Wildflower Festival

 Today I went to the wildflower festival at Kings Park with Mum and Dad. As soon as we stepped out of the car park we were regaled with stunning mass plantings of everlastings.  Further along were the beautiful red and green kangaroo paws (above).

 The banksias were particularly stunning at the cut wildflower stall.

Here is a beautiful banksia mosaic that has been laid at a little rest-stop alongside one of the paths.

There were the usual swathes of everlastings sown throughout  the bush 

 We had a short walk through the natural bushland as well to see if we could spot any orchid stragglers.  Only spotted one lone donkey orchid and quite a few cowslips.  It seems that overall the orchids flowered earlier this year, because last year at the same time it was oozing with them - including enamel orchids and red and white spider orchids.

 Butterfly sunning itself on a gum leaf.

There was a riot of kangaroo paws growing naturally in the bush.

I bought a few kangaroo paw seedlings at the plant sale.  I'm afraid there have been quite a few casualties amongst the cuttings I was trying to grow from the propagation class.  But there are a few potential survivors that still have a slightly green hue.  I will keep my robust new specimens out of sight of my poor tortured cuttings.  I don't want them giving up hope before I've even got them into the ground.

Rottnest Seagull

                           6" x 6"  Acrylic on board

I painted this today with the intention of submitting it to the Daily Paintworks "Birdbrain" Challenge. However, my daughter has taken a shine to it and is ambivalent about me selling it.  I haven't offered anything for sale yet and this was to be the first one. Maybe next time!

Spider Orchid

                                                      5 x 7 Acrylic on canvas

I thought I would continue with the theme of spring flowers for my painting this week.  This was painted from a photo I took last year on a bush walk.  I love the architecture of Australian flowers.

I have been checking my cuttings every morning and although some of them have turned their toes up, most of them still have some vestiges of chlorophyll coursing through their veins. I don't know if this means that some just take longer to die or if it means they are still in with a chance. Time will tell.

Donkey Orchid

                                                                7 x 5  Acrylic on board

I don't feel I did any sort of justice to the real thing, so I will probably re-visit the subject later on.

Spring Has Sprung

I don't have a painting to post today but instead some photos taken at our friends' (Bob and Kelly) - bush property where we visited this morning.  Despite poor winter rains this year it seems that the flowers are more prolific than ever.  The bush is awash with lushness and colour and there were flocks of orchids EVERYWHERE.  The photo below doesn't do it justice at all but have included it to give an idea of the general landscape. I was too focused on the orchids to take the time to get a better overall shot of the terrain.

                                                                             

Hiding amongst the shrubs are all the little jewels. I think these are called Granny Bonnets.

There were swathes of Donkey orchids everywhere.  They were very beefy specimens too.
This donkey orchid was one of many growing amongst the hibertia and pea flowers

 There were quite a few red spider orchids and green orchids too but donkey orchids and pink orchids reigned supreme today.

 I took a heap of photos and hope to use some to paint from during the week.
We've had a few nice wildflower outings already this spring and I did a class in propagating native plants yesterday at Kings Park.  I have been cosseting my cuttings today and hoping I won't kill them with kindness.  I will be very excited if I am successful at growing natives from cuttings and seeds.

Apple Blossom Hibiscus

                                                          5" x 7"  Acrylic on board

I didn't think I'd have time to paint today but at 3.30pm I decided I'd try something without too much detail.  I'm still finding it very hard to simplify, so even though this is nothing like what I had in mind when I started, I was happy-ish with the results. This painting took just under one and a half hours.  It felt like minutes!  I'm reeeeally enjoying painting on board rather than canvas.

Green Cup, Plate and Saucer

                                                                   6 x 6 Acrylic on board

Backyard Succulent Revisited

The very first painting I did in my 10 day challenge was from a photo of a succulent I have growing in the back yard. I hadn't painted with acrylics for four or five years and even then I'd only ever done one painting. I'd totally forgotten how to use the medium which became very obvious in the finished product (see above).  I was disappointed with it and vowed to try it again later down the track.  Today was the day.

I used a different photo today and began laboriously trying to copy the colours and shadows exactly.  There is only so much of the masochist in me and after a while I decided to stylize it which seemed to work a little better and was much easier to do.
I loved the new boards.  I had previously been using stretched canvas or canvas covered boards which I found took a lot of extra paint to cover the textured surface. Today the paint felt lovely and buttery and made for a very enjoyable painting experience.

                                                               6" x 6" Acrylic on board
                                       

Jug and China Doll

                                                                       10" x 12"  Acrylic
                                                  I painted this last week for my mum's birthday

Ducati

                                                                 8" x 10" Acrylic

                                           This was painted in July for my husband's birthday.

Afternoon Tea

                                                                     12" x 9"
Well I really loosened up with this one and had a lot of fun.  However, it was a bit too rough and could have done with some preliminary drawing to get the scale right. This was painted in July.

Perfect Conditions

                                                                           6" x 9"
I felt I achieved what I set out to do with this one.  This time I got a lot more green into the water.
This was also painted in May.

Rottnest Island View

I painted this in May from a photograph I had taken several years ago.  It took me 4 hours to paint and I felt very pleased at keeping it loose.  When I'd finished I realised that the colours of the ocean were a little insipid but I didn't have the courage to change it at that point.

Rose in mustard jar

                                                   
                                                   This was painted in May.  I enjoy the challenge
                                                   of painting glass.

Launching the Boat

                           

                            I did this painting for my Father-in-law's birthday in April.  When I began it the plan was to do it in a very loose style and finish it in one day.  The two previous paintings each took around 4 hours to paint but I wasn't able to loosen up with this one and it took many, many more hours over 5 weeks to complete.                   

                                           

From the 10 day challenge

These were the two most successful paintings from

          the 10 day challenge which I undertook in February.