Melbourne's blue bikes

I was in Melbourne for the weekend recently....I don't go there often but I think I need to make the trip more often because it's such an incredibly cool city! After the architectural dryness of Canberra it was great to wander the streets looking at all the old and the very new buildings. Melbournians don't seem to be afraid of making a statement with their buildings....one of the RMIT buildings looks like it's been covered in green slime!



Melbourne also seems to embrace new ideas so much faster than other Australian cities. As I strolled around the city I kept coming across these bike racks. The one in the photo above is in Federation Square right in the heart of the city. So, it turns out they are communal bikes that you can hire for $2.50 a day....ride all over the city and drop off at a bike rack when you are done. How is that for forward (and green) thinking!



I had originally imagined this picture for my sketchbook as an incredibly intricate three layer stencil cut in lime and magenta.....then it dawned on me how long that would take...and how I've never done a stencil cut before....and would the paint bleed...etc etc. So I decided to paint it instead. Somewhere between the drawing and the painting I forgot about the lime and magenta and ended up with purple and orange. Not sure what happened with that....I think I'll have to address that sometime soon. I'm also not sure what I think of this drawing yet as it is so different from the image I had in head....me thinks....you win some, you loose some. That, and that next time I go to Melbourne I'll hire a bike for a day.

Something about a sea breeze....

I find something particularly calming about sea breezes. I've got vivid memories of walking along rocky coastlines and sand dunes in a number of places around the world. In my memories I feel fresh and cleansed and calm. I think it's those sea breezes. When I lived on the south coast of New South Wales I'd go for a walk in the afternoons after work, picking my way around rocky outcrops and rock pools...along stretches of empty beach. The crisp, salty breeze would wash away any troubles of the day.

Even better than sea breezes is the sound of sea breezes through grass. You know the sound I mean....a swaying, rhythmic and soft brushing noise. Lovely. On a holiday with friends I remember laying in the sun in the shelter of the dunes with clumps of stiff grass swaying and rustling while we chatted and caught up on life's happenings.

I took this photo on an island off the north east coast of Tasmania. I was lucky enough to do some fieldwork on the island and one day came across this spot. I took a lunch break in the lee of some big granite outcrops and ate my sandwich while enjoying the coastal sounds and smells....salt, seaweed, crashing waves and rustling fronds. Certainly made up for the hours of rock hopping and scratching in the dirt.

I thought I'd use that photo as inspiration for my first lino cut in many many years. I'm really happy with the finished product...for me it captures a little of the bliss of those salty, breezy memories. I used good old fashioned lino that I think I may have had in the bottom of my making box for a good 15 years....still cut like a charm...and the smallest cutting tool in my kit. I tried a couple of colour combinations but settled on the brown/gold because it gives a warm and dreamy feel. I painted the sketchbook page with a brush and used a kitchen sponge to apply the gold paint to the lino. The sponge gave much better coverage than the purpose made lino paint roller. Go figure.

And because I was so happy with how my cherry blossom and grasses look side by side...I'll share it with you too.

One for you Gallery Chick

Because the blossoms are still flowering and because I love them so much I decided to dedicate another page of my sketchbook to them. I also thought they deserved some colour this time. So.....Gallery Chick, these blossoms are for you.



I did an outline sketch using pencil, then went over the top with watercolours. I think I'm beginning to enjoy using watercolours, and maybe with few more sketches I might just love them... it is a very forgiving medium.

Blossoms!....It must be spring.

I was a bit shocked to see that the Cherry blossoms around town have started flowering in the last two weeks. I love the blossoms and tend to have a small branch displayed on my kitchen bench for a month or so every year....but I am sad that winter is coming to end. It seems to be such a short season in Australia, and for me spring marks the beginning of the long hot season.



The street where I grew up was lined on both sides with cherry blossoms...in my memory they stretched all the way from my house to the town centre. I like the little pink buds, then the mass of colour as the flowers unfurl and finally fall and carpet the ground around them. It has always amazed me that a tree with such a glorious and delicate flower could be so drab when in full leaf. I guess you can't be perfect at everything....and I am just happy that I again live in a town that celebrates spring with blossoms.

Detail of a Central Park footbridge

A few years ago I visited New York and spent quite a bit of time roaming the streets, parks and galleries of Manhattan. I think like most visitors I was really taken with Central Park....what a wonderful place to have right in the heart of such a huge city. I visited New York twice at Christmas and once in late fall. Consequently when I was there most of the trees had no leaves, and there were no flowers to speak of. I actually really liked the washed out sepia tone of Central Park in late fall. In the afternoon glow is was quite magical and I though sort of old world, like looking at an old photograph.

It may be because of this pretty stark landscape when I visited that I noticed the little details in fountains, bridges and buildings so much. This weekend I decided to draw a section of bridge that I took a photo of on one of my trips, it had lovely concentric and intertwining circles.

I would normally use pastels for this sort of picture because I love the very flat and vivid colours that dry pastels produce. I haven't yet figured a way around the "no smudgy media" rule....so I pulled out a box of coloured pencils and gave it a shot. I think it'll be a while before I do that again as it took an awfully long time to colour in the two page spread. But, it was pretty miserable weather outside and it was nice and calming to sit at the kitchen table and colour-in. I like to draw with orange, the colour just seems so cheerful to me....so I drew my bridge in this colour simply because it makes me happy.