45 C or 113.5F Bloody Hot!

While less fortunate Australians are suffering in this latest heat wave, more affulent ones are cooling off in their own private swimming pools.

Two more Paintings

The Bowler(not quite complete, the wickets aren't in it yet)
oil pastel and cattle marker on canvas panel. 40cmx30cm

Modern-day Mulga Bill,
oil pastel and cattle marker on canvas panel
40x30cms.

I guess I'm now combining the abstract field with the figure. I love the forms created by the figure in motion and then I like to distort them future to make them interesting and yes, a little funny! Sporting images are always fun and can be really exaggerated. I like the way these forms cut the negative space (or abstract field) So there will be more of this. A sort of 'life be in it' with Ronnie Roo!

Self Portrait and Cricket

Two new paintings. Self Portrait.A super realistic depiction of my passport photo!
Oil pastel and cattle marker on canvas board.
30 x 25 cms

Cricket (Very Australian)
Mixed Media on tin
90 x 70cm

Ta Ta Weiwen!

It was wonderful having Weiwen share our aussie life here down under for the las three weeks. Today she heads for home and she will be missed. Who will help me pick up horse poo?

Ta Ta Weiwen!

2 more paintings

(Top) The Protector, acrylic and catte marker on canvas
30 x 40 cms $100 o.n.o

The Innocent, 30 x 40 cms, acrylic and cattle marker on canvas, $100 o.n.o. Together $150.
This is something very different for me. I can see an influence from my early days visiting New Mexico from Colorado.

latest paintings

As I am too retarded to update my website without the 'expert' I am going to be using my blog to keep people up to date on my latest works. Here are my first two pieces this year.

Use Other Footpath, (the abstract )
Mixed media on canvas 75 x 100 cms $350 o.n.o.

Year of the Dog, Acrylic on tin 90cm x 70cms
$300 o.n.o.

Note the o.n.o (or nearest offer)is a new addition as I need to keep these babies moving! I have no space to have them hanging around. Im in my new Callington studio. Its light and bright and I'm anxious to see what goodies are going to come out of it.

Head bangin' birds

Bit difficult to get this on camera but these are pics of head bangin' galahs.

I've always been perplexed by the antics of Galahs. I once saw a whole flock of them fly at breakneck speed into a gum tree, miss the branches completely and tumble onto the ground all screaming blue murder. I know that the word 'galah' has become a popular euphemism for stupidity in Australia but I never knew how the bird themselves got that way. Now I think I've figured it out. They are constantly doing this really weird thing to one another. I wonder if I'm the only one who notices it. One will take grab another one with it's beak (just above the 'its' beak) and pound the wahgibbies outta it. Head banging I call it. The trees around Callington are riddled and quaking with head bangin birds. I know there must be a scienitific explanation for this. Something to do with mating I supposed. It wouldn't be unlike a galah to get 'the wrong end'. Anyway, it's a noisy practice and has to scramble the brains of one if not both birds. If anyone reading my blog can shine any light on the reasoning behind all this head bangin' galah stuff, be it truth or yarn, I'd love to hear from you.

Cousin Lila with Bernie and Chloe

This is my darling Cousin Lila whom I love so very dearly. Scroll down for more about Cousin Lila and her unique collection of pets!

Cousin Lila and her critters

Here is my lovely Cousin Lila.She is a wonderful person and my greatest roodropping watcher. Here she is with some of the unusual pets she keeps.



She loves them all this one appears to be her favorite.

outback 'critters'

Some rather shy 'critters' seen while on our outback trip. Most were not silly enough to be out in 105 degree heat like we were!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year

Stan the Man in his element. Beer in one hand and snag in the other ....and at 85!

Weiwen on walkabout

Weiwen is here to see the New year in with us. We have just returned from a trip into the never never. Bloody hot! Today in Callington it's raining. Such is the great Australian cool change!

2005

(Bottom) Click on the picture to make it large and then you will see that Mernie's whip is actually a fly swatter and Fonzie is thinking "Oh brother!"
(Top) My Dad Stan the Man 85 and still in the saddle!
Click on this picture and you'll see that I have the fly swatter and Dad has a 'back scratcher'. As you can see the horses are really frightened!
'2005'
January.....Lost the page on my calender so I guess some how it never happened. I do recall getting rather sozzled on NY Eve and it having a major affect on my New Year's resolution .........which lasted for about 2 days!

February.....Sister Julie and hubby Steve left to live in Canberra. Or was that in January? Hmm! Installed the Mural at the Dog and Ute in Callington. Well Mernie did. As usual he was paid in Beer. Thirsty work that!

