Emu Friends

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.

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Pop!

I have found that putting my prints in a black frame makes them pop.

If you’re struggling to decide on what to give for Christmas, could one of these help?       They are available at my Salamanca Market stall, site 30 ($55).

Scarlet Robins and White 

Hope your week has got off to a good start.  🙂

Slice

Today is the final day of the Inktober Challenge.  The prompt word is “slice”.  I painted this for my friend.  She almost got her pilot’s licence before she passed her Driver’s test, (her driver’s licence to drive a car took several attempts).  She LOVES flying. Any kind of flying.  She’s learnt to fly small airplanes, she’s been a passenger in helicopters and now she’s learning paragliding.  To her, flying is a slice of heaven!

A slice of heaven

Thanks for following and supporting me on my Inktober journey. 🙂

Thunder!

October 27th’s Inktober prompt word is “thunder”

Thunder

Hope everybody is having a ‘magical’ weekend! 🙂

PjPaintings at Salamanca Market October 20, 2018

At times, one could think it was snowing at the market. Large trees, lining the street, scattered masses of seed pods throughout the day and thousands floated everywhere.  There was literally a carpet of seed pods in my stall, and surrounding sites, with plenty of sneezing and nose-blowing taking place from all sides.

Two young ladies from Thailand will be taking home with them some 5” x 7” ‘White Faced Scops Owls’, ‘Tu-whit & Tu-whoo’ and ‘Spanish Eyes (Yellow)’ prints.

White Faced Scops Owls

I met a young couple from Netherlands, who are travelling around Australia for a year, from Feb 2018 to Feb 2019.  They are travelling and doing nanny and cleaning work.  I asked what is a male nanny called?  They said an ‘Au Pair’ but that many Australians aren’t familiar with that term so they use ‘nanny’. I replied that I find that surprising with all the controversy surrounding Peter Dutton’s handling of the Au Pairs from France.  In humour, they said that maybe they’ll contact Peter Dutton if they decide that they want to stay longer in Australia. They purchased a 5” x 7” print, titled ‘Double Date’.

Double Date IV

Residents from Emu Park, Queensland bought a ‘Beachside Chatter’ print.  A lady also from Queensland, but from the city of Cairns, chose ‘Duck Crossing’ and ‘All Ears’ prints from the Cheer ‘em Up series.  A couple were really pleased with their purchase of a framed ‘Two to Tango’ print.  It is going to be a gift for their son who has taken up dancing.

Two to Tango

A mother bought a framed tractor print, ‘Hayride’, for their two year old son, who is fascinated with tractors.  She’s made him a tractor room and this will be another addition to the pictures of tractors.

Hayride

Girlfriends visiting from Brisbane, had bought a print earlier in the week from Made in Tasmania, went looking for my stall today and found me.  They bought ‘Outback Glamping’ to give to a girlfriend that recently went to Uluru.

Outback Glamping

An American, with his Australian wife, who has been living in Melbourne for over 12 years, are taking a ‘Who, Who, Who are You? II’ back as their Tasmanian souvenir.

Near the end of the market, two ladies bought two prints each of ‘Lost Worlds’.  One lady said they were gifts for her sisters, one living in Ontario, Canada, the other in New York state, US.  Somebody else bought one earlier in the day too.

Lost Worlds

The most popular print this weekend is: Lost Worlds

A thought to ponder:  “When I say artist I mean the one who is building things … some with a brush – some with a shovel – some choose a pen.” ~Jackson Pollock

Thanks for stopping by,

from the Pjpaintings stall #30 at Salamanca Market.

Scorched bottle

Day 18 and 19 of the Inktober Challenge are asking for drawings relating to the words “scorched” and “bottle”.

I was going to draw a butterfly on scorched, dry, cracked soil but then the patterning urge took over.

My entry for “scorched”

I did this for “bottle”.  I used a black texta I hadn’t used for a long time and didn’t realised that the ink bled a purple colour.  It produced nicely accidental colours with the bleeding.

Ink bottle and feather

Thanks for visiting.  🙂

 

Clock, Weak, Angular & Swollen

I’ve been busy drawing my little fingers off trying to keep up with the #Inktober2018 Challenge. I have fallen behind with posting but soon I’ll be caught up!

Inktober Day 14’s prompt word was “clock”.  I chose to draw the iconic Cat & Fiddle clock in downtown Hobart, Tasmania, which has been playing its animated rhyme since 1962, on the hour, seven days a week. (My drawing doesn’t do it justice). I did a quick sketch of it, with ink and pencil, and as you can see from the drawing, I was privy to viewing the nursery rhyme antics.  The cow, dog, dish and spoon made its appearance.

The next prompt word was “weak”.  Even the strong can feel weak when their heart is broken.

The next Inktober prompt word was “angular”.  I re-submitted my ‘star’ picture for this. I have now painted it, so it looks quite different than when it was just presented as an ink drawing.  The scene features a sugar glider, Tasmanian Devil, wombat and Tasmanian Quoll helping an emu family decorate their Christmas tree with gum nuts, Sturt’s Desert peas, Grevilleas and Waratahs, and of course a shiny star.  I’ve made it into a Christmas card, which is available on Redbubble. You need to enter “pjpaintings greeting cards” to find it. It will also soon be available at Salamanca Market, stall #30.

Tassie Christmas

Today’s prompt word is “swollen”.  I chose to draw a beaver perched on its dam.  Few other animals can change their environment as a beaver can.  A small stream can soon become a delta when a beaver moves into the area.

Beaver Dam

I’m up to date with the Inktober Challenge and blog posting.  I hope you’re enjoying the journey as much as I am.

Thanks for stopping by. 🙂

Guarded Whale

“Whale” is Day 12 prompt word of the Inktober Challenge.  I drew a Blue whale with an Artline pen and then painted it with water colour.  I then added some splattering to try to help create some looseness and movement.

A majestic Blue whale

This Cassowary is on guard duty for Day 13’s prompt word “guarded” …

“touch the egg and you are mince meat”

Hope everybody is enjoying their weekend, cheers from pjpaintings

Precious

Day 9 of the Inktober Challenge.  Almost a third of the way through.  I’m not sure how I’m going to make it to the end of the month but one day at a time.  I’ve drawn a Tassie devil using a reed and dipping it into ink and then added water colour.  I like how the watercolour separated and went purpley on the face.  An unplanned and unorchestrated  happy outcome.

Every animal is precious

Thank you for visiting!

Exhausted

Birthday or not, Inktober stops for nothing. Here’s my contribution for today’s prompt word ‘exhausted’. Drawn with an Artline pen and then I applied watercolour.

Exhausted

I hope everybody is having a great day. 🙂