Hair Extensions

Last year, I painted Humpback whales to celebrate Sea Shepherd’s 40th anniversary and help raise funds for this non-profit conservation organisation whose mission is to protect and conserve the world’s oceans’ ecosystems and species. (All of these whale paintings are on my website: http://www.pjpaintings.com).

Weightless

Sea Life

Suspended

Sea Shepherd has asked me to support their fund raiser again. This time I focused on other sea creatures, all of whom are suffering in plastic and pollution riddled oceans.

Hair Extensions: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos have a short crest on the top of their heads compared to the other cockatoos’ crowns that they flaunt and display ostentatiously. Feeling slightly inferior, this cockatoo set about to find a hairdresser that does feather extensions but alas there are none to be found in Tasmania. An octopus seems like a good compromise, and fortunately for this cockatoo, it found a very obliging one to crown its head with long, flowing, attractive tentacles.

This painting will be for sale in support of this worthy cause at Red Parka, 22 Criterion Street, Hobart, Tasmania, commencing Sept 5th.  It is now at Full Gamut, professional photographers, and then prints of it will be available on the Pj Paintings website.

Now, I’m working on my third and final painting of this series titled “The Bun”.

Thanks for visiting.

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Octopus

So, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos have a short crest on the top of their heads compared to the other cockatoos’ crowns that they flaunt and display ostentatiously.  Feeling slightly inferior, this cockatoo set about to find a hairdresser that does feather extensions but alas there are none to be found in Tasmania. An octopus seems like a good compromise, and fortunately for this cockatoo, it found a very obliging one to crown its head with long, flowing, attractive tentacles.

 “Hair Extensions” painting in progress

This painting is for Sea Shepherd’s fundraiser, hosted by Red Parka, 22 Criterion Street, Hobart, Tasmania. The exhibition will be running for 2 weeks, commencing Sept 5th, with proceeds of original painting sales going to Sea Shepherd. Print sales’ proceeds will go to Sea Shepherd, Red Parka and artists.

Sea Shepherd Australia is a non-profit conservation organisation whose mission is to protect and conserve the world’s oceans’ ecosystems and species. This painting will be for sale in support of this worthy cause.  It’s been a marathon effort.

I don’t have to go into work tomorrow so I should be able to finish it tomorrow, all being well.  Fingers (tentacles) crossed!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope the rest of your week goes swimmingly. 🙂

Story telling

Many of my paintings tell a story.  This one, which I finished this week, has ants, hiding, standing upright and pressing themselves against a rock, not daring to breathe, lest the slightest movement attracts unwanted attention from a hungry echidna. I think they’ll be safe thanks to their exemplary hiding skills. 🙂

Hiding Ants

Now here’s a true story about echidnas that you may or may not know. I didn’t know about this until a few weeks ago, when I entered an art gallery and saw a photo of an echidna in a display cabinet and asked why that was.

The gallery curator showed me Jeanette James’, a Tasmanian Aboriginal, who makes traditional jewellery, preserving centuries of Palawa cultural traditions, echidna quill necklaces.  Each quill is silver capped and strung with New Zealand flax.

She sources this protected species’ quills from road kill.  Jeanette is licensed to collect deceased echidnas.  Because their skin is so tough and virtually impossible to get the quills out without damaging them, the echidnas are buried between eight to twelve months to allow the body to decompose.  After being buried, the quills are easier to remove, clean and then make into jewellery.  I had no idea!

They are beautiful but I have a feeling it could be a little risky (painful) to wear.

I hope there are beautiful stories unfolding all around you and congratulations to all the recipients of the Queen’s Birthday 2019 Honours List.

Giving the eye

I’ve read and generally follow the advice that when painting an animal, paint their eye first.  If you don’t get the eye right, give up and start again because no matter matter how good the rest of the painting is, the totality of the painting is going to leave you feeling disappointed.

I like painting the eye first for this reason but also because with the eye painted, I feel an immediate emotional connection developing with what I’m painting.  With that connection there is also the difficult to explain or describe feelings that I want to finish the painting to ‘give it life’ and welcome it to the world, even though it’s a life on a two-dimensional piece of paper. But to me it is more than just the life on a piece of paper, paintings go on to inspire, cheer, awe, provoke thoughts or consciences, ignite imaginations, memories and dreams, and more.

I gave this one the eye and will be bringing it to full life but not until after I return from my urban sketching holiday, which I hope you will be able to share with me via my blog posts.

