Winter Walk

Watercolour  size 36 x 28 cms

Winter Night

Watercolour. This a PmP photograph  provided by Lorna.
This is also my last attempt at SALT ... and if you can detect the salt texture, I give you a medal.
I think I rather use salt in my food than in my paintings. :-)

Schliersbergalm, Bayern near Munich, Alps

Watercolour 32 x 24 cms
Schliersbergalm am Schliersee is not far from Munich in the Alps,  about 1006 m high offering spectacular views on the Schliersee and surrounding mountains. A Gondola takes you up, or walk up/down. A nice restaurant on the top to cool your heels off after the effort. Beautiful area.

Jacaranda Alley

Jacaranda Alley at Kirribilli, Sydney. An amazing site looking down the street full of purple, purple falling from the sky, on the road over the cars.... artistic license used...left the cars out, somehow they would have spoiled t the magic.
Watercolours - using salt for effect and glazing medium.

Wollombi Lower Hunter Valley, NSW Australia

Watercolour  38 x 28 cms
I used some Liquitex Fiber Texture Gel on the hut. An Interesting medium to use.
Wollombi New South Wales is a very small but picturesque and historic rural village in Australia's lower Hunter Valley . The establishment, development and significance of the township of Wollombi was directly connected with the construction of the Great Northern Road in the early 19th century.
The main road, the convict-built Great North Road forms one of the major legs of the Greater Blue Mountains Drive. Road construction commenced in 1826 carried out by nine chain gangs - up to 700 convicts -and was completed in 1831. Remnants such as stone culverts, bridges and retaining walls remain, particularly in the area between Wollombi and Wisemans Ferry, and are catalogued and cared for by the Convict Trail project.
The original inhabitants of the locality are believed to be the Aboriginal Darkinjung people, though the Awabakal and Wanaruah nations are also mentioned.
The town's name is an Aboriginal term said to mean 'meeting place of the waters' or simply 'meeting place'. It was apparently pronounced  'Wu-lum-bee', though today it is pronounced Wo (as in wok) - lum (as in thumb) - bi (as in buy).
There are a vast number of historic Aboriginal sites in the surrounding countryside which is thought to have been used as a ceremonial meeting place as people from hundreds of kilometres visited the area and made their way to Mount Yengo - a place of great significance for Aborigines.
There are rock engravings, sharpening grooves, hand stencils, tribal markings and other images in caves and outcrops, frequent evidence of camping sites along the Brook and it's tributary creeks, and two major mapping sites containing many engravings.
The area is home to an abundance of native birds, reptiles and other animals including kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos and wombats and is surrounded by imposing tree-lined mountains.
Wollombi General Store is a must to see.  It is like if the time has passed it by. It is a General Store, PostOffice with old wooden PostSlots across 2 walls, you name it, you will find it in the  General store, even discuss the pros and contras of the world over a cupper.

From Kulgera to Uluru_Simpson Desert, Central Australia

Watercolour with difference 38 x 28 cms
I combined several photos fm my recent Safari trip through Central Australia. Arid landscape, dead trees, red sand, salt bush...quite an amazing scenery and so difficult to capture.
I used glass beads medium hoping for occasional sparkle (a disappointing result as they are not visible), LangLang sand, rice glue and one coat of Liquitex....an experiment which I do not think I'll repeat.

The Breakaways, Central Australia

Watercolour Size 38 x 28 cms
I improvised somewhat ... to get the rich grainy, sand texture in the forefront I used some pumice stone mortar & texture medium.
The Breakaways is a protected area in northern South Australia, just off the Stuart Highway, 33 km North of Coober Pedy
It is a striking & unique example of arid landscape. From the flat - topped mesas to the stony gibber desert. The warm red tones are simply amazing.
Over 70 million years ago, a vast inland sea covered the area.
It has been named "The Breakaways" because of the mesas, elevations & plains. Looking from a higher ground of the escarpment, the hills appear from a distance as if "broken away. The site is significant for the Antakirinja Matuntjara Yankunytjatjara People whose name for the area is Umoona, meaning "long life". The region is home to an array of native fauna and flora
It is one of Outback South Australia's best-kept secrets!
I absolutely loved the area, the serenity and beauty was for me one of the highlights of my Safari trip through Central Australia.

3 Days Workshop at Merroo with Herman Pekel

I have had most wonderful 3 days workshop at Merroo Centre, an annual event organised by the Combined Art Societies. This time I was privileged to do the workshop with Herman Pekel. A very talented artist and an excellent tutor. It was busy 3 days painting in oils. I have learned a great deal and ended up utterly "spent" at culmination. Example of work is attached. 2 other paintings (smaller scale) still need to be finished "off".

St Goustan, ex fishing port in France, Brittany

Watercolour with a twist & not a great success.
Tried my hand at different techniques using Gesso which was supposed to give me that foggy mystic look (needless to say..it did not work) use of acrylic white, scraping with knife, pen & ink. Rather a disappointing result. It lost its watercolour clear unmuddied sparkle.
Inspiration was a PmP photo by John Warren

Around Bright, Victoria, Australia

Watercolour, Size 38 x 28 cms
What an effort this has become... I started painting the beautiful scene from Robyn Lovelocks Photo (PmP). I sort of botched the beginning so I took it under the shower and started again. Did not realise that in the process, the paper lost its sizing and the washes just soaked in. I needed to get some variety in the red earth rocky embankment , which was out of question the way the paper behaved, so I experimented with Texture medium & managed to sort of salvage it....

...Bright is a town in northeastern Victoria, Australia.
It has a rich cultural heritage and many locations within the town along with street names can be traced to present day residents. The surrounds were part of the goldrush fever.

Winter Morning in the Alps

Watercolour, Size 38 x 28 cms
Inspiration was a photograph by Kathryn Dudley from PmP

Gum tree in full glory with gumnuts, flowers & wattle

Watercolour, Size 28 x 38 … and WC paper acting as blotting paper

I had one of those horrible WC papers, which acted like a sponge...yup it lost all its sizing. Alas any splashes, washes just soaked in, the pigment disappearing leaving in its wake a wishy-washy residue.
Instead of giving up, I persevered out of stubbornness, and miserly attitude of not wasting WC paper..... & admittedly wanted to experiment if that blotting paper could be somehow rescued.

Old Church Zagorje, Slovenia

Watercolour, Size 28 x 38 cms            PmP photo by Peter Merva.

Bunch of Red Roses

Watercolour, 30 x 28 cms
Inspiration was a photo by Mary PMP Group http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/photo/red-roses-2013

River Grasses

Watercolour Size 38 x 28 cms.
An inspiration for this paintings was a photo by Li Newton of River Grasses http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/photo/river-grasses

Winter in its Splendour

  Watercolour Size 38 x 28 cms.
PmP photo from Jerry Zelle was the inspiration for this painting. It is enjoyable painting winter scene in Sydney when the temperatures hitting 40 degrees +.  At least psychologically one feels cooler.

Bewitched Shed in the Woods

Watercolour, Size 38 x 28 cms
I was itching to paint this photo by Steve Lyddon ever since he uploaded it in 2012 (PmP),
I really enjoyed painting this one. 
Critique welcomed.

At the Hairdressers

At the Hairdressers’      Watercolour,  Size 38 x 28 cms
I cannot do portraits in a fit, and in a way do not wish to recreate the perfect photo image of a person.   This is one of my “Waco” portraits of a scene at a hairdressers symbolised by scissors.  An inspiration, maybe,  for this image was Modigliani whose work I absolutely adore.