Australiana Greeting Cards

Five quality Australiana greeting card sets of my animal paintings are now available through my website https://pjpaintings.com/collections/cards/products/five-australiana-greeting-card-set

The greeting cards feature a platypus enjoying life, a sleepy Tasmanian devil, a family of echidnas, a relaxing wombat and dancing fairy penguins. The animals are all endemic to Tasmania, (so maybe I should name them Tasmanialiana! lol) an island, off the larger island of Australia.

Titled: Devilish Siesta

The beauty of greeting cards is that the recipient can get that warm, fuzzy feeling over and over again, each time they look at the card and/or read the words and thoughts you have written. Do you keep and re-read cards that you have received? Every once in a while, I pull out my stash of greeting cards and re-read them. It brings back smiles and memories. It’s a gift that keeps on giving and the recipient can wear the smile you gave them for weeks.

The greeting cards come in two sizes and are printed on quality card. They are nice to frame too.

Titled: Spiky Bunk beds

Titled: Silent Disco

Titled: Taking it Easy

I hope that you are enjoying a “Taking it Easy” weekend.

Cheers from Patricia (PJ)

Constructing a Nest

I am fascinated by birds’ nests and their construction with only a beak-tool. In my opinion, they are the ultimate functional art piece. I have several abandoned nests as decorations and as painting resources at my house.

I also love birds. The bird that has particularly caught my attention recently, is the Forty-Spotted Pardalote. They are rare and listed as endangered. There are some Forty-Spotted Pardalotes trying to survive on Bruny Island, an island off the island of Tasmania. https://www.bien.org.au/projects/40-spotted-pardalote/ Efforts are being made to try to help the species survive. A major strategy is building nest boxes for them. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-21/endangered-bird-faces-new-threat/6735504?nw=0&r=HtmlFragment

Collecting data from a Forty-spotted Pardalote’s nesting box on Bruny Island

I am in the process of constructing a 2-D nest, which I think I’ll be spending more time on than a Forty-spotted Pardalote does to build a 3-D nest!

A Forty-spotted Pardalote waiting for the construction worker to finish building its nest

I hope that you spot plenty of birds today. They always deliver a joyous moment.

Take care, from Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

http://www.pjpaintings.com

Enchanted Forest I

I painted another Australian forest scene. Birds from top left to right are a: Scarlet Robin, Silvereye, Galah, Kookaburra, Tawny frogmouth, Pink robin, Yellow-crested cockatoo, Yellow-tailed black cockatoo, koala, Beautiful firetail, and wombat.

Sadly the iconic koala, listed as vulnerable, could soon be upgraded to endangered. Fires, droughts, and lost of natural habitat and corridors are all contributing to its startling drop in numbers.

I hope you are able to enjoy a bit of the joy that nature has to offer, today.

Take care, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

http://www.pjpaintings.com

Enchanted Forest II

I painted an Australian forest scene that was purchased when I posted the painting on my Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/hopwoodwade/).

One of the birds featured in the painting is the Golden-shouldered parrot that I wrote about in an earlier blog post: https://wordpress.com/post/theunfurlingartist.wordpress.com/6302

Another bird that is seriously struggling that is included in this painting is the Orange-bellied parrot, one of only a few migratory parrot species in the world and it is listed as critically endangered. The parrots breed in Melaleuca, on the west coast of Tasmania, feeding on button grass seeds and fly to the south east of mainland Australia in the winter. https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/local-threatened-species/orange-bellied-parrot/ and https://birdlife.org.au/projects/orange-bellied-parrot-recovery

Another species facing an upward struggle, and also is listed as endangered, is the Tasmanian devil. https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/local-threatened-species/tasmanian-devil/ and https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/tassie-devils. European settlers named them Tasmanian devils because of their skin-crawling, night-time howling. Tasmanian devils are smallish in size but look quite menacing when they open their large mouths and bare their teeth. Their strong jaws enable them to munch through bones with ease.

Enchanted Forest II

Birds from top left to right are a: Gouldian finch, Yellow-throated honeyeater, Boobook owl, Magpie, Wattle bird, Orange-bellied parrot, Sugar glider, Golden-shouldered parrot, New Holland honeyeater, Spotted-tail quoll and Tasmanian devil.

I hope that you are able to enjoy time in an enchanted forest near to wherever you are living and that efforts to save species are achieving successes.

Take care, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

Anthill parrot

The beautifully coloured Golden-Shouldered parrot is listed as Endangered. It is said that there are more Golden-Shouldered parrots in birdcages than in the wild. Nearly a century after the extinction of the paradise parrot, there are conservation efforts taking place to protect the survival of its cousin, the Golden-Shouldered parrot. https://www.bushheritage.org.au/species/golden-shouldered-parrot

The Golden-Shouldered parrot was found across most of the Cape York Peninsula, Australia, but now it is only found in an area of approximately 3,000 km².

A Golden-shouldered Parrot poised for action. Photo Geoffrey Jones (BarraImaging.com.au).

The choice of the Golden-shouldered Parrots’ nesting site is unusual. They nest in conical termite mounds. The Golden-shouldered Parrots are also known as antbed or anthill parrots. They make their nests just after the wet season, when the termite mounds are soft enough for them to excavate. The mounds insulate the chicks on cold nights, but their timing must be just right – if termites are still active, they can cover over the nest entrances, or kill the eggs by cementing them to the bottom of the nest. Survival is a difficult business!

