Hot like / unlike London.

its that horrible hot time of the year wear the sun sucks all energy from me and and the humidity smothers me with a wet blanket and steals all my air. I hate hate summer in the tropics. I get almost no work done because its too hot in my ...

studio. So anyway hear is some ace art done by other people namely "the London Police". Their crisp detailed black and white art is just so clever creative and fun. I love the contrast between realism and big bold solid cartoon shapes. Their works are very imaginative and they seem to really like dogs so I like them. Not the most in depth or particularly articulate review but then it is soooooooooooooooooooo hot. just check them out for yourself. www.thelondonpolice.com

 

Lush

Many years ago in Melbourne I saw a stencil in a car park of a child in black and white vomiting drops/ blobs of colour. I remember that the contrast of the bright colours and the black and white really caught my attention and staid in my mind. So years later I credit that stencil with the inspiration of this painting.

Thank you unknown stenciler.

 

This painting actually has a lot of meaning and emotion for me, it was bourn out of the frustration of the Darwin build up (horrible hot humid time of the year).

 I find it quite a sexual painting, it represents desire and energy for life and love and everything seating within, frustrated by the deadening heat and isolation that is Darwin at this time of the year. It is about frustration but it is also about strength, of breaking free and being yourself. I started this in the build up last year and fittingly finished it in the build up this year.

 I'm rather pleased with it, I love her steady defiant expression.

 

A nice walk in the country

The other day I got out my "how to watercolour landscape" book and just copied one of the pictures in it with a few changes of my own. I had so much fun, not bothering with content just coping the picture and trying out the recommended techniques. So this nothing like my style but it really was so much fun to paint. Very bright and pretty, maybe I'll send it to my grandma. 

 

 

more watercolour

My watercolour explorations continue. This is a detail of a forest study I've been working on. I like how this part of it turned out but am not so happy with the picture as a whole. I painted this on canvas paper, which the watercolours swam on a bit and made more solid colours hard. The tree is drawn with ink and a quill. This is the first time I used a quill and I love it. I really like the accuracy and control of using the quill and it also makes lovely wispy effects as it runs out. Oh and it makes little scratching sounds on the paper which further adds to the basic and old fashioned feel of it. I'm won over.

broken arm time to draw.

Well I've gone and fractured my arm falling off my bicycle. Luckily its my left arm and i now have oodles of time to paint draw read ect. It dosent hurt that much but I have to keep it nice and still, so drawings perfect, i might even get to finish some of all those bits and bobs that have been in the works for a million years.

I felt like just playing around and not concentrateing to much so i got out my markers and watercolours and just had some fun with colour.

 

Doku Rai at Darwin festival

The other night we went to see a play called "Doku Rai" that was in town as part of the Darwin Festival. The play was a collaboration between Melbourns "the black lung theatre and whaling firm", Timor leste performance group Liurai Fo'er and the band Galaxy. The show included live action, film and live music and wove in and out of a story about a death curse, two brothers one of whom can not die and the would be assassin then mixed it with some wonderful music and a sort of comical frustrating commentary on the whole thing. It was chaotic, violent, funny, at times beautiful and all ways alive. Well worth seeing if it comes your way.

I also went two two other shows- Circus/ cabaret extravaganza "La soiree" witch was great fun, clever and amazing and electro hiphop band "Hermitude" witch was one of the liveliest gigs I've ever been to, the whole venue was jumping. There were so many more good shows at this years Darwin festival that I didn't get to see and the whole affair was set in beautiful tropical gardens lit by glowing lights. Im very sad its over for the year. Well done to all the organisers.

Unfortunately the bloody country liberals have just been voted in so I presume the funding for the arts will go down next year. Lets hop not.

My newly purchased drawing by goggle octopus.

Hello, well I've been so busy at my day job that I havent had the energy to do much art of my own or even wright about other peoples art I've been looking at. However last week I went to a little local exebition opening by a young lady who calls her self goggle octopus. She seems to be very influenced by Audry Kawasaki but I really liked her lines and detail and ended up buying this picture. http://www.goggleoctopus.tumblr.com/