ELSEWHERE

An owl printed

At the close of last year, as December gained its full festive momentum, I promised to return in the New Year with a print of my recent owl drawing. Well, I have come good on my promise. Having spent a very warm afternoon printing (rather, assisting printing) it is now dry, guillotined and ready to be enjoyed.

Owl
Single-colour lithographic offset print on Lana Aquarelle Satin hot pressed 300gsm paper.
Paper size 210 mm X 297 mm
Printed by Redwood Prints
Edition of 25, 2010

I will have them on our store very soon for $50 (plus postage). As soon, that is, as I have a moment to photograph him and upload the photos.

Hope you week is treating you well.

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo (Lophocroa leadbeateri)

In keeping with my recent leaning towards drawing birds, I've been reading Peter Carey's Parrot and Olivier in America, a beautiful book which I was glued to from start to finish. I found his descriptions of the drawing, printing and hand colouring of exotic American birds particularly captivating.

On a less feathered note, here are my answers to an open tag placed before me by Gracia and originally from Hila.

Where is your phone? home
Your hair? brown
Your Mother? strong
Your Father? devoted
Your favourite food? ice-cream
Your dream last night? unsettled
Your favourite drink? coffee
Your dream/goal? fulfilled
What room are you in? favourite
Your hobby? sudoku
Your fear? failure
Where do you want to be in six years? here
Where were you last night? out
Something that you're not? conversational
Muffins? no
Wish list item? motorcycle
Where did you grow up? haven't
Last thing you did? draw
What are you wearing? comfort
Your TV? aging
Your pets? adorable
Friends? special
Your life? joyous
Your mood? tired
Missing someone? no
Vehicle? economic
Something you're not wearing? watch
Your favourite store? artstore
Your favourite colour? blue
When was the last time you laughed? today
The last time you cried? recent
Your best friend? constant
One place that I go to over and over? café
Facebook? don’t
Favourite place to eat? home

Western Corella (Cacatua pastinator)

Along with drawing, I have spent the New Year with my nose buried in many books. Amongst others, I've just finished Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood and also Graeme Gibson’s The Bedside Book of Beasts. I find myself now contemplating how humanity is capable of creating incredible beauty and equally capable of unimaginable destruction and evil. Anyway, both hardbacks are brilliant and I highly recommend them.

A New Year begins (at last)

What better way to start the New Year than with time spent drawing birds? A recent trip to the National Gallery of Australia has left me inspired. My fingers are now itching to draw, my eyes alert to the colour in every little thing, my mind open to play. So, happy New Year, my friends, I hope it’s one full of optimism and brilliance.