Grazing by cattle and feral pigs exacerbates the plight of the Golden-shouldered Parrots. They require suitably old (30-50 years) termite mounds to nest in. As such, the loss of, or damage to these crucial nesting sites has an impact on their population.

This Golden-shouldered Parrot that I painted is part of a larger painting. I painted a variety of Australian birds in one painting, but I wanted this blog post to feature and focus just on the Golden-shouldered Parrots. How can you not but relish that gorgeous turquoise colour!! It’s an amazing bird, as all birds are.

The Golden-shouldered parrot

I hope that you are keeping well and safe.

Warm regards, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

http://www.pjpaintings.com

Newest Member

I would like to introduce the newest member to the sleepy head series, this precious little fellow.

Taking it Easy

The painting is titled “Taking it Easy” and it is also available as a limited-edition print at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats.

I painted this wombat in a green-blue coloured hammock so that it would match with Spiky Bunk Beds, which is also available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats

Spiky bunk beds

I hope you enjoy the newest edition to the Sleepy head series.

Take care everybody, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

Cute Platypus

Platypuses, along with echidnas, are the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young. In warmer environments, such as Queensland, platypus are smaller, with Tasmanian platypuses often much bigger.

Platypuses close their eyes, ears and nose when underwater. The only sensory system they use when foraging for small water animals such as insect larvae, freshwater shrimps, and crayfish, is touch. They have touch receptors in their bills.

You are more likely to see a platypus going for a walk in Tasmania than anywhere else because there is a lack of natural predators here. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-27/platypus-walk-filmed-tasmania/12275336

This platypus has walked and climbed into a cosy hammock and is enjoying some daydreaming time. 

Hammock Life

I’ve made my painting, titled “Hammock Life” into Limited Edition prints, available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats/products/daydreaming-a-platypus-in-a-hammock  They are printed on William Turner 310gsm print version textured water colour paper, which retains the look and feel of water colour paintings.  No wonder I have so many people ask me if the print is an original painting!

This platypus has also walked and climbed into a cosy hammock and is enjoying some daydreaming time. It has a real flair for home décor as evidenced by its wonderfully decorated hammock!

Daydreaming

This painting, titled, “Daydreaming” is not available as a print but the original painting is for sale at Wooby Lane Gallery, Salamanca Place, Tasmania.

I hope that you are finding time to daydream and relax too.

Cheers, from Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

Gallery Opening

Apologies that I’ve been a bit slack with writing blog posts recently. I’ve been rather busy starting the new adventure of opening a gallery in Hobart’s Salamanca Arts Centre in southern Tasmania.

There was a lot of work fitting out a generous-sized and sunlit room, organising insurance, a point of sales system and the like.

painting the creation of the back feature wall

The gallery is featuring a variety of art mediums with a focus on glass. There are many Tasmanian and artists from mainland Australia represented in the gallery.

Tasmanian John Osborne’s lino work in the back and Laurie Young’s glass work in the front left glass tower

A variety of glass, wood and leather work is at Wooby Lane Gallery

Tasmanian pastel artist and painter Kate Smith https://katesmithartist.com.au/ & Peter Barraclough, http://www.peterbarraclough.com/ Potter, Rynne Tanton https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/52300-rynne-tanton–crick-hollow-pottery and glass sculptor, Laurie Young https://www.australianartglass.com/laurie-young/

We had a soft opening on the wintery evening of June 10, 2021, to officially open the doors of the new Wooby Lane Gallery, on the corner of Salamanca Place and Wooby’s Lane.

dressed up for opening night

my work and Tasmanian leather, Christine Williams, artist’s masks on far left http://www.findglocal.com/AU/Pelverata/880496042082841/Satinwood

The gallery space gives me opportunity to display my framed original paintings and large sized prints.

If, and when you are, in Hobart, I hope you are able to drop in!

Take care and wishing everybody a lovely weekend.

Cheers, Patricia (PJ)

www.pjpaintings.com

Platypus

A new Tasmanian member is getting ready to join the hammock series!

Initial starting to come to life beginning

Feeling more secure now that the hammock isn’t invisible

Liking the surrounds of gum flowers and leaves

Please finish my tail, the side of me and the leaves below the hammock.

Yes, Platty-Platypus, I’ll try to finish it all as soon as I can!

I hope that everybody’s week is going well and that you’re finding time to relax and enjoy life too.

Cheers, from PJ Paintings

Down by the Sea

It’s always a pleasant surprise when you enter a gallery to do gallery duty and you discover some blank spaces on the wall! Two, of three of my original paintings, from the Down by the Sea series that I painted, sold.

Without wings, emus’ feet become their hands in my paintings. It’s a brilliant way to work humour into my paintings.

“Footsies” – SOLD

Down by the Sea – SOLD

Despite using feet as hands or hands as feet, this emu is seriously thinking whether swimming is an option. Although, in real life, emus are good swimmers. https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wildlife/swimming-emu-filmed-in-shark-bay-ng-b88730033z

And the final painting of the series, which didn’t sell…

Holding Hands

Now what do you suggest I do? Paint new ones, so it is a series again? Or, just wait and hope that this one will sell too?

Wishing everybody an awesome week. Thanks for visiting and supporting my blog. 🙂