A lonely, little Island

Salamanca Market, August 27, 2022

I felt like a lonely, little island with both my Salamanca Market neighbour stall holders, on either side, missing, one due to sickness, the other was at AgFest https://www.agfest.com.au/

My first customer of the day was somebody from the Gold Coast, who bought a “Me at the Gate” print. She told me that fairy wrens often visit her garden.

Meet Me at the Gate
Quality prints available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

Parents of 7-month-old Eleanor, visiting from Melbourne, purchased prints for Eleanor’s bedroom. Her parents bought “Spiky Bunk Beds” and her grandmother bought her “Dinner for Five???”.

Spiky Bunk Beds

Dinner for Five???

A young couple from Melbourne bought a small urban sketch I did of one of Arthur Circus’ historical cottages and a few greeting cards.

historical cottage in Arthur Circus, Battery Point, Tasmania

A lady from Perth, WA purchased “House Sharing”. She really liked the wombat’s feet.

House Sharing
Quality prints available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats

A local bought “Enchanted Forest I” and “Enchanted Forest II” for one of her daughters in London, UK. The older daughter got married a few months ago and while the younger daughter went over to attend the wedding, she secured work and now she has both daughters living on the other side of the earth.

Enchanted Forest I

Enchanted Forest II

Another local bought a “Sitting on the Fence” print for her daughter because her house has a lot of blue in it. Her daughter is marrying a Canadian. The wedding is taking place in Los Angeles, in two months (they had to postpone it because of COVID) and they will be living in Toronto, Canada.

Sitting on the Fence
Quality prints available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

A family visiting from Durban, South Africa purchased “Meet Me at the Gate” and “Glamour Girls”. The mother was originally from Tasmania, but they are now living in South Africa.

Glamour Girls
Quality prints available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/emus

A couple purchased “Devilish Siesta”, “Spiky Bunk Beds” and “Afternoon Siesta” for their child’s bedroom. They have been renting a house in New Town, Tasmania while their house in Sydney is being renovated.

Devilish Siesta

Spiky Bunk Beds

Afternoon Siesta

The day passed quickly and soon it was all finished. All good things must come to an end.

Art thought for the week:

The world always seems brighter when you’ve just made something that wasn’t there before. Neil Gaiman

Wishing everybody a good weekend and upcoming week.

Cheers, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

Quality prints of my art are available at www.pjpaintings.com

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Gold Creek

We did a family walk along the scenic Gold Creek in Golden Ears Provincial Park, B.C., Canada and saw lots of interesting things along the way.

In the forest we came upon this scene – a tree piggy backing on the back of a stump.

The colours and upward streaks on the stump reminded me of some paintings that the famous Canadian artist Emily Carr has painted.  I love the way she has depicted the west coast’s forests.

 

The moss on the tree created some funny cartoon like images.  This one looks like a bird that has been flying for a very long time, wearing a pilot’s cap with ear flaps and has snow (green snow) building up on its beak.

This one looks like a hand puppet.

 And this one, this is stretching the imagination, but I think that some of the moss clumps look like koalas.

 We came across a water-logged fungus, a Salamander, Canada Geese, squirrels, orange breasted robins and we saw a Bald Eagle flying over Alouette Lake.

a very water logged fungus

A Salamander

Canada Geese

At the start of Gold Creek, we came across this very typical Canadian scene that often adorns the front cover of magazines.

 Gold Creek is fed by water from glaciers and in some parts the creek is a stunning emerald and turquoise colour.  The walk is about 1 km to reach the lake at the end of the creek.

Gold Creek

Gold Creek

It is a really scenic walk for all the senses: beautiful sights among the smell from cedars and Douglas fir.

Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Park where we saw the Bald Eagle flying 

Thanks for visiting and I hope the upcoming week is a great one for all.

 

 

Jug Island

I feel like I’m home when I smell the cedar and Douglas fir.  My brother and I usually do a walk in the forest whenever I visit Vancouver.  It was raining and hailing when we were driving to the starting point. We weren’t sure if the walk would go ahead but upon our arrival, the rain ceased and blue skies made their presence!

 

A tree bridge to a tree tunnel 

 

This time we did a walk to Jug Island, which I’ve never been to before.  The walk was about 7 km return.  The trails are well marked and the climbs up or down are not too steep.  It is well worth the effort because Jug Island is spectacular.

During our journey we passed a tree with its roots growing over a stump

We also passed a tall tree with steps nailed onto the tree.  I think you would want to bring a bag of nails and a hammer if you are brave enough to climb up!

We passed by some fungus and plenty of Skunk cabbage but the cabbage was not at its stinky stage of life.  It had hardly any smell.

 

And then we arrived at stunning Jug Island, B.C., Canada!

There were plenty of water birds near the shores of Jug Island.  It was a breathtaking and glorious day.

Thanks for visiting.

 

Allen’s Rivulet Track

There’s no better way to start a new year than a walk in nature.  It’s calming and soothing.  I started the new year with a walk in Allen’s Rivulet, Tasmania, Australia.

On the way to the track, I came across this comical character.

The track takes you through Tasmanian bush, passed a large hollow living tree, to a rivulet and back onto the street.

One of the views from inside the tree

The middle large tree trunk in the photo has the hollow base

Allen’s Rivulet Track’s hollow tree

It reminded me of the most famous and photographed tree in Vancouver, Canada, the Hollow Tree in Stanley Park, which I have played in many times as a child.

Stanley Park’s Hollow Tree

It is arguably the most famous tourist attraction in Vancouver for over 100 years.  There are many historical photos of this tree.

A 1917 photo of the Duke of Devenshire and dignitaries

 

Unlike Allen’s Rivulet’s hollow tree, which is a living tree, the Stanley Park one is a 600 to 800 year old Western Red Cedar tree that died, but left a huge hollow stump.  In 2006, there was a severe windstorm that caused significant damage to many trees, including the famous Hollow Tree, causing it to lean precariously.  The Vancouver Parks Board considered taking it down but there was a massive public outcry resulting in some ingenuity to save the tree.

The brace installed to help keep the stump stable and upright

I spotted this most unique little nest too!

A Grey fantail in its nest

The nest is really small, the size of a tiny cup and it had the mum bird, a Grey fantail, sitting in it.  Most of her body is outside the nest because the nest is so small.  A bird book describes the nest as looking “like a wine glass without a base – a tiny cup of plant fibres liberally bound with cobweb.”

Thanks for stopping by. I wish one and all an awesome upcoming new year!