Salamanca Market, September 3, 2022

You can feel that spring is coming when you step out of the house at 5:50am. It’s not as inky black and the air isn’t as crisp.

My first customer of the day purchased an A-3 sized print of “Café Paris”.

Café Paris
Quality archival prints available at
https://pjpaintings.com/collections/emus/products/cafe-paris-1

There seemed to be a lot of locals at the market, or maybe I just had a lot of locals stop by. I had a lady, who lives in Hobart, buy a “Lazy Days” tote bag, and another lady from Hobart bought a “Salamanca Fresh” bag.

A Lazy Days tote bag available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/bags

A Salamanca Fresh tote bag available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/bags

Another lady, also living in Hobart, bought a “Bunk Beds” print. As a child, she had a very, well-loved wombat plush toy that she took everywhere. print. A family from Launceston, Tasmania, bought an “Enchanted Forest” print.

Bunk Beds
quality archival prints of Bunk Beds are available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats

Parents from Adelaide bought “Iconic Aussies” and “The Bun” for their daughter’s bedroom. She has just got a galah, the live type, not a paper one.

Iconic Aussies quality archival prints of Iconic Aussies are available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

The Bun also available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

A couple from Singapore bought a “White Faced Scops Owls” tote bag for an unwell friend. A lady, attending a Geoscape Conference (www.geoscape.com.au) in Hobart, purchased “Entanglement”, “Lazy Days” and “Southern Flow” prints.

Southern Flow

A family from Brisbane and another family from Roma, both places in Queensland, https://www.outbackqueensland.com.au/town/roma/ visited the stall several hours apart, and both bought “Scarlet robins” and “Fairy wrens” prints.

Scarlet Robins https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

Fairy wrens https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

Parents, living in Adelaide, and a son living in Sydney, on holidays together bought “Glamour Girls”.

And before you know, it’s time to pack up, thankful that the weather was so mild and that soon you will be able to put your feet up and enjoy a relaxing cup of tea. 🙂

Art thought for the week:

The best artists know what to leave out. Charles de Lint

Wishing you an inspirational upcoming week.

Cheers, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

www.pjpaintings.com

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Salamanca Market April 23, 2022

It was a beautiful, blue-sky day for the entire market today. No wind! Yay!

My first visitors were two ladies from Sydney. They purchased three tote bags: “Hair Accessories”, “Double Date III” and “Salamanca Fresh”. Another lady purchased a Salamanca Fresh tote bag as a gift for her aunt.

“Hair Accessories” tote bag

The popular colourful “Salamanca Fresh” tote bag

A young couple from Wangaratta purchased “Rising Above It” and “Double Date IV” prints. https://www.aussietowns.com.au/town/wangaratta-vic

“Rising Above It” I think that the word ‘unfurl’ that I wrote in circles makes such a nice pattern

Two sisters from Perth, WA, deliberated and deliberated until they settled on “Spanish Eyes (Red)” and “The Supremes” prints.

Spanish Eyes (Red)

Another set of sisters, but these were young children with their parents, purchased “Poppy Fields” and a whimsical Cup of Tea print.

A cup of Tea

A lady, visiting from Germany, purchased “Unwinding”. She is a biologist and studies frogs.

Unwinding

I met a Canadian at the market too. She’s visiting a sick girlfriend for six weeks. She bought a wombat print and a small original emu painting of two emus in a bright orange kitchen.

Time for me to pack my suitcase. I won’t be at the market for the next few weeks.

Take care and thanks for visiting.

Cheers, Patricia (PJ) Hopwood-Wade

http://www.pjpaintings.com

Salamanca Market January 1, 2021

Happy New Year and may 2022 be a good year in all ways for you and your families.

Tasmania’s borders opened December 15^th, therefore, there were more tourists from all around Australia at the market. Omicron has also come along with the opened borders, but I don’t see how it was possible to avoid that.

My first visitor to the stall was a lady from Perth, who went to Victoria for her granddaughter’s first birthday and then has spent 15 days in Tasmania to be hopefully allowed back into her state. States have changing and different rules. She is taking back with her, possibly back to Victoria if she’s not allowed back to her state, a “Home Among the Gum Trees” print.

Home Among the Gum Trees
available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/wombats

A couple, who had just done the Three Capes Walk https://www.threecapestrack.com.au/, purchased “Hair Acessories” and “The Bun”. They told me that on the first day of the walk they were greeted by a pair of Yellow-tailed black cockatoos. She said it was magical and they were able to watch them at a close range for a few minutes before they flew away.

Hair Accessories

The Bun

A couple from Sydney purchased a “Bunk Beds”, Hammock Life” and “Spiky Bunk Beds” prints. “Enchanted Forest I and II” are going to Brisbane to be framed and hung up in their 7-year-old daughter’s bedroom.

Enchanted Forest I prints available at https://pjpaintings.com/collections/birds

Enchanted Forest II

A young lady bought A-5 sized prints of “Lazy Days” and “Weightless” to hang up in her bunk area to make it more cheerful she said. She lives on a sailboat.

