I sold my last two strutting emus.
Yay, I can start painting more of them again. I love doing them and designing their outfits. So much fun.
Here’s the first one, titled “Hooting Along”.
I hope that you’re having a hoot.
Cheers, from Patricia (PJ)
The Australian white ibis, due to its increasing presence in urban settings and its past-time of rummaging in rubbish bins with its long, curved beak, has acquired the “bin chicken” or “tip turkey” nicknames. It is becoming an icon of Australia’s popular culture despite that some of the population view them as a pest and aren’t too enamoured with their new-found hobby.
The Australian white ibis is a native Australian bird.
Day 16 Inktober Challenge – prompt word: fowl
Cheers, PJ
Hello everybody,
It’s Day 7 of the Inktober Challenge https://inktober.com/ and today’s prompt word is “trip”.
I love painting emus and seeing the smiles spread over people’s faces when they see the emus’ antics. This stylishly dressed emu is off on a trip with her turquoise suitcase with a large Bon Voyage sticker plastered on it. This will make it easy to spot on the baggage carousel!
I liked this one so much that I’ve had it professionally photographed for prints. Prints are printed on 310gsm print version of William Turner watercolour paper with archival inks. The texture of the paper and quality of inks used often generates the ‘is this an original?’ question. I think that this picture would make a great gift for those who love travelling and anybody associated with the travel industry. It’s available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/emus/products/bon-voyage-an-emu-watercolour-print
I hope that you are travelling well, regardless if you’re travelling or not. 🙂
Cheers, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade
Today is October 1st and that can only mean one thing…. the Inktober Challenge has commenced! What is the Inktober Challenge, you may ask? Jake Parker created Inktober in 2009 as a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide event. There are no strict rules. An Inktober prompt list that you can choose to follow or not is released. The aim is to draw a picture every day of the month of October. You can combine prompts into one drawing too. https://inktober.com/
My emus have been doing their warm-ups and are ready to get on with the challenge.
The first word on the prompt list is “Gargoyle”. I drew my picture with an Artline pen and then added watercolour.
All the best to those who are also embarking on the Inktober Challenge or any other challenge.
Cheers, from Pj Paintings
Today we had to contend with a LOT of rain but thankfully it wasn’t accompanied with wind, and amazingly, I was able to set up and take down just when there were breaks from the rain. During the downpours, there was a sea of different Hobart hotel umbrellas on view.
A speech pathologist, visiting Tasmania from the mainland of Australia, purchased an A-3 sized “Beachside Chatter” and “Who, Who, Who are You? II” print to hang up in her practice. It will engage children and calm their nerves.
Two sisters from Brisbane bought an “Outback Glamping” print and a “Salamanca Fresh” tote bag. They have another sister and when they are together people think that they are triplets they told me.
A lot of members from a family from Sydney that are attending a cousin’s wedding in the afternoon, bought a “Bunk Beds” print.
A couple bought my original painting of the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery. I drew and painted most of it, sitting on a bench, on the wharf across the street from it. https://friendsoftmag.org.au/ My “Ladybird Parade” original painting also sold today.
A Dutch couple that lived in Perth for nine years and then moved back to Netherlands, and then realised, what have we done??, moved back to Australia. They are planning to settle in Tasmania and are looking for a house in Cygnet. They bought some greeting cards to send to relatives in Netherlands.
A Hobart law and psychology student purchased a small, framed print of “Spanish Eyes (Red). Another small, framed print, “Sea Life” this time, sold to a young lady, who has been working one year and nine months in Sydney but is soon returning to Hong Kong. She has a good job lined up but she is leaving her options open if she doesn’t like it because the country has changed significantly since she has left.
Thankfully, I managed to pack up before the next lot of rain started falling.
Art thought for the week:
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” ― Émile Zola
Wishing you creative and fun upcoming week.
Cheers, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade
Quality prints of my art are available at www.pjpaintings.com
It was a bit of a chilly start, today. You can feel autumn in the air now, but blue skies and sunshine soon made their presence.
The first visitor to the stall bought a “Double Date IV” print for a birthday present for a lady, who is turning 80 years old, and loves fairy wrens.
A “Lazy Days” tote bag was purchased as a thank you gift for somebody who is house-and-dog-sitting on Magnetic Island, Queensland, https://www.townsvillenorthqueensland.com.au/destinations/magnetic-island/, while she is holidaying in Tasmania.
A lady purchased “Family Outing” and “Beachside Chatter” to add cheer to a Gold Coast paediatrician clinic’s waiting room.
A “The Three Amigos” print was purchased by an Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, art student, specialising in print making. Another young lady bought an “Under My Red Umbrella” print to post to her friend living in Ontario, Canada. I also had a visitor from someone, who bought some of my emu prints about 7 years ago, which are hanging up in her work office in Canada and have been giving her joy for years. That was so nice to hear!
A “Tu-whit & Tu-whoo” print will be making its new home in Queensland. A young couple, visiting from Newcastle, NSW, bought a framed print of “Scarlet Robins” and another young couple, expecting their first child bought “Spiky Bunk Beds” and “Hanging Out” for their nursery.
A lady told me that a whole bunch of her friends, including herself, are turning 70 this year. She bought four tote bags as birthday gifts, including one for her.
A lady bought two original paintings. One of an emu with a wombat in its back pack and another of dune-buggying emus.
Thank you for visiting and I wish you a creative upcoming week.
