MORE LANDSCAPE MONOPRINTING

Working the paint up in translucent layers to suggest the wearing of time on the landscape.  This is from a mountain on Cooplacurripa Station in New South Wales.  As a child I drove through this station to get to the coast from Nowendoc, once a fortnight my father would take us to get supplies and the road through this station was the shortest route to the coast.  In fact it was a long journey of some two and a half hours . I was always fascinated with the bare hills that spoke to me of something ancient and primitive, laying in the landscape like huge monoliths.  I have tried to capture that feeling in this piece. 

EXPLORING ABSTRACT LANDSCAPES

I paint large canvasses and often find the canvas confronting before I begin.  I am using monoprinting to explore images as a source of ideas for larger works.  Australia is in drought in parts of the country, the worst for a long time, towns are running out of water as dams and creeks run dry.  This piece is inspired by the drought and shows a dry watercourse on a sun burnt hillside.  The actual size is 12 x  14 inches however have matted it here at 11 x 11. 

SINGLE BANKSIA STEM PRINT

A small print of a section of a Banksia branch, with detailing in the centre using Derwent  pencils.  Although it has been dry for months and a lot of the country is in the grip of a very bad drought this tree seems to thrive in my garden and I never hose it.  All my native trees and bushes are holding up well, however the introduced species are now struggling badly. 

BANKSIA INTEGRIFOLIA or COASTAL BANKSIA TREE

This Banksia is actually in my garden.  I lived on an island once in Moreton Bay and a version of this tree grew profusely on the island, along the waterfront  their root systems held the banks of the high shore areas tightly in their grip, stopping erosion caused by the winds and weather systems which tended to be very frightening in a storm.  The conditions were harsh and many similar coastal environments in Australia boast this beautiful tree filled with yellow flower heads.  Print 12 x 20 inches. 

GREVILLEA PRINT 2.

A smaller print from the Grevillea tree, this time with colour pencil addition.  A leaf from the bush is to the right of the print.   The tree is very hardy and requires little water  and provides food for the local birds so is a wonderful garden addition.  Blossoms come in a large range of colours from soft pinks through to yellows.  The species in my garden will grow to between eight to ten feet.

MONO PRINTING AND MAPPING

I have been making it a practice to get up each morning and do a monoprint from my garden.  This print is taken from a Grevillea bush, a native of Australia.  It attracts birds such as the Blue Eyed Honeyeater into my garden who drink from the nectar then delight in taking crazy dive bomb exercises into our pool.   At the moment I am mapping the garden, in time I want to map various areas with the native flora near where I live.  I am doing a display in my local library next year and this work is the foundation for the exploration of that display.  I live in a bayside suburb of Brisbane with mangrove walks and bushland ringing the waters here which will provide rich pickings for monoprints.  It is a quiet way of working and I am finding a new direction through monoprints from my previous works in art and quilting.  There is something about the clean images on paper that really appeals.