Weightless

Two sisters, who saw my art at Peppercorn Gallery, Richmond, purchased a “Scarlet Robins” and “Lazy Days” tote bags, and “Spanish Eyes”, “Bunk Beds” and “Story time” prints.

Lazy Days tote bag

A lady bought a “Garden Roses” print for her Mum. I cut some these roses from my only rose bush in my garden, brought it inside and thought, hmm, I think I will try to paint these. I particularly liked the challenge and the light on the rose hips.

Garden Roses prints are available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/unfurling

A young teenager bought herself a small, framed “Southern Flow” print. Later in the afternoon, a lady returned to the stall to buy the same framed print and was met with disappointment as it wasn’t there anymore.

Southern Flow

Thank you for reading, following, and supporting my art journey throughout the months/years, and 2021. I hope that 2022 provides you with good health and treats you well.

from PJ Paintings

at site 30, Salamanca Market, Tasmania

Quality prints are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

New Tote Bag

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”. 

New “Hair Extensions” tote bag

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

http://www.pjpaintings.com

Salamanca Market Update, Feb 27, 2021

After a year’s break, I started back at the Salamanca Market, in Hobart, Tasmania, today. www.salamancamarket.com.au I opted for the fortnightly option to ease back into the routine. I didn’t bring everything I usually do, and regardless of the scaled back version, it took me two hours to set up. Despite the long set-up time, it was worth it as everybody seemed happy to see my art and many people commented on how unique it is.

I sold an A-3 sized print of “Scarlet Robins” to a couple who are going to hang it up in one of the Bed & Breakfast’s units they have in Perth, WA.

Scarlet Robins

A lady bought “Silent Disco” and “Suspended” for her daughter in Berlin. I had another lady buy some wombat cards for her daughter in France. She said her grandchildren will probably be teenagers by the time she gets to see them!

Silent Disco

Suspended

My motorbike-riding emus attracted “Auntie Flick’s” eye. Her nieces, nephews and grandchildren love it when she gives them rides on her Triumph motorbike. She’s expecting two more grandchildren that have due dates of two weeks apart from each other. She bought a “Hanging Out’” and a “Spiky Bunk beds” prints for the new arrivals.

Hanging Out

Spiky Bunk beds

A couple came told me that they have a big print of “Bunk beds” hanging up in their lounge room. They love wombats and take care of orphaned wombats. Then she said that she had one with her right now! Wombat “Pip” was so tiny, you would never know that she was carrying her around! She’s been caring for Pip for six weeks now. Pip must have been so teeny, teeny, teeny tiny when she got her.

Baby Pip. I just love their little gnarly feet!

The most popular prints today were the wombat series. I think the most popular greeting card today was “Hair Accessories”.

Hair Accesseries

Art thought for the day: “To my mind a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful and pretty. There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” ― Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Have a good couple of weeks everybody and I’ll be back at the market, stall 30, in a fortnight.

All the prints shown here are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

Four Iconic Australians

The yellow-tailed black cockatoo is native to Australia and Tasmania. I often see flocks of yellow-tailed black cockatoos swoop and fly around my house, announcing their arrival with their distinctive raucous call. It is an iconic and beautiful Australian bird and one that I am very fond of.

There is uncertainty whether galahs are native or not to Tasmania. Records show that they were here as early as the 1840s. I thought galahs were rather harmless and not causing too much trouble in Tasmania but it turns out that the north-west Tasmanian council wants to cull galahs!! Apparently they are “costly and dangerous” because large flocks are killing trees and gnawing powerlines around Ulverstone.

a yellow-tailed black cockatoo and a galah

The sulphur-crested cockatoo is also an iconic Australian bird and it has established itself in Tasmania. They are thought to have migrated over the Bass Strait under their own wing, and there is this same line of thought about galahs. They are a common sight in Tasmania. The sulphur-crested cockatoo is viewed as a pest by many farmers as large flocks regularly settle on fields of crops for a nice healthy feed.

a sulphur-crested cockatoo

Kookaburras were introduced into Tasmania, in 1906, by humans, to try to reduce snake numbers.  The laughing birds were brought to Tasmania to eat snakes but they also eat native lizards and impact the native birds. They are nest robbers.

Despite two (or three?) of these four iconic Australian birds not being native to Tasmania, and worrying about Tasmania’s native species, I love seeing and hearing them. Birds are beautiful and I love them.

Take care from PJ Paintings

Prints are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

Salamanca Market Nov 2, 2019

Rain is a good thing, and we needed it, but it would be nice if there was a rule that it wasn’t allowed to rain on Saturdays. It rained while setting up, stopped  and then rained when taking down.

I had a family from Chile visit and they chose three prints to take back to South America with them: “Beachside Chatter”, “Who Says Emus Can’t Fly?!” and “Glamour Girls I”.