Cheers from PJ Paintings
at site 30 at Salamanca Market, Tasmania
Quality prints are available at www.pjpaintings.com
There are some rare, extremely critically threatened fish that look like they are walking on their hands that live in the Derwent River in Tasmania (I can see the river from my house). There are 14 species of the Tasmanian Handfish. They are tiny and a little grumpy looking but awfully cute at the same time.
https://www.csiro.au/en/research/animals/marine-life/spotted-handfishhttps://www.derwentestuary.org.au/species/spotted-handfish/
I love drawing and painting strutting emus! I have so much fun creating personalities, designing outfits and imaginary scenes. This emu has decided that the fish need some fresh air.
This painting is painted on Khadi Mill paper that is made from recycled cotton rags. It is approximately 20 x 20 cm and the original painting is for sale at:
Can an ant feed five echidnas???!
I hope that my latest painting gives you a little chuckle.
Echidnas have spines like a porcupine, a beak like a bird, a pouch like a kangaroo, and lays eggs like a reptile. They are a member of the monotremes, along with the platypus, an order of egg-laying mammals. They are a small, solitary mammal native to Tasmania and Australia. They are usually 30 to 40 cm long and weigh between 2 to 4.5 kilos.
I love the way they walk, they waddle (on the ground). They don’t climb trees or swing from gum nuts, but the beauty of having artistic licence is that you can create whimsical and humorous scenes like this.
Quality A-4 and A-3 sizes Limited Edition print runs of 100 of “Dinner for Five???”, numbered, titled and signed by me, the artist are available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/realistic-animals/products/dinner-for-five and the original painting will soon be available at Tiger ina Papera Unique Woodcraft Gallery, 7/81 Salamanca Place, Hobart, when it exits from the framers. https://au.placedigger.com/tiger-ina-papera-unique-woodcraft731112233.html
I hope that “Dinner for Five?” gave you a little chuckle this morning.
Cheers, from Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade
This new tote bag is bright and cheery. The black cockatoos that I often see in my neighbourhood inspired this painting. I love their squawky presence, personality and beauty. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos have a short crest on the top of their heads compared to other cockatoos’ crowns that they flaunt and display ostentatiously. Feeling slightly inferior, this cockatoo relied on creativity and ingenuity to present a hairstyle that turns heads. I’ve titled this painting “Hair Extensions”.
These bright, colourful and sturdy tote bags, with the image printed on both sides, are Made in Australia and are 100% polyester, meaning they wash up a treat. Put them in a lingerie bag for extra protection and cold machine wash. It is available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/bags/products/tote-bag-hair-extensions
I hope you are having a lovely day, from Patricia
As I write this post, on Sunday morning, it is raining and the Derwent River is awash with white caps, which makes me feel even more thankful for yesterday’s calm and mild conditions. Due to the ideal winter weather conditions of yesterday, there were more people out and about.
My first customers at the stall were three sisters, meeting up in Tassie, where one of the sister lives, to celebrate a sister’s birthday. One purchased a “Salamanca Fresh” tote bag and another bought an A-4 sized print of “Meet Me at the Gate” for her friend’s Christmas present. They meet at the gate to go walking together and she loves fairy wrens. A gift tailored for the individual!
Then I met a locum nuclear medicine specialist doing a stint at the hospital here but because of the lockdowns he was not going home for his few weeks off. His daughter, who lives and teaches in the ACT, takes teenagers scuba diving, climbing Mt Kosciuszko and the like to teach them resilience, teamwork, build confidence and many other valuable life skills, loves whales. https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/snowy-mountains/kosciuszko-national-park/summit-walk
He bought “Southern Flow” and “Weightless” prints for her. I didn’t get his name, but he also has a sole business selling shooting equipment. He represented Australia twice in the Olympics and a few times in the Commonwealth Games. I imagine it was in the Men’s trap shooting??
A couple from central Queensland, their first visit to Tasmania, also bought a “Weightless” print and they bought one of my mini sketches of an Arthur Circus cottage. https://theunfurlingartist.wordpress.com/2017/06/25/where-are-the-clowns/ They are here for a week. They have visited Richmond, Mona and were going to Bruny Island in the afternoon. https://theunfurlingartist.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/bruny-island/
A couple from Newcastle purchased “Sitting on the Fence”. He loves kookaburras.
A man, who lives six months of the year in France, in the countryside of the Nouvelle Aquitaine area, purchased a small “Scarlet Robins” tote bag. https://www.britannica.com/place/Aquitaine.
A couple from Townsville bought a “Richmond Bridge” and a “Silent Disco” print. A young lady, looking for a gift for her girlfriend, who lives in the Richmond, Tasmania area, bought her a “Two to Tango” tote bag. This is another tailored made gift because this girlfriend has a male and female emu as pets!! Their names are Ernie and Bert! 😊 Emus as pets are unusual pets but having emu pets in Tasmania is even more unusual because they are not endemic to Tasmania. The emus Tasmania used to have, have been extinct for over 100 years. https://theunfurlingartist.wordpress.com/2020/02/03/the-study-of-emu-poo/
I was pretty keen on packing up and getting away as soon as the gates opened. I was making good time and everything was fitting back into the car quite well and when I finished, I saw my gazebo standing there trying to look inconspicuous. Arg. I had to unpack half the car to pack it again, then got home and unpacked again and then headed out to the Welcome Swallow Brewery’s opening celebrations. https://www.welcomeswallow.com.au/ It’s an awesome venue and space. It was a great evening with amazing tasting boutique beer, made from Nigel’s homegrown, organic hops and raspberries.
I hope that you are staying warm and safe inside this week.
Cheers from, Patricia Hopwood-Wade
Limited edition prints are available at www.pjpaintings.com
The Unfurling Artist: journalising creative journeying 