Saturday 30 January 2016

EARLY SATURDAY


I'M AWAKE EARLY
  just posting a pic i took of my favorite lamps
 and as i write i hear it beginning to rain. here's hoping it lasts a while



I never tire of this
corner of the room,
these lovely lamps
set agains the bone carvings of my old Japanese screen

SWAN CENTRAL

DRIVING BACK from mildura yesterday i passed lake hawthorne and it's teeming with black swans. I'll have to find out how to get down there, it was all fenced off with padlocked gates on the road i was on.  but i'm sure i can go in another way and walk around.  must try.









this little fella was enjoying the sun
as i walked back from the
newsagent in the morning



interesting patterns from the heat haze


Friday 29 January 2016

SWAN LAKE SLOWLY GLIDES ON . . .

LITTLE BY LITTLE progress is being made.  i've sixteen spreads done and eight more to go, two of those half done.   it's that wonderful time when i start making lists of what's left, then the crossing off begins.



 

























I'm experimenting
with monoprints (landscapes) and drawings that i can overlay later in
photoshop. so i'm learning
new stuff on the computer,
exasperating at times, but
good to know.  i always feel like my life's ticking away when i'm trying to teach myself computer skills. and it is :0)  second by second

Thursday 28 January 2016

NEW TABLES

I'VE put my new tables in the studio and I can feel a whole rearrangement coming on -  it's going to be cool tomorrow so i think i'll get started








MORNING WALK

A FULL MOON


Monday 25 January 2016

A GORGEOUS EVENING

AFTER A BUSY morning printing then digging a few holes while the ground's still soft, i fell in a heap.  Sat out on the riverbank for a while and watched the pelicans while chatting to denise.




STUDIO MORNING

Anne at Artback has been selling my books in the cafe without commission so we're doing a contra deal and i'm having her up here to print when she can make time
This morning i got up early and started rearranging the studio using the two big solid tables i got for nothing.

MORNING WALK

AFTER THE CRAZY STORM on friday, the ground is amazingly soft and spongy underfoot, water on the ground everywhere - it's such a novelty.











the top few mm's are dry and crisp from the sun and underneath it's lovely
and damp





   My little neighbour, son of my pilates teacher Lou

  this morning, another shitty day in paradise

I'M HONOURED

WHAT A THRILL it was yesterday to host dinner here on the riverbank for Australian national treasure, artist Elisabeth Cummings and Archibald prize winner and amazing painter Euan McLeod, not to mention dynamo master printer Michael Kempson.  And my dear friend Sonja.
the artists arrived late afternoon loaded up with tables, chairs and art materials and spent about two hours scattered around the front yard drawing and painting. What a privilege and i was so chuffed to be presented with personally  signed prints from Elisabeth and Euan,  printed at Michael's Cicada Press.









Beautiful sunset topped off with a full moon

    
   

Sunday 24 January 2016

MORE MUSIC

SATURDAY and the last day i'm going to the music festival, tomorrow i have people coming for dinner so i'll fluff around the house all day.   

the lovely art vault ladies, julie, mia and sonja
This time the music is Andrea Vettoretti, classical guitarist performing at the Art Vault. Nice to see Donnie there, we sat outside and had an ice cream afterwards then i went to see the new Quentin Tarantino 'The Hateful Eight'   I liked it


opening night performer Massimo Scattolin was celebrating his birthday,
the audience sang happy birthday to him



julie with music festival organiser sergio de pieri

STORMY NIGHT

LAST NIGHT we had a crazy mini cyclone, that may be a slight exaggeration but it's the first time i've seen what i'd call roiling clouds coming up the river, then huge winds that chased me indoors and the biggest dump of rain i've seen since i've been here, it looked like someone had just swished a 40 gallon drum of water off the edge of the roof.  It only lasted about 10 minutes then the wind dropped and a heavy steady rain set in.





I headed off to the music festival performance in wentworth and when i came out the sky was clear, it was still and the moon was up.  The lock looked like a mirror



    Friend Mary Bassi and Liz Buffon



The trio was Camerata Antica,  a soprano with an effortless and beautiful voice, cornetto and box organ.  the acoustics in the town hall are terrific.


At junction park.   look at all that water on the ground,  wonderful!!  











Friday 22 January 2016

MUSIC FESTIVAL

JANUARY is the month 
of the Murray River International Music 
Festival, a week of 
classical music]
String quartets, baroque, sopranos, a lot of 
musicians come from 
Italy, organised by stefano's older brother Sergio 
who's a concert pianist.



They've asked me to take photos for them in exchange for free admission. Tuesday night was the opening at the magnificent Ampelon gardens.
I'd taken about 50 shots - people who were attending, the first act, two Italian classical guitarists. nice soft evening light.  Then i lost the whole lot - somehow they just got wiped, no idea why. My stomach just turned over when i saw the 'no image' sign on my screen. :0{

Nothing i could do about it, i took the rest of the evening and they were fine but i've chucked that SD card.  

It was a beautiful balmy night, cicadas and crickets and a kookaburra competing with the musicians, everyone takes a picnic.  Lovely




Stefano's gorgeous son Domenico introduced the evening
 

WEDNESDAY - a walk across the golfcourse to get the paper.  the grass parrots and ducks were out in big numbers :0)   It's still damn hot but the mornings are OK.
 A pretty warm day at home after a few spots of rain, just enough to create humidity which means my evaporative cooler struggles a bit.  I worked on swan lake, it's coming along :0)



A quiet night, didn't do the music festival tonight

THURSDAY  I thought the car was due for a service today but when i drove down found it was next week, so i had a leisurely coffee and xword at artback. no walk.  Tamina came to clear the cups from our table, multi coloured cups and saucers,  i said 'hold it right there while i take a pic' and next thing i now they've overbalanced and smashed all over the footpath :-O


lt looks like anne's comforting a distressed tamina but actually they were both 
about to burst out laughing



TONIGHTS music festival program was just down the road from the art vault so i met sonja for a drink, took some pics of resident printmaker michael kempson from sydney uni and then attended a sublime performance of accordion and recorder, the sounds they came up with were transporting, i loved it.  charismatic performers too






 name of performers