I had the car packed on Friday, ready to go for Saturday’s Salamanca Market, but at the 11th hour I decided not to go because of the Coronavirus. I imagine that it will be officially cancelled next week because Prime Minister Morrison of Australia announced that starting tomorrow, gatherings of over 500 are to be cancelled. I’m not sure, but that is my guess.
In the meantime, it gave me some time to paint and finish off some of the paintings that I have started.
I’ve started a “Down by the Seaside” series. I think I will name this one “Footsies”There’s a hole in my stocking, dear Liza, dear Liza!!…. and I’m trying to paint some baby wombats
The Tasmanian Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae deimenensis), now extinct, was endemic to Tasmania. It is reported to have been similar in shape to the Australia’s mainland emu but smaller and darker (Dove 1924; Green 1989; Le Souëf 1904). This subspecies lived in Tasmania’s wild until about 1865, and a captive bird lived until 1873 (Green 1989; Le Souëf 1904). The Tasmanian emus suffered the fate of extinction before the thylacine, the Tasmanian tiger. The bird was hunted relentlessly when Europeans were clearing and deposing Aborigines off their land.
There is little known about the Tasmanian Emu but researchers report that they played an important role in Tasmania’s ecology by distributing seeds across the state. Apparently emus eat just about anything, travel up to fifty kilometres a day and each poo deposit can have thousands of seeds in it.
Photo by Tristan Durham: an emu scant with seeds growing out of it on Wilson’s Promontory, Victoria
A study has commenced on the mainland of Australia, in south-east Victoria, examining which plants emus are eating, by examining their poo, with the intention of studying the current distribution of these plants in Tasmania. Emu poo contains the anticipated native seeds and bracken but surprisingly, whole Sheoak cones are also found in the poo which leads to the conclusion that emus aren’t fussy about what they pick up and swallow whole.
This study is aimed to provide insight into whether the emu should be re-introduced into Tasmania. Personally, I think it shouldn’t. It’s not a Tasmanian Emu and there is bound to be something unknown about the mainland emu that is detrimental for the Tasmanian environment.
In the meantime, my emus have not been wandering around in Tasmania’s wilderness instead they have been visiting the Op-Shops and have purchased some funky outfits.
Original painting titled: “Walking with Flair”Original painting titled: Walking with Flair II
It is the last day of 2019, and among other things, I’ve spent some of it doing something that will hopefully put smiles on faces in the new year.
I did some more work on this commissioned piece for the Rotary Club’s 200th anniversary. They have chosen The Great Gatsby as their theme to celebrate this significant milestone. Seeing this finished will bring a smile to my face and hopefully theirs!
I added the finishing touches to this painting. This is the first painting of a series of three. These paintings will be great for a beach shack.
The title of this painting is: Holding Hands II
My new Sailor Fude pen arrived today. I couldn’t wait to try it, so out I went and drew this house. I should have set myself up on the footpath (sidewalk) but I couldn’t motivate myself. The steering wheel really got in the way. I couldn’t really get the hang of making different line thicknesses with the pen but with a bit more practice, I should be able to.
First drawing with new Fude pen
Once again, I got the right side of house’s perspective wrong…. but I’m happy with the liveliness of the picture.
Happy New Year everybody! I hope 2020 provides the world with a lot of things to smile about.
Apparently there are many correct answers to this question. One could be a green-grey colour if you’re a statue guarding a house in Bellerive, Tasmania.
or one could be white if you’re the white emu photographed by Nicola Thiele in Snowy Monaro, NSW.
A rare white emu spotted
According to University of Sydney Associate Professor of avian and zoological medicine, Lorenzo Crosta, the emu is a rare sight but it is not an albino emu. An animal with albinism displays absolute evidence of melanin in the body, including the legs, which would be pinkish or very light in colour. Lorenzo’s explanation of the white emu is that it has leucism, which is a partial lack of melanin, and thus the white feathers.
If you’re an emu that I paint, your feathers could be beige, blue, black and turquoise…
and you’re pretty good at dancing the Charleston!
Cheers. Hope you’re having fun and kicking up your heels wherever you are.
I did gallery duty today and after doing all the gallery-type jobs, I settled down to paint in between serving customers. I thought I would paint a matching pair for this painting that I painted for the Inktober prompt word “frail”. I wanted to paint one with a different coloured butterfly and looking the opposite direction so that they could be looking at each other .
Unexpected Guest
While I was painting the blue butterfly painting, a man bought it. He’s going to give it to his mother, who loves butterflies, for Christmas.
The emu with the orange butterfly was also sold and it is going to be hanging in a Aged Care Residential Centre.
Wishing everybody a peaceful and rejuvenating weekend. Cheers, from PjPaintings
I was hoping that by today I would be posting the finished painting but with drawing, erasing, re-drawing, making more changes, and things just generally taking longer than I thought, (I always underestimate how long it will take me to paint something!) this is what I got done today.
Do-si-do
Cowboy boots crossed that next time I’m able to post the finished painting. Until then, take care, from pjpaintings
More progress is being made on my commissioned piece for the 60th anniversary of the National Square Dancing Convention that will be celebrated in Deloraine, Tasmania, 2019. The emus are the fun part. I’m a bit nervous about painting the barn. I will have to try really hard to not let the painting get dark when painting the interior of the barn.
Here’s couple one and three:
… and here’s couple two
One more couple to do and then I have to start painting the barn. Yikes!!
Thanks for visiting and I hope that everybody’s week is going well.
About half of my paintings are emu themed. I have the privilege of displaying them at Salamanca Market in Tasmania, which on average has 20,000 visitors on any given Saturday. As a consequence, I hear quite a few fascinating pet emu stories. For example, one that grew up with a herd of goats and acted like it was just one of the herd, another who thought it was a dog and would immediately drop onto its back for a belly scratch when it saw its owner and another who thought it was part of the human family. Emus seem to take on characteristics of those they grow up with, whether animal or human, and develop steadfast bonds. I have had several former pet-emu-owners shed tears when they told me their stories about their pet “Priscilla” or “Jasmine”.
Another case of unusual-emu-bonding was recently discovered in North Carolina. An animal shelter rescued some animals from a property whose owner suddenly disappeared. Among those rescued was a male donkey and female emu. The shelter tried to house them separately but the donkey started distress-braying and the emu became extremely anxious. They quickly ascertained that the donkey doesn’t like the company of other donkeys. The emu and donkey have an inseparable bond and they even cuddle and sleep together. Therefore, they have to be adopted together.
Introducing Jack and Diane at the Carolina Waterfowl Rescue. A story where two creatures with different looks, backgrounds and even breeds learn to stand together, protect each other and love.
I’ve also recently discovered a special animal-emu bond.
Have you seen an unusual bond between animals?
Wishing you a great upcoming week.
Special thanks to McPhocus (Averil McPhedran Hall, photographer extraordinaire) for alerting me to the story.
Day 6 of the Inktober Challenge and the prompt word is ‘Drooling’. This is a bit of a stretch but I reckon that there might be a few emus drooling when this bird walks by.
Drooling
I love my striped tights and this quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship:
“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”
