How can you resist a name like Trouser Point? And, even though I said the internet was too slow to upload photos, how can I resist showing you this beautiful beach? When you are looking pretend that there is a howling, invigorating wind at your back. 😉
The weather here on Flinders Island has turned rather wild and woolly! Not really surprising as we are on an island perched in Bass Strait. Not only is it the body of water between Tasmania and mainland Australia, it is also the link between the Pacific and Southern Oceans. So those winds hurtle up over us from deep down in the Southern Ocean
We have had a few days of low temperatures, high winds and squally rain. It’s not the best sketching weather, but I have been out a little. The other day I sat on a step, in the shelter of the building sketching a cleft where the stream plummets down. The wind was howling through the trees and I knew it was cold, but I didn’t feel cold as I sat there. There is something meditative about drawing that takes you away from the immediate. I was very rugged up, and sitting on a piece of plastic to stop the damp. 😉
Later, in the calm and warmth of the bedroom I drew some of the essentials in my sketching kit
There is a warm scarf, knitted by my Mum, which made me feel even warmer, like a big cuddle! A beanie too. The dragons knitted into it by my friend Janet, were an added bonus. And gloves — one with fingers and one fingerless mitten. The fingerless one allowed me to control the pencil while keeping my hand warm. Needless to say I also had on thick socks, a thick coat and layers.
The Strzelecki Range behind the place where I am staying has massive, exposed granite boulders. It took me a little time to work out that one outcrop was actually one side of a valley. The creek that runs through the property comes from high up there.
I was attracted to the large granite outcrop at the top of the gully, and enjoyed exploring it with my pencil. However I realised that I was cramping it too much. It is a large, dominating rock formation and needed more space.
My first attempt:
After a warming cup of tea and a good think, I had another go, including the rocks on the other side of the valley. If you can work out this sketch you will see that I started it larger and vertically. I was still cramping it. It took me all this time to work out that the composition needed to be horizontal. The smaller, rectangular drawing was a thumbnail sketch. That was better.
So, rugged up and back to my perch on the step, I started another sketch which I was much happier with. I also added colour with coloured pencils.
It may not look fantastic, but it has given me the information to work on at home. However I still need to understand how to create the vegetation around the rocks.
This last photo was taken from the coast of Flinders Island, looking out over another island in the Furneaux Group, Mt Chappel Island, I think. You can see how the rugged beauty of the place has demanded my attention!
This was my post for last Christmas, and the sentiment remains the same. I wish you all a wonderful time of celebrations with family and friends. Thanks for another year of following my musings, and for joining into the conversations. Big hugs to you all. x x x
I am very fond of daggy* things around Christmas. This was one of our Christmas trees when I was a kid. It explains why daggy and Christmas go together for me!
I am sure that more stylish decorations were available even back then, in the Dark Ages. But every decoration we had made was lovingly kept by my Mum and reused each year. Even the fairy looks rather dishevelled! (That is the fairy not-quite-on-top-of -the-tree, not my little brother standing next to it!)
*Daggy: adj. not stylish, out of fashion, not trendy, not cool, untidy, unclean, not neat.
v. to have no style.
I remember that we put a Nativity play for Mum and Dad.
Yep, the dagginess continued.
That’s me with the dimples. I got to have the Starring Role of Mary. (You might be able to tell that Jesus was a Maori doll my Dad brought back from…
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I haven’t posted for a while because I had been busy and then away in Sydney. Now I am back and have time and lots of things to show you and tell you.
However, this one will be a little different.
On Sunday we flew to Sydney for 6 nights (more of that later, I promise) and came back yesterday. I woke up yesterday to the terrible news of the Malaysian Airlines plane being shot down. All lives were lost, including quite a few delegates to the HIV/Aids Conference happening in Melbourne. A commentator made me think when he said “What if the cure for HIV/Aids was on that plane?”
But as I was packing my suitcase to make the short hop between Sydney and Melbourne I was thinking of all those people who had packed their cases before their tragic flight. Slipping in the souvenirs; packing the presents to bring home; wondering whether it is worth taking home that old pair of shoes or could the space be used for the new handbag; carefully checking that all the documents for the conference are packed; squashing in another jumper for the Southern Hemisphere Winter.
We know what they would have been thinking as they packed, because we all think the same. Those returning home would have been reflecting on the holiday, the joys, the disappointments; those heading off would be thinking about the adventure to come. All would have been thinking about loved ones, saying good bye, saying hello, never realising that they would not get a chance to say a final goodbye. And that is the tragedy of sudden death, never being able to say goodbye.
