I’m having a short break and showing my sister, who is visiting from overseas, some of Tasmania.
Here we are earlier in the week, in Richmond, Tasmania, in front of the oldest, in-use Catholic Church in Australia
We’re now visiting St Helens, Tasmania, but I had to go to Stieglitz, a town five minutes south of St Helens to find pelicans. I want more photos of pelicans to use as resource photos for my art work.
One example of using a pelican photo resource
Last time I was here, there were heaps of pelicans in St. Helens and Stieglitz. I don’t know where they have gone…”where have all the pelicans gone? Long time passing. Where have all the pelicans gone? Long time ago. I was happy to to find three pelicans on the beach and three in the water!
Three pelicans
Before we headed back to our B&B, I drew this house.
A very bright day for urban sketching
I’m annoyed that I forgot to draw a rectangle on the page first. It really helps me draw to size so that I can draw the whole building. When I don’t sketch regularly, I forget my strategies so quickly.
This is a simpler, older holiday house in St Helens and Stieglitz, more reflective of the character and charm of what the town used to be, in my opinion. Most of the newer builds are modern, large homes.
65 Peron St, Stieglitz, Tasmania
Now, we’re off to see some of the Bay of Fires’ glorious beaches.
A couple visiting from Adelaide, South Australia, their first time in Tasmania, bought a “Hanging Out” print. They were going to Strahan today, on the west coast of Tasmania, which is about a four-hour drive. I was following one compositional device of A or upside down A composition for this painting. Somebody pointed out that the shape of the gum leaves looks like Tasmania. I agree, not intentional, but a happy accident.
Hanging Out
Another couple, who were nearing the end of their Tasmanian holiday, bought a “True Blue” and “Spotty” print. They’ve been here for ten days and told me they’ve absolutely loved it. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats
A couple, expecting their first child and having an underwater theme nursery, bought a “Weightless” print. She is from Wyoming, USA and now living in Sydney with her husband. Her mother is visiting from Wyoming and is going back in a week but is planning on returning when her first grandchild is born in June. She’s so excited, well, they all are.
Weightless
A “Three Amigos II” and “Lazy Days” pouch are also travelling to the USA, but to California.
The Three Amigos II
Lazy Days
A “What the Devil!?!” tote bag and print, and “Lazy Days” and “Friendship Refreshes the Soul” are going back to Poland with their new family, and another “What the Devil!?!” tote bag is going to Germany.
It was a lovely and mild day and the time passed quickly. I suppose it helped having the company of little Luna next door, a nine-week-old Labrador puppy. Silly me, I forgot to take a photo!!
I hope that you have been able to enjoy some fun and quirky moments this week.
My emus are still continuing to experience plenty of quirkiness. I love drawing and painting confident and stylish emus! It’s so much fun creating personalities, designing outfits and imaginary scenes.
Why is it that as soon as you take your fish for a walk, a pelican appears???!
I used watercolour and Artline pen to create this painting. It is painted on Khadi Mill paper that is made from recycled cotton rags. It is approximately 20 x 20 cm. It has my full name and signature on the back of the painting.
All my paintings are copyrighted because they are my ideas, drawings and my original artwork. They are not to be reproduced in any manner without permission from the artist, Patricia Hopwood-Wade (pjpaintings@gmail.com).
With 34 degrees Celsius weather forecasted, I relished setting up my stall in the coolness of the early morning with a group of cackling kookaburras somewhere nearby.
A couple, visiting from Colorado, USA, bought a The Three Amigos II print. He said he would rather have a Maggie print because he is a mad AFL Collingwood supporter. He moved to Colorado when he was 24 years old, which I would guess is about 20 years ago. It was his wife’s first visit to Australia. https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news
Another couple, visiting from Germany, bought Goldilocks and the 20 Penguins cushion cover. He knew the story of the Goldilocks and The Three Bears, but she had not heard it. As they were wandering away, I heard him giving her a shortened version of the children’s fairy tale. https://www.dltk-teach.com/rhymes/goldilocks_story.htm
Goldilocks and the 20 Penguins cushion cover was very popular today. I sold out of them!