March..... Good friends Janice and Gary from the US visited. A whirlpool trip. Would have been lovely if they could have stayed long enough to breathe in the fresh air, drink the beer and swat the flies.Or is that drink the flies, swat the fresh air and breathe in the beer?
Did a Mural for the Hahndorf Inn here in the Adelaide Hills around the theme of the Great Eastern Steeplechase. Mernie installed it for more beer!

April.....A week in the Flinders Ranges writing, drawing, daydreaming and swatting flies. Ah sheer bliss!

May.....Big ole nasty course of anti biotics started for CFS. Felt icky! Woe is me! Only had to be on them for 3-18mths and stay out of the light. Had enough of it by November.

June.... Oh! I'm in my studio at the Hahndorf Academy by now. Moved in in February actually but forgot to mention it. I did a free storytelling in their main gallery for 18 days running. About 15 mins each day. Had to drag people in off of the street to listen to me. Bugger for punishment I guess.

July....Preparation for SALA, the South Australian Living artists festival to start the beginning of August.

August..... SALA. Together with my good friend and artist brain-buddy Dianne Davie we sold over 20 paintings. Finished up the lease at Hahndorf and re set up my 'home studio' to become once more 'the studio home!'

September.....Worked on and completed a project for the Murray Bridge Regional Art Gallery called Meet the Waders. Together with kids from Callington made lots of papier mache wading birds. The birds turned out fabulous. The kids showed me up as usual.
Started Mural at Murray Bridge Community Lifestyles Day Option Cottage. See Previous Blogs as I do go on about this one a bit!

November......Trip to California for Mernie's Mom's 80th birthday. Mernie's son and daughter in-law followed home and did a swift tour of OZ. We all went to Kangaroo Island.
Opera at the little ole Dog and Ute in Callington. Had too much of a good time which had, once again, a major influence on my/our New Years Resolution! Hic!!

December..... Completed the Murray Bridge Mural.No beer for Mernie this time. Although they did give me enough money so I could afford to buy him a carton or two. Great project.
Niece Nessa left for a year overseas, started belly dancing classes (Luceille Ball Style) and am looking forward to picking up our good friend Weiwen on Xmas day. She will be here for two and a half weeks. A great time to be had yet!
Right now until Xmas I'm just a hive of domesticity.


Not a good year health-wise as I continue to struggle with chronic fatigue and FM as a result of some old stubborn infection.But enough of that. My motto is, if you don't have something funny to say, then don't say it.
A good year for murals though. Three major works accomplished. Mernie is wonderful and continues to somehow put up with me. Dad is 85 now and is doing well although having trouble backing a winner lately is really getting him down.New Year's resolutions revolve around figuring out what is really important and getting and staying well. I'd love y'all to check in on my blog occasionally thoughout '06 and even perhaps say hello through the comment procedure. Merry Xmas and happy trails into the year of the dog!

Rats on Pogo Sticks

Have you ever seen a rat
upon a pogo stick?
I think I saw just that
go through the scrub so thick

Boing, Boing, Boing, Boing!
It shot past like a light
Boing, Boing, Boing, Boing!
It gave me quite a fright!

I wonder where they got them
these rats must have a store
or maybe it's a warehose
with pogo sticks galore!

They must hang on real tightly
If they'd so much as cough
They'd lose their balance might they
and sure as eggs fall off!

I'm really only kidding you
those rats are not that clever.
It was really just a kangaroo
Have you seen one ? Have you ever?

Another 'Have You Ever Poem' by Ronda Eden.

Have you evr seen a rat

Grand finale'

Yay! Its done and the celebrations were lovely. It was a fun project made especially enjoyable by the great people I worked with. See the flowers sitting on the ground at right, they were presented to me. As I was carrying them around the pollen from them branded me with a lovely bright yellow beard that I unwittingly wore around while chatting with people. Finally someone told me about it. Bit like having your fly undone!

Details of the Mural

A few close up shots of some of the 'going ons' within the Mural at Murray Bridge, Community Lifesyles Day Options Cottage.

Mural Done!

It's been a fun project. Here is the finished product with a detail of the tool shed part.

Weekend on Kangaroo Island

Here we are just hangin' out on Kangaroo Island. Great place to relax and kick back. Mernie and I are the two in the front having a bit of a smooch and the two at the back having a good ole look around are Mernie's son Corky and his wife Cindy. Don't know who the little one is. Some little kid just wanting to have his picture taken I suppose.

mural mural and more mural

The mural so far about eighty percent done. Fun on the greens!


Martin was really into it today. Along with Cassandra and Jake, he is responsible for the fluffy bushes.Good job! The mural is due to be finished on Monday so will have to really hop to it this week. I was thinking about 100 hours and I think I'll be right on the mark.