So all those suitcases packed with thoughts and memories and hope, packed by people who never had a chance to say goodbye.
I was going to write about my painting of Cullen discolor, but Dads have been on my mind over the last few days.
I know of 4 women whose Dads have died over the last few weeks. It is so sad to lose those special people, men who have had such an impact on their lives. My thoughts are with you.
My Dad died 7 years ago. I find myself missing him more in the quiet moments. I thought that family gatherings would be difficult, but, as they are times of pleasure in each other’s company, I know that Dad’s memory is there with us.
I had one of those quiet moments recently that have made me reflect on memories and remembering and where to look for my Dad. My birthday is usually a family affair. This year though my Mum and other family members are overseas and celebrations are put on hold. However, my gorgeous Mum left me presents and a card. I always have a tinge of sadness when I read the cards from Mum, because in the past Dad would always sign them too. Now there is only ‘Mum’ and not ‘Mum and Dad’. This year lack of dad brought tears to my eyes.
But while I was feeling that I was also musing about remembering Dad, thinking about how others are remembering their Dads. And then I put two things together. (Like many profound thoughts, I know I am not the first to think it. In fact I suspect I am quite slow in getting around to making the connection. 🙂 )
I understood the idea of holding someone in your heart to mean that you store the memories of that person. You bring them out, like a photo album, to look at them, to remember how he answered the phone or where he sat to watch the birds in the bird bath or how he would always come out to wave goodbye. Some things trigger them off — “My Dad used to do that too!” Memories are so important.
I understood too, in a separate part of my knowing, that I am so much like my Dad, just as I am so much like my Mum. I grew up with people telling me I looked just like him. Mum says I have his lovely brown eyes. (While she is biased about both of us, I take the compliment!) There are a myriad of things that come from his gene pool.
I also knew so much of my personality comes from Dad, just as so much comes from Mum. I have a love of birds and the environment from him, my creativity too. I am slow to anger and love to allow things to unfold around me.
And then I had my profound thought. That dad is in my heart, not just through memories, but also because he was so influential in shaping who I am, and who I am still to be. And I don’t think it is only the genetic component. Every interaction had a subtle influence on me. Some of those were very conscious, obvious, others not even registering. But they were there.
It moved me on to think about looking for my Dad in the others in my family. I want to catch glimpses of him now in my sister and brothers, their partners, the grandchildren. I would love to know how Dad has affected their lives. I would like to make a memory box. (As I have just thought of this as I write, I don’t know what I mean, beyond talking to the others about Dad and leaving some of his legacy in a concrete form for Mum.)
My musing went on to think about people who have no DNA in me, but have still influenced who I have become and who I am still to be. Obviously in all our lives there are key people who are not relatives. But again, I think that who we are is shaped by all our interactions, not just the big ones that encourage us to examine ourselves in a different light. Just think about our blogging world. Each time I read what you want to tell me, there is a thought, a book, a photo that makes me see the world in a slightly different way.
If this is true, then so is the opposite ~ we influence others too.
I like the idea that we are all stardust. I also like the idea that we are all connected and related, and that what we do influences others. The aim, it seems to me is to make those connections, interactions and relations as positive as possible.
And now I will be looking for my Dad, and remembering him in more unlikely places.
I am very fond of daggy* things around Christmas. This was one of our Christmas trees when I was a kid. It explains why daggy and Christmas go together for me!
I am sure that more stylish decorations were available even back then, in the Dark Ages. But every decoration we had made was lovingly kept by my Mum and reused each year. Even the fairy looks rather dishevelled! (That is the fairy not-quite-on-top-of -the-tree, not my little brother standing next to it!)
*Daggy: adj. not stylish, out of fashion, not trendy, not cool, untidy, unclean, not neat.
v. to have no style.
I remember that we put a Nativity play for Mum and Dad.
Yep, the dagginess continued.
That’s me with the dimples. I got to have the Starring Role of Mary. (You might be able to tell that Jesus was a Maori doll my Dad brought back from New Zealand!) My older brother, complete with a cape made from a towel, was Joseph, while my big sister was the inn keeper. That’s why she is holding the lantern. Goodness knows who my little brother was meant to be. Did we make him be the donkey?!
However daggy, Christmas was always a time of love and family for me, with a lot of excitement! The excitement over Santa’s visit may have dimmed a little, but the love of my family has not. In fact with more people in the family, there is more love and more fun!
So, I would like to wish you all a very daggy Christmas, one that is full of love, family and good fun! And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, I wish you the same.
