News from Spring

I thought I would swing by to update you on few things I have been up to lately. We went camping at Wombayan caves with family, followed by a relaxing few days at the beach, and returned refreshed and ready for the lead up to Christmas...

I painted a 9x5 inch piece of timber for the "9x5 show" for the Illustrators Australia “CARNIVALE” exhibition. I was inspired by a past trip to Venice and Padua. If you happen to be in Melbourne you can visit the 9X5 Exhibition at SPACE 39, Lvl 2, 39 Little Collins St, Melbourne. Opening night is this Friday the 9th November 6pm-9pm.

Last Saturday I went to "Pinerolo" Margaret Hamilton's children's book cottage in Blackheath. She runs courses on children's book publishing among other things. It was so lovely to be swept up in her enthusiasm for the books she has created over the years and all the amazing writers and illustrators she has worked with. She was also joined by illustrator Wayne Harris who showed us many of his books and and the original illustrations he created for them.

I enjoyed Margaret's original collections of artwork from many amazing artists including one of my former tutors Tony Oliver.

Kangaroo Valley

A few photos from a trip to the country in Spring. The echidna was crossing the road as we drove along and I stopped to take this photo. He/she ambled down a driveway after letting me take some pictures. It was the first echidna I have ever seen in the wild!

Visiting friends

On the way to and from Queensland we stopped in on our friends in Coffs Harbour. Going by what fun two days we had, I think we should have stayed there the whole time we were on holidays!!

Steve and her husband went fishing whilst we took the two boys to look for soldier crabs. We didn't find any crabs, but the kids and us mum's loved splashing in the water! Then we had a little picnic and played on the play equipment. When we got home we filled up their canoe for the boys to splosh around in. We threw in some beach toys and empty water bottles for them to play with. Then I decided we should do some painting so the kids did some painting, and then hopped back in the canoe pool to clean off. Fi's husband makes homebrew beer, very good ( a bit like bees knees). Fi made 100% fruit sorbet with mango, banana and peach. The kids loved it too.

Fi sent me home with some vegies and some orchids she grows in her garden. While we were there she was sundrying tomatoes on the washing line. I admire Fi's energy and resourcefulness in everything she does.

Sewing

My son in a t-shirt that I decorated with a cute print of ants and flowers. He's been sick this week with a sore throat and he has produced more snot than ever before! I've been chasing him around with tissues for days.

Coffs Harbour


One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the Butterfly house in Coffs Harbour. I think butterflies are so fascinating. I just love the tropical landscape on the north coast of New South Wales and Queensland.

The next day we visited the little artistic community of Bellingen. We had a delicious lunch at the Gallery Cafe. It is so beautiful in the hills around that area.

back from the beach


Every summer my husband's family get together for a holiday at Burleigh Heads in Queensland. We haven't been for 4 years because we were living far away in Western Australia. But this year we are living closer and managed to spend a week in the sun and surf. We would have liked to stay another week to unwind fully but we had a good time. Ethan had a blast!! He loved the sand and water but he may have eaten some sand! The sun umbrella in the right hand side of the photo is about 60 years old.