wattle tree. My test on these pods produced a gorgeous purple pink colour. Purple being my absolute favourite colour, I was excited about the potential.

Seed pods of the Cootamundra Wattle Oct 2012

 

Alas, I waited too long (2 weeks) and the pods have aged and lost their colour. However, I decided to try dyeing with them, in case the colour was forthcoming. I also tried a number of new folding techniques to get patterns as well as layered leaves to give imprinted effects. The scarves are silk and they take to eco-dyeing very well. I am off to the country again this weekend so I will be on the lookout for some fresh wattle pods! This time, I will try freezing them to preserve the colour. This is how you preserve flower petal colour for dyeing. I'll keep you posted.

 

Silk Scarves dyed using the wattle pods Oct 2012

 

 

 

Paddock Art

Driving home from Lou's place, we decided to take a different road through the deliciously named towns of Cumnock and Molong. We do have some lovely names for places in Australia. (Note to self this is an idea for a blog post)

Imagine our delight as we drove along this road, there interspersed among the gum trees and the paddocks of golden canola in bloom were sculptures of animals on bicycles. First we saw a fish, then a horse. Soon I was calling out, "Stop stop, I have to take a photo".

The sculptures ranged from the truly professional to the more amateurish but each of them brought a smile to our faces. Cartoon characters mixed it with Australian animals, more serious forms alongside the humorous. Then we started seeing bits of bike up a tree and stuck on a sign. Soon our focus was on spotting the next surprise.

Corrugated iron sheets cut into impossible shapes, old rainwater tanks and tin cans painted crazy colours, disused parts of farm machinery and lots of bikes; a superb recycling into art.

There is a bush poem by an Australian poet, "Banjo" Patterson called "Mulga Bill's Bicycle", could this be the inspiration?

'Twas Mulga Bill, from Eaglehawk, that caught the cycling craze;
He turned away the good old horse that served him many days;
He dressed himself in cycling clothes, resplendent to be seen;
He hurried off to town and bought a shining new machine;
And as he wheeled it through the door, with air of lordly pride,
The grinning shop assistant said, "Excuse me, can you ride?"

Needless to say, Mulga Bill ended up in lots of trouble as later verses show

He turned the cycle down the hill and mounted for the fray,
But 'ere he'd gone a dozen yards it bolted clean away.
It left the track, and through the trees, just like a silver streak,
It whistled down the awful slope towards the Dead Man's Creek.

The last sculpture where we stopped was of Hod Rod Henny with a sign saying you could find more information at http://www.animalsonbikes.com.au/

Such a great idea creating "Paddock Art". Loved it.

haiku

Sunrise, Finke River, Northern Territory 2008

My morning Haiku as seen from my swag in the desert.

 

 

Sunrise golden bands

White moon hangs in blue sky

Night lingers in day