I have received an award!! It came through just as I was starting my leaf painting giveaway. Even though it has taken me a while to respond to it, I am still very excited. (Just imagine what I will be like when that Nobel Prize for Chemistry finally comes through.)
I have been awarded the Liebster Award by Meeks at Meeka’s Mind. If you don’t know her blog, head on over and be prepared to enjoy yourself. I love her irreverence and her wit, and she has opened up the world of gaming for me to peek into. As well she is a fabulous indie author. I have only read snippets, but they have convinced me that I must read her novels. I know I will be challenged, intrigued and delighted by them.
So thank you. And now to the Award and the criteria.
The Liebster Award recognizes and promotes sites with less than 200 followers. Once you have received the award, it becomes your turn to show appreciation for those that inspire you. The rules are simple:
Acknowledge the thoughtful blogger who nominated you (Tick that off the list)
Answer the 10 questions s/he has asked
Nominate 10 other fabulous blogs for the award
Whip up 10 questions of your own – get creative!
Notify your honorees of their nomination
Okay, to business. Answer the questions Meeks has sent me. (You will get a feel for how her mind follows different paths from the questions she asked. While answering I was interested in how many of these I qualified or asked questions about. I am just not a black and white kind of person. :))
1. Which is the movie you have hated most in your entire life? [If you can’t think of a movie you may substitute a TV show]
I have a friend who hates “The Sound of Music” even though she has never seen it. I saw it 4 times as a kid and could say it off by heart! But that’s not answering the question….It’s difficult because I have quite a high level of tolerance for rubbish in movies and TV shows, as shown by the fact that I saw “The Sound of Music” 4 times! If I really have to give an answer, I would go for quiz shows, where they take an age to answer a question.
2. Which is your least favourite colour?
Depends on where it is — an artist’s response?!
In clothing — brown
In shoes — white
In flowers — hmmmm….
In decor — salmon pink
In feathers — white, because they are so damned difficult to paint on white paper
On baby girls — pink
In the sky — grey
And so on
3. How superstitious are you?
Not very.
4. If you could change yourself into one fictional character, who would it be? [You can gender swap or even choose an animal – e.g. Lassie] This was the most difficult. Easy to put myself into a story — Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. I wanted to visit there ever since I read it as a teenager. But I don’t want to be any of the characters — too much danger and not enough baths. So I will choose to be Thowra, the silver brumby from Elaine Mitchell’s series. I would gallop through the magnificent High Country, evading the traps of men and building up my herd of feisty mares.
5. Which animal would you NEVER have as a pet?
Easy, a spider.
6. You are abducted by aliens and you’re told to choose one plant to save out of all the possible plants on earth. Would you choose wheat, rice, sugar cane, or the cocoa plant?
Abducted by aliens, and I am worrying about a plant to choose?!! Okay…..Rice. It feeds millions of people. Millions of chocolate lovers will disagree with me when I say that sugar and the cocoa plant are unnecessary, and many have intolerances to wheat. (But why can’t I rescue coffee or tea plants too?!)
7. Which is the worst make of car you have ever owned? [If you don’t drive you can nominate some form of public transport]
I get sentimentally attached to my cars. Selling them is very difficult. So is choosing one to be the worst. I will tell you about one instead. It was a Mini that often refused to start. It was a manual, so I was able to jump start it — put it in first, roll down the hill, and, when there was enough speed, let out the clutch and, hopefully the engine would kick start. Luckily I lived on a hill, but it did mean that anywhere I visited had to be on a hill too!
8. If you had to choose between a Da Vinci painting, or one by Picasso, or Van Gogh, which would you choose?
I don’t want a Da Vinci painting (well, maybe if you twisted my arm…) but I would love to have some of his drawings. Then a Van Gogh. Then a Picasso.
9. Would you rather play chess against a computer, or Solitaire?
Solitaire.
10. Red wine, white wine, beer or spirits?
Can I have them all, except for beer?
11. If the zombie apocalypse hit tomorrow, what would you take with you into your bunker – a tablet full of music or a kindle full of books?
Is there power after the zombie apocalypse? If there is, I would take the kindle full of books. If not, I would raid the library before I closed the hatch into the bunker. (And sneak in some music too!)
Okay, the last thing I’m supposed to do is tell you some little known fact about myself. However, I think I have told you a few little known facts as I have ambled about answered the questions. In an upcoming post I will tell you about my adventures as a door opener for the Queen.
I am worn out from answering all of that. 😦 I promise I will nominate my other blogs and list my questions tomorrow! Stay tuned!
Anne Lawson Art 