In the garden and doodling

Hello, today has been another glorious spring day and early this morning I took heaps of photos of what is flowering in the garden at the moment.  I am also overjoyed that both my bush/dwarf beans and climbing beans have germinated and are bursting out of the soil.  Because I have so many photos, I've put some into collage form to make it easier than scrolling on forever through this post.  Flowers first.

While snapping photos, I saw this bee drinking nectar from Ajuga flowers.

I love this next photo, so happy with how it turned out

These are the bush or dwarf beans.  The fuzzy bit in the photo is the netting we have in place to protect the plants.  Unfortunately it doesn't stop the slugs and snails.

Climbing beans.

So in amongst the gardening the last few days, I've been popping up to the studio for an hour here, half an our there and had some fun doodling with pen and water colour pencils.  Some of these little doodles might make it onto a card.  I've not done this type of sketching for some time and feeling rather rusty.

I could have reduced the size of these images so you can't see all the rough bits and mistakes but I'm really not bothered.  The yellow flowers in the white jug with the blue pattern is my favourite.  Lots of improving to do.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.

Anne  xx

Our anniversary

Hello everyone.  I've just come back from an overnight stay in a Melbourne city hotel to celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary.  27 YEARS!  I really don't know where the time has gone.  We started our celebration Friday evening by attending a concert by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and soprano Emma Matthews at the Melbourne Town Hall.  The theme of the evening was music centred around Shakespeare classics and was most enjoyable.  Our seats were high up at the back of the hall so we had a very good view of the orchestra.  Hubby loves the timpani and in one piece of music they had two timpanists performing which made him very happy.

Source

The view from our seats.  I apologise for the quality of this photo as it was taken on my phone in low light.

 After the concert we wandered around Southgate in search of coffee and cake but decided on a raspberry sundae and tea at the Lindt Chocolate cafe which was delicious.  It was a beautiful night in Melbourne, not too cold and not too busy either.

This morning after a yummy breakfast at our hotel we made our way to the National Gallery of Victoria. We were interested in viewing the European paintings on permanent display and an Asian art exhibition.  Before we viewed the artworks, we first experienced the Hyper-Natural: A sensory spring garden.   (The garden is a part of and adjacent to the gallery.)  The link gives an excellent description.  All I can say it that it was beautiful experience.  We walked around the garden amongst mist that came from pipes and at the different stands, were able to smell synthetic and natural products that go into scent design which seems to be a rather complicated chemical process.

The white stands you can see in the photos contained two different scents in little wells, the synthetic and the natural in which you can dip a sample stick to smell the difference.  There is an interesting explanation on how the synthetic replicas are made.

This Wisteria vine was in flower.

In some respects, the garden had an almost Japanese feel to it.  Visually it was very peaceful with some rather interesting sculptures enhancing the overall appearance.  Although you can see Melbourne CBD buildings in the background, it didn't detract from the garden in any way.  In combination with the negative ions from the mist, it was a beautiful experience.

In the foyer area of the National Gallery were these brightly coloured bear sculptures in different poses.  The exterior of the bear was covered in synthetic feathers so it was impossible to see how they were constructed.  Many Asian tourists were having fun posing with the bears, trying to replicate the poses and having their photos taken.

Besides viewing the Asian exhibits and the European paintings on permanent display, there was one painting in particular I wanted to view again.  In my early days of living in Melbourne, I use to visit the Gallery frequently on a Sunday afternoon just to sit and be still among the paintings.  It was this one painting below though that had me amazed and coming back time and again to view it.

The Banquet of Cleopatra, by Giambattista Tiepolo [1696-1770]. The painting shows Cleopatra a wager with Marc Anthony that her banquet would be more lavish ...

The size of the painting is huge and you can read details about it here.    Nearly one whole wall is dedicated to it's display.  It truly is an amazing piece of art, the detailing is incredible.

There were a couple of other paintings of interest to me among the many on display.  This one by Picasso, Weeping Woman.

I'm not particularly enamoured by the painting above, but rather curious as to why Picasso went from painting like these painting shown below to the Weeping Woman above.  Quite a contrast.

Picasso's portrait of his mother.

The Old Fisherman - Picasso.

Science and Charity - Picasso.

This painting below is the work of Paul Cezanne an artist whose style I admire.

After viewing the exhibitions, we went outside and enjoyed a coffee in the lovely spring sunshine followed by a stroll in another small section of garden with this beautiful sculpture.

