Still life with Michelle's beads...

Glass Beads in colour

Glass Beads in Monochrome

Meeting with friends for a catch up and coffee is one of the nicer things in life. Yesterday I had coffee with my friends and fellow artists Michelle, (who I noticed was wearing a beautiful beaded necklace), and John (who not wearing a necklace). When I asked Michelle if she would please take off her beads for me to photograph, she happily did so, without requiring any reason or logical explanation from me. She just knew. This is why artists sometimes like to spend time with other artists.

Chair in Monochrome

Just a chair in a corner - but I thought the combination of lines and shadows made an interesting composition, especially in monochrome.

Australia - A Dry Continent

Another still life photo - emphasising the harshness of the elements in the dry Australian climate

Still life with gum leaves...

 Each Summer the Eucalyptus trees near my house shed leaves and branches. They are a lot of effort to sweep up, but they are also quite beautiful.

All that glitters...

This is another image made with my computer scanner - some sparkly pink Christmas decorations that were waiting to be packed away. There was a lot of dust on this image so I cleaned it up a bit with photoshop. Next time I will use the recommended sheet of clear acetate to protect the scanner glass, rather than the dust-attracting cellophane that I improvised with!

Floating Gum Blossom..

I captured these pink Gum Blossom (Eucalyptus tree flowers) by scanning them on my computer scanner. A very pretty result - the blossoms appear to be floating in space. Although there is limited depth of field with a scanned image, I like the result, because the soft focus areas give the impression of movement. Now, what else can I scan?

Imagining the world in the future...

I recently visited the Yoko Ono "War is Over (if you want it)" exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney.  Visitors to the exhibition are invited to take home a "piece of sky", and contemplate the future. This was a very beautiful and poignant exhibition, and the images below are the result of my contemplation.

"Pieces of sky and rice" -  Imagine a world where everyone has enough to eat...

"Pieces of sky and salt" -  Imagine a world with pristine oceans, & the ocean life healthy and abundant..

"Fern and pieces of sky' - Imagine a world where our precious rainforests are protected, cherished and valued.

The full circle - as an artist it is interesting to note themes that recur over the years - the above image "Ferns and Sky" is from a 2011 project.

Tropical beauty ...

There is so much beauty in the tropics - like this softly coloured Hibiscus flower

A tropical treat ...

My recent weekend away to tropical Queensland yielded some beautiful images of Frangipani (Plumeria) flowers.

The Monday Blues...

After a great weekend, I was feeling a little blue.
So, here are some studies in blue, photos of my friend Barbara Schey's hand dyed indigo blue shibori silk scarves.  Shibori is the Japanese art of dying textiles with a pattern by folding, tying, sewing or binding them first. After looking at this beautiful work, I'm feeling better already!

From my kitchen...

A still life from my kitchen - tomatoes and sea salt on a plate.

Still life with Candy Canes...

Post Christmas, these candy canes sitting in a bowl looked bright and colourful plus there was an interesting combination of line and pattern. I photographed them on a tiled table surface.

Moon and sky in a rice bowl

Light reflection (moon) and pieces of sky in a rice bowl. Pieces of "sky" were from "War is Over", exhibition by Yoko Ono at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. Visitors to the exhibition were invited to take a piece of sky and to contemplate the future.

Acorns in a bowl...

Another day, another still life.  Acorns in a bowl.

A gift of flowers...

My 3 year old nephew picked these flowers for me. Thank you Jack! Another still life…

From the garden ....

Another still life from the garden - mini tomatoes in an egg cup

More succulents from the garden...

It takes lots of TLC and just a little bit of imagination to grow succulents like this one, or the one below....

Cactus in blue

A pretty blue cactus from my imaginary garden.....

A pink succulent...

A pink succulent - why not??

Something from the garden - a living sculpture

To me, this succulent is a living sculpture; its leaves show pleasing arrangements of pattern and symmetry.

Still life with dead roses ...

Oops. Forgot to throw out these flowers before we went away. Never mind, it's inspiration for a another still life.

Still life with mouldy fruit ...

Arriving home after a few days away I found one of the lemons in this fruit bowl had gone rather mouldy. Obviously, my first thought was to get my camera. Where others might see only a mouldy piece of fruit, an artist sees a potential still life...

A neat & tidy workspace ...

A neat & tidy, well organised workspace is a great way to start the New Year. Hmm, maybe next year...