Spring Has Sprung..and how!!
A taste of the deliciousness around us:
Woke to a sun filled room, the first daffodills of the year gracing the windowsill. Took a good look at the rosella parrots outside, as I knew the pups would chase them out of view before long. Studied the crimson heads, yellow breasts, vivid green back and the long blue tailfeathers. Found one close to death in the garden the other day. Suppose he had gone too close to the nests of the magpies, for when I turned him over gently with a stick, saw that he’d been pecked on the head. He was already in shock and I left him in the long grass that night. He was dead by morning and I’m guessing our local fox took care of the rest, since he frequents that area.
Sat outside on a blanket this afternoon to finish the drawings which I’d started 2 days ago, the scent of blossoms heavy in the air, the magpies caroling, high notes of bellbirds and whip-like calls of the whipbird (go figure!) in full surround sound. Once in a while, the sweet smell of warming eucalyptus leaves wafted by on a gentle breeze.
Later on, the dog and I wandered down the drive and across the street, meandering through paddocks(fields) edged with flowers of various hues: white, red with yellow throat, royal purple, lavender, palest of yellow and deep gold. Walking up and over hills, we met horses and wood ducks, a couple of grey and pink gallahs, then turned around to head home before Gus could investigate the little ring tailed possum lying on the shoulder of the road.
As we hiked back up the long drive to the house, butterfly couples danced in circles around us, their yellow-orange wings flitting in the dappled sunlight.
Does it all sounds too perfect and serene? Well, it was..and I loved it!
August 28th, 2004 at 3:25 pm
i *love* those flower drawings! i especially love the way you cropped the second one. so cool!!! what kind of paint are you using there? is it watercolors or acrylics?
August 29th, 2004 at 7:13 am
Thanks Kat!
It’s actually watercolour pencil. I started with a pen & ink line and then I used coloured pencil as a base, intending to finish up with watercolours. As I grabbed a pencil to do some of the background, I realized it was a watercolour pencil in with the regular ones..so I tried adding water, loved the rich background colour and finished up using that method for both.
Yep..I liked the cropping on that myself. I’ve tried to be more aware of good composition recently..
August 29th, 2004 at 6:57 pm
These are gorgeous. I love mixing pen and ink with color. The cropped piece is especially lovely; it looks like an etching.
I’m jealous that you are just starting spring and we are finishing up winter, but it’s nice to know that it’s always spring somewhere in the world.
August 30th, 2004 at 12:48 pm
Amy - I like these, love the colours.
August 31st, 2004 at 2:32 am
they remind of van gogh.. :)
August 31st, 2004 at 3:28 am
Amy, your drawings are lovely and your writing is just a joy to read. xxxooo
August 31st, 2004 at 4:08 pm
WOW!! You’ve all just inspired me to get another entry up here ..tonight, if possible. Substantial replies tho, if nothing else!
Loretta, thanks! Oohh..want to learn etching some day.
Yeah..I was jealous of the summer weather back in the U.S. while we were huddled around the fireplace or space heaters in this house this winter… my recent motto is: never take central heating for granted!!
Thank you Detlef! It’s good to get the encouragement..especially since I’m just getting back to drawing more.. I’m really enjoying the process, and results!
J-9 Kewel!! He’s one of my favourites. I used to love going to the museum in Philly to look at his painting of rain. And one of my journals has his painting of almond blossoms on the cover, another has the one of poppies & iris. (You know me and titles..I’m lucky if I can name more than 9 R.E.M. songs! My fav. band? C’mon Amy! Get with it!!)
Aww..you’re just saying that cause you’re me Mum. ;-) Just kidding. Hey..you must admit having part of a hand in my writing..all those trips to Kaltreider Memorial Library!
I’ll be in touch soon. Maybe I should check my email, huh? Father’s Day over here on the 5th..so maybe we’ll call on the weekend?
Kiss the tiny one for us!!
September 1st, 2004 at 4:58 am
Love you … Miss chatting to you… Hopefully we get to do our lunch time dog walk soon… Take care, Melissa
September 1st, 2004 at 5:35 am
Aww..miss you too, Melissa..been thinking of you. See you at Mum and Dad’s. Yes..the walk should be really good with this nice weather!! Take care of yourself!
Ames
September 1st, 2004 at 12:09 pm
yeah grandma hadnt invited us to the weekend lunch… So i just rang her then and invited us myself… Dont know what that was about… Either way i will see you then mate… Im looking forward to it… take care luv Me
January 24th, 2005 at 6:14 pm
Wow! I LOVE those illustrations! They’re absolutely fabolous, I just can’t stop staring at them..
January 25th, 2005 at 10:49 am
Satu! Thank you so much!
And how timely! I’m going to use these two illustrations on my 9 Moons Ago postcards and greeting cards!!
They SHOULD be up by next month (Feb ‘05), so keep an eye out if you’re interested!
Thanks again for visiting!!