Next, a couple from South Australia, who have been wanting to visit Tasmania for years, chose a Salamanca Saturdays, Richmond Bridge and Salamanca Fresh prints.
Salamanca Saturdays
Richmond Bridge
Salamanca Fresh
Visitors from Taiwan will be taking home some wombat coasters. They wanted a platypus one too. The coasters are proving to be popular, so I will have to add Hammock Life to my next order.
A family bought a Hanging Out print for one-year-old, Iris, who lives in the UK. They are going to the UK to visit and personally deliver the gift. https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats
Hanging Out
Somebody who visited my stall a couple of years ago, told me that she bought a Glamour Girls cushion cover for her mother, who lives in an aged care home in Port Macquarie. She is in poor health. She told me that she loves it and often hugs the cushion. She also bought a print for her auntie, and it gives her joy too. She purchased a Warm Toes, Warmer Hearts print for her mother.
A student, from Boston, USA, doing her Psychology degree in Sydney, NSW, purchased a Salamanca Saturdays and Enchanted Forest III print for herself and some other prints for her Mum.
It was hot today, but I didn’t get as hot as I thought I would. It was a bit of a struggle to pack up in the heat of the day, but it got done. As I was driving home, I saw a big cruise ship coming up the Derwent River, too late for Salamanca Market, unfortunately. Hopefully some of the passengers have a beautiful turquoise suitcase as some are lucky enough to have. lol
A framed print of Bon Voyage was bought by a young couple visiting from Launceston, Tasmania
Thank you for visiting. See you next week, I hope.
I hope that your weekend is going well and that you’ve had time to draw or do something you enjoy.
When I lived in Vancouver, BC, Canada, I loved walking down the back alleys and peering into people’s backyards through the gaps in fences or bushes. I think a back yard gives more of an insight into people’s personalities, imagination and how they spend their time in this space.
There aren’t many back alleys in Tasmania but there is a beautiful walkway running between backyards and the Derwent River in Geilston Bay.
Our starting point with some of Mt Wellington in the background
There are several houses with no back fences along this walkway. Here is one that I decided to sketch.
I decided to tackle the garden with a paint brush rather than try to ‘draw’ it. I did the entire painting outside on location. Usually, I do my drawing on location and then add paint to the sketch when I get home.
The house. It’s so obvious from the photo that it is leaning back, not forward, like I drew it.
and one of the many Tasmanian Native hens that are hanging around to greet you. Look at their long toes!
Tasmanian Native hens have the nickname ‘Turbo chook’ because they can run very fast, reaching speeds of 50 kph. They are not related to domestic chickens. They belong to a group of waterfowl known as rails.
It was inky black, with an eerie sound of howling wind as I stepped out of the house this morning. Thankfully, both the rain and wind subsided, and eventually the stall was ready for business.
My first customers were from Missouri, USA. They bought a birthday card for their daughter.
A mother and daughter, visiting from California, USA, bought a “Helping Hands”, “Salamanca Saturdays” and “Spiky Bunk Beds” print. The mother said she was appreciating the time away from the craziness at home and the much calmer Tasmania.
An Auntie, visiting from Ulverstone, Tasmania, bought a “Goldilocks and the 20 Penguins” tote bag for her niece. Fairy penguins come ashore in Ulverstone to breed and raise their young. Her niece is fascinated with the visiting penguins.
At the very end of the day, while I was nearing the end of the packing up process, a visitor from New York, USA bought a “Sitting on the Fence” print. Him and his wife came to Sydney, NSW to attend their son’s wedding. The newlywed are having their honeymoon in Tasmania. Their father said that their paths are crossing and when they see them, they try to duck out of sight and hide.
Watercolour thought for the Day: “Because watercolor actually moves on the paper, it is the most active of all mediums, almost a performance art”, Nita Engle
The Unfurling Artist: journalising creative journeying 