Jenny's Blog

Hello again and welcome,

We are  priviledged to have so many beautiful birds including the Sacred Kingfisher in our garden.  The one pictured was photographed resting on the pavers outside my studio window.  I have recently read that they are somewhat endangered, but not so here. They, and others seem to be attracted to the aquatic habitat of our beautiful billabong.  Their deep, rich turquoise (one of my favourite colours in my paint box) appearing among the shady overhanging eucalypts and their singing staccato notes of high pitch.

The orange beaked dollarbirds have made their usual return to our little patch as well.  Their acrobatic flight while catching insects in flight a joy to watch but their voice not so pretty.

What a start I had the other day when I observed a red-bellied black snake with his mouth agape while in the process of devouring a large frog.I just quietly walked away and left him to it. Wish I had a photo now!

I have enjoyed painting kookaburras in watercolour and have lately sold and transported three to London.

A few weeks ago I accepted an invitation, with other artists, to paint within the grounds of a winery at Rutherglen, Victoria. I have made sketches and the resulting paintings will be exhibited for sale at the winery cellar during December-January. The wineries in that region are a popular tourist attraction.

That task over and I will then have to concentrate on completing the artworks which are to be shown in New Zealand in April 2012 in the Fourteenth International Collage Exhibition. I have been asked to supply 12 collage paintings for this show. Last year I was shortlisted...this year I am in! I love intergrating  my hand-made and coloured  papers with traditional Japanese washi papers to create eye catching results. I have been doing some printmaking lately and intend assembling some of my original prints with papers and paints.

Must get back to my paintbox. If you have enjoyed my note making, feel free to make a comment I would love to hear from you.