Until then, take care, Pj Paintings

Runnymede National Trust House

Runnymede National Trust House & Gardens hosted today’s Hobart urban sketching meet-up. It is a well maintained and protected house, built in the 1840s. It was Captain Charles Bayley and his family’s home for over 100 years. It was named after his favourite ship, Runnymede, and the house now promotes marine conservation.

The colonial marine villa was constructed for one of the first lawyers admitted to the Supreme Court of Van Diemen’s Land, Robert Pitcairn, who was a prominent campaigner against the transportation of convicts.  Runnymede also houses historic artworks and possessions of Tasmania’s first Anglican Bishop, Francis Nixon.

We found ourselves a spot on the lawn and viewed the house from the outside, so I will have to see the inside of the house and its artworks another time. This is the viewpoint I drew.

Runnymede

Firstly, I loosely sketched the house with a purple coloured watercolour pencil and then added Artline pen.

When I’m urban sketching, I rarely get to the painting part of the day, so I felt pleased that I actually finished a painting in one session and outdoors!

Runnymede March 17, 2019

After I returned home, I resumed working on my newest addition to my “Sleepyhead” series.

Untitled: Tasmanian Devil lounging in a hammock in the shade of an old gum tree.

Sleep peacefully everybody and thanks for stopping by.

Lost World

I’ve been living in Hobart, Tasmania for about 22 years and have never walked one of the many Kunanyi (Mt Wellington) tracks.  I’ve taken visitors many times up to the top of the mountain and back down but haven’t explored the mountain beyond that, until now, and it was magical and awesome.  I was really keen to see Lost World as I have painted this scene with Tasmanian Tigers (Thylacines) integrated into the foreground.

Lost worlds

The walk started on Hunters Track, then along Old Hobartian Track and finally the Lost World Track, which was uphill, climbing over boulders all the way up.  Do not let the 45 minutes suggested time fool you, it is full on, constant rock climbing and took closer to 1.5 hours but well worth the effort, not to mention, fun clambering over rocks like a mountain goat (well not quite as nimble :-)).

While climbing over boulder after boulder, I couldn’t help think how much my brother and sister-in-law would enjoy this climb, the scenery along the way and the view.  Next time they visit, I won’t just take them to the top of the mountain.

Stepping over a fern

I spotted a bumble bee on one of the many healthy Banksia Marginata growing on the mountain

And then we entered the breath-taking Lost World.

Lost World, the rocks are a lot more angular than I painted them

The view from Lost World.

On our way out…

This was rock and tree was beautiful

It was an amazing day on the mountain, warm, windless and beauty everywhere.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

P.S. Prints of my Lost worlds painting are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

A Wombat Procession

My “Sleepy head” series keeps growing as my imagination fires up.

This wombat thought their hammock was looking a little plain, so being the ingenious little fellows they are, some decorating has taken place.

Untitled

Untitled

Afternoon Siesta

I haven’t run out of ideas for more wombat scenes but ideas for titles for the paintings are running dry.  I’ve had “Hanging out for Christmas”, “Waiting for Santa”, “Afternoon Siesta”, “Sleepy head”, “Afternoon Nap” and “Bunk beds”.  If you could be so kind to provide some suggestions for wombats in hammock titles, it will be much appreciated.

Take care and may your sleeps be peaceful.

A Wombat Visit

I unexpectedly had to do gallery duty this morning at Artefacts Gallery, Salamanca Place in Hobart, Tasmania.  There were two big cruise ships in so it was busy.

A young lady came into the gallery and quickly honed in on the images from my Sleepy head series.

She pulled out of her knapsack her travel companion, that she never travels without.  It was a gorgeous, well-loved wombat! I could not resist giving it a cuddle. It’s sooooo cute!

Bunk beds and Sleepy head going with a wombat fan

These arrived in the post today and will be making their debut at Salamanca  Market, stall #30, tomorrow among heaps of other cards, prints, tote bags and pouches. I hope you can drop by to say hello.

Bunk beds greeting card

Wishing everybody a lovely weekend.

Who would have thought??!

My son, who lives in Canberra, asked me to paint a moth for his project. I’ve rarely painted insects.  Last year, I attempted to paint a bee and a butterfly and I think that’s about it.

Who would have thought that moths are so cute!? Or is it just me painting them cute? I never knew that they have such gorgeous little faces, a face that says, “cuddle and love me”.

Unfinished moth

The finished little cutie

Isn’t nature a wondrous thing?! Take care everybody and thanks for visiting.

Valentine’s Day

Sending everybody warm, happy, mushy and fuzzy feelings for tomorrow.