Merry Christmas to everyone!

 

Well here we are again at the end of the year and all out of breath and wondering what the hell the New Year will bring!? If it's anything like 2015, it will be an awesome ride!

We, the Wild Women (22 of us so far) of Arkaroola PLUS (plus 3 men now!) went into the desert once again to explore and paint and be inspired and just to chill out and be free!

Arkaroola is such a great place! The air is so different with it's decaying radio active background (I kid you not!) The area is made up of uranium bearing rocks but the slow decay is natural for man to live in and much of Australia is of course the same! We just aren't told it unless we do some research.... however, out there, it seems to bring about a healthy change and many of us return refreshed, renewed and ready to go!

This last year, although the Sturts Desert Pea was just at the end of flowering, we did manage to find a few to photograph along the way.

Maybe you can join us in 2016. We go again in May and September. If you live overseas, you can fly into Sydney and then onto Orange where we will meet you and make sure you get into a 4WD to come along! We would love to show you around Oz!

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

  

  

  

 

Another big week at Arkaroola!

Flying in a small plane out into the western deserts is not for the faint hearted, or so I found out this time around. For the first time, I actually got airsick.... not just the squeemish tummy but the real throw up in a bag stuff.... oh nightmares! I really thought my number was up by the time we got into the desert..... aaargh! The Piper Navaho tossed and jolted across the skies thrown about by hot pockets of air and small clouds..... but sigh, it was fantastic to be back out there.... once the tummy settled.

This is the 5th trek into the wilderness that I have organised for my artistically inclined friends. Twice a year, I invite people to join me in this wild adventure and it is a lot of fun. It's energetic, focused, free, exciting and inspiring..... Just to get out there in that uranium decaying background seems to reignite the soul and cal, the mind.

Flying above Lake Frome has to be one of the purest joys of life on earth. It's a surreal and majestic sight and never the same..... again this time, it lay resplendent below us swathed in layers and the palest greys and ochres, watercolour washes across the plains. It's not a well known salt lake, but in many ways, I love it more than Lake Eyre. About 600 sq kms in size, it's like being on another world.

OCTOBER ACRYLIC WORKSHOPS - 3 & 4, 10 & 11 October 2015

Hi everyone,

The October Workshops will focus on Acrylics, moulding pastes, flow mediums and other exciting innovative ideas for creating wonderful artworks.

We had so much fun at our last workshops, that it seemed a great way forward to get right back into all the mess again and start creating for Spring and Summer..... These mediums produce such amazing textures for seaside rocks, rock faces in the landscape and other subjects!

 

 

So once again, this popular workshop will be held over two consecutive weekends so you can do one day on each weekend , or two on the same weekend - you mix and match to suit yourself.

The first weekend will be in the studio where we will explore the mediums and how they end up being so interesting and intriguing......

The second weekend will be en plein aire (weather permitting) or in a secret location where we can gaze at the landscape.....

the October Acrylic Workshops

Dates:    Saturday and Sunday 3 and 4 October and
Saturday and Sunday 10 and 11 October.
  (You can also do one day of each weekend if helpful)

Times:     9.30 am for 10 am start to 3.30 pm for 4 pm packup.

Cost: $150 per 2 day weekend

There is a $25 additional cost if you need me to supply materials - paints, brushes

Cost does not include paper (for sale on the day) and canvas (which you will need to buy -
suggested sizes are 45 cm square or 45 cm x 60 cm rectangle.

"Diaries of a traveling artist" on show now!

Hi everyone

Well this month and into next (13 April), my artworks are showing at Fairview Artspace in Mudgee. These works have all been inspired by my various trips into and around Australia.

As I explore this colourful and exciting country, I find I just have to return to the studio and express myself in colour and form that reflects the feelings I have felt whilst out there..... yep, out there.... outback as we call it!'

To give you a small idea of some of the places I have seen, here's a couple of photos:

 

On 28th and 29th March, I will be out at Mudgee in the gallery. I'll show a series of slides of places I have been to give you an idea of what inspires me to paint the Australian outback.

For too long, we have all been led astray into believing that this is a dull, dry and dusty country worth nothing else than for raping and pillaging. Well, the Australia I know is far from being boring, flat and dull. It is a wild and wonderful country full of colours, energy and forms beyond anything we can imagine.... but you need to be able to find the places, take the time to let the magic happen.

Join me in Mudgee even if it's only to be inspired to get in your car and travel out into our wilderness!