An older man, from New Zealand, stopped in for a browse. I thought that his belt buckle looked like First Nations People’s art work and it was. He bought it 36 years ago in USA when he was doing a motor bike ride from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon on a Triumph, hence, he bought “Bonnie & Me!”.

Bonnie & Me!

An older couple from Nevada, USA, who have spent a month on the mainland, ‘bumming around Australia’ as he described it bought some greeting cards and another American couple from North California, where the fires are burning, bought a “Duck Crossing” and “Sleepy Head” pouch.

A couple, with a very articulate four year old daughter, bought some prints. I was so impressed with this little girl’s communication skills and confidence. She just struck up a conversation and chattered away with me. Her vocabulary was impressive.

A couple from Victoria, bought a “Bunk beds” print. It was his birthday gift. I wished him happy birthday and he told me it was yesterday, the same day as my mother’s birthday! He said, ‘she’s probably the same age, 71’. Not so, he’s a spring chicken compared to my mother’s age!’

Bunk beds

I met illustrator Marsha Wajer, who bought, “The Bun” and “Christmas Siesta”. An urban sketcher visited my stall, too. We did a Liz Steel workshop together a few years ago. She was on a girls’ weekend with a large group of her girlfriends.

This wombat has given its hammock a rather Christmas festive appeal. Prints of my original painting are available at: https://pjpaintings.com/collections/christmas/products/christmas-christmas-siesta

A lady, who told me that when she was a kid, an emu stole her vegemite sandwich (definitely an Australian emu!), which after that incident, she was scared of emus. She must have gotten over it because she bought “Joyride” for her partner and “Spanish Eyes (Red)” for her sister.

Spanish Eyes (Red)

A couple of ladies from Brisbane, bought a large “Salamanca Saturdays” tote bag for a friend who paid for their Tasmanian accommodation. A young lady bought a “Fairy wrens” print to send to her mother in the UK.  A couple, who did a direct flight from Perth to Hobart, bought “Bunk beds” and “Afternoon Siesta” prints.

Near the end of the day a young lady from Poland bought “Afternoon Siesta” for her parents. She’s been in Australia for six months and is returning to Poland on Tuesday.

Afternoon Siesta

As the market was coming to a close and people were heading up the street, I heard a boy, I’m guessing that he was about 10 years old, asking his father, ‘dad, dad, how’s my behaviour now, dad?’ I hope he achieved a gold star.

The most popular prints today were the wombats.

A thought to ponder: “I am not strange. I am just not normal”, Salvador Dalí

Wishing you an awesome and creative upcoming week,

from Pj Paintings, stall #30 at Salamanca Market, Tasmania

P.S. Tote bags & pouches are available at http://www.pjpaintings.com

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

New things

Hello. Hope everybody is travelling along well.

Since 2016’s Inktober Challenge, I have been painting weekly little ink and watercolour paintings on square pieces (approximately 20 x 20 cm and 15 x 15 cm) of paper made 100% from cotton rags and selling them at my stall at Salamanca Market in Hobart, Tasmania.

Tasmania’s native Yellow-tailed black cockatoo

It’s a difficult balance to achieve, painting these and trying to squeeze some time in the other part of your week to work on larger paintings.  Ultimately, one hour per piece is the best but I’m not sure how long I spend on each painting because I am usually working on several at a time and there is the drying time.

I paint the eye and nose and then move onto another painting while that dries and so on.  I’m guessing probably just under 2 hours per painting, but maybe more because as the saying goes, ‘time flies when you’re having fun.’

So when it was suggested I paint kookaburra and wombat paintings, to sell on a weekly basis, I was dubious about whether I could do these quickly enough to make it viable.  I kept the motto “simplifying” and “not overworking” in the forefront of my mind. I surprised myself at how quickly I managed to paint the kookaburra. The next one will probably be better.

Kookburra

With the wombat, I have discovered that drawing it with a water colour pencil not only speeds up the process but adds a nice additional glow to the painting.

Being made from 100% recycled rags, the paper has imperfections.  To cover up some of the blemishes I started adding gum leaves.  I love painting these delicate additions.  Also it provides a theme to connect all the paintings.

A Yellow-tailed black cockatoo

I make the gum-leaf green colour with Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue.

So, little original paintings of wombats and kookaburras will be a new addition at the Pjpaintings stall.

Something else that is new that I’ve recently taken up is life drawing.  Simplifying is critical when you are trying to capture something from the one minute poses and the 10 and 20 minute poses.  Here are some of my initial attempts.

One minute poses

one minute pose

one minute pose

10 and 20 minute poses

Something else that is new is that I’ve sadly had to take my website down.  It has been hacked virtually every other day this month and it is just too compromised to leave it up.  So, a brand new website is on its way.  In the meantime, if you’d like to order a print, please contact me through email (pjpaintings@gmail.com), Facebook or the comments feature here.  All images displayed in the Salamanca Market Diary category are available for purchase.

Thanks for stopping by.  Take care.