Dragonfly by Tom Merrifield 1988

 The two photos below taken on my phone aren't so good as I was facing into the sun but it gives you a better idea of the backdrop.
 

Soon after this we headed off to look for lunch and found this lovely little cafe, Caffe E Torta in the Royal Arcade, just perfect for us.  A chicken and salad baguette and glass of bubbly never tasted so good.

Source, Google images.

After lunch we went looking for an easel for my studio.  I was gifted some money from hubby's family when I turned 50 a couple of years ago and now we've found one that is absolutely perfect for my needs, it's sturdy, very well made and will last a life time.

So there ends our celebratory sojourn into the city.

If you've laboured through this post to the end, thank you.

Anne xx

A big catch up.

This last month has been a bit of a write off for me for various reasons which I won't go into but I think I am now back in a place where I can focus on things of a more positive and creative nature.

One positive thing I have maintained for the last six weeks or so is walking everyday for about a half hour which is about a two kilometre walk.  I decided that there would be no excuses, winter weather or not I'm out every day and feeling better for it.  I now have wet weather gear so I go out even when it's raining.  I purchased a warm and waterproof coat for Sophie too and as she is an older dog now, just turned 12, she is appreciating protection from the weather too when we are walking.  Each day on our walk we say hello to these two Labradors named Molly and Clancy.  They are always ready for a pat through the fence, Sophie has a quick sniff and then shows no further interest whatsoever.

Another part of our walk takes us past this beautiful Hardenbergia violacea, currently in flower.



Last week I noticed some workmen down the end our street with diggers and earth moving equipment and enquired what they were doing.  It seems the little creek that runs along in the gully was eroding toward the footpath so council decided to step in before any more damage was done.  I must say I was rather pleased that something positive was happening with the council rates we pay.

During the past two weeks on our walk I've seen a pair of Australian wood ducks which come back to the same spot to nest each year.  They are quite shy and are not to keen on remaining close so it was hard to get a good photo of them.  This particular property has a very large yard with a creek running though it which they appreciate immensely it would seem.

I have finally got back up into my studio.  The new heating unit which blew the second time it was used is finally fixed and making being up there much more pleasant.  I've yet to feel my oil painting
 mojo kick back in so in the meantime I'm pottering with some art journaling, putting some photo albums together and enjoying some alone time.  As colour is a very important part of my life especially in winter, I worked on a crazy little art journal piece chock full of colour.  It's rather fun just to let yourself go creatively and see what happens.

As can be seen in the photo above there is a lot of colour in the studio.  Colourful markers, a gorgeous owl mug a gift from my niece, washi tape and an inspiration board with illustrations I've drawn in the past and a birthday card from my parents from some years ago which has words on the front which are inspirational and encouraging.

The sun came out the other morning and the light was lovely.  Not too much of it comes into our backyard but the brightness gives plants and flowers a different look than on an overcast day.  I couldn't help but wander outside and snap a few photos.

Eucalyptus trees in the distance.

Tiny Fuschias that the Eastern spinebills love so much.

Even the Continental parsley looks good.

I took a couple of photos inside too.

The one indoor plant that seems to thrive.

I love the blue of this planter and the crazing of the glaze.

In other exciting news, hubby has taken to the notion of keeping bees.  As the bee population is in decline worldwide, he/we would like to contribute to the bee population and perhaps in our endeavour to do so might be rewarded with some natural honey, honey that has not been treated commercially.  Hubby attended a workshop to educate himself thoroughly and then bought some equipment to get started.  He has been putting together the hives in readiness for a bee colony to move in perhaps in the spring when they begin to swarm.  (We will have to purchase a hive from the people who collect them when they swarm.)  He is fascinated by these amazing little creatures, their habits and all the different things they actually produce within the hive apart from honey.

Bee boxes in the making.

Every now and then I pick up my crochet and am currently working on a shrug which I'll hopefully finish before winter is over.  We do see cold weather well into spring so I'm sure I will have ample opportunity to wear it when finished.

For those lovely people who follow this blog, thank you for sticking with me in my absence.  That's the way it goes sometimes, either you feel you have nothing to share and write about or life gets in the way and other things receive priority.  I have been continuing to read your blogs although not always commenting.  It's been lovely to see lovely summer scenes in the northern hemisphere when it's often been bleak here downunder.

Anne xx