winter hibiscus - watercolour on paper

and another hibiscus.

This one was taken from a bush in a back lane while him indoors was making a delivery one Sunday afternoon. These flowers still bloom in a Sydney winter.

Astonishing.

Painted silk scarves

So continuing on the painting activity but in a slightly different vein I dug out these silk scarves I painted last summer.

These continue on the watercolour stripes theme I did on canvas. They've been sitting in a box but hanging them on the wall makes them look like paintings.

These are 195cm/186 cm x 27cm approximately and are double sided (ie: two layers of fabric). The dye is colour fast (specialist silk, heat-fixed dye).

These aren't listed for sale anywhere but if you like one - drop me an email... they're $75AU each.

fig branch and gum leaves watercolour on paper

The more I look at Australian flora, the more beautiful I think it is. Wierd but beautiful.

Gum leaves. Who'd have thought there were so many shapes, sizes of leaves and flowers? And nearly all of the leaves I picked from the bush in last week's impromptu drive had a bite taken out of them.

And the figs... round little berries of figgy goodness. Trees ripening at different times no doubt to keep the fruit bats of Centennial Park in constant nourishment...

wattle flowers watercolour on paper

Wattles are now in bloom in the Australian bush around Sydney. Tiny yellow balls of fluff with green spiky leaves make impressive displays on the side of the road.

I had to redo the yellow - him indoors said I had the yellow wrong. Wattle yellow is a pale yellow, not the strong orangey shade I originally painted.

Banksia seed pods watercolour on paper

It's wintertime so there aren't any flowers on Banksia bushes in the park across the road or on the bushes in the countryside - I have seen them in florists though.

These seed pods are wierd. It took me a while to get my head around the knobbly shapes and earthy colours.

I've also tried to represent the foliage as they grow from the branch - hence the gumleaves are upside down and these twigs are askew.

Eucalyptus watercolour on paper

On him indoors' advice I've started painting Australian natives in the hope they'll appeal to the local audience.

I've been picking twigs here and there from trees in the park across the road and from a drive home from the countryside on Saturday.

Has anyone noticed just how munched the average Australian flora is? Every leaf is marked, spotted or just bitten. It's a dog eat dog world out there in the Australian bush!

winter tulips watercolour on paper

And here they are. Red and yellow winter tulips.

Painted over a succession of days so the petals slowly open....

Thanks to him indoors for scanning these for me - there's another pile under the bed waiting to be scanned!

new Mango Frooty avatar designs

I'm waiting for him indoors to scan the latest set of paintings so thought I'd share a few avatars designed by Emma Harris for Mango Frooty.

I love the way she has lifted the little flower detail from the Mango Frooty label to use in her designs.

Genius.

winter hibiscus watercolour on paper

Still painting hibiscus.

These came from a bush growing in a carpark in inner Sydney.... I've taken a little bit of artistic license with the third picture - the very pale pinks of the top two are closer to the real flowers. The greens are pretty accurate though.

pink protea watercolour on paper

The 2nd attempt at a protea. Him indoors think the colours should be more intense but this is how the colours were: silvery green leaves and a pale pink flower. This one didn't have the little black fuzzy edges like so many others do.

taro plants and fig at night

More pictures - foliage in night gardens.

These taro plants are growing in my courtyard. The large leaves would be perfect to use as a dance floor for moths.... a large umbrella for a frog....or shade for me on a sunny day