Monday, April 20, 2026

Assemblage sculpture in the cottage grounds

 

We have been away from the cottage for 9 months or more. It is always a joy to reintroduce ourselves to the plants but also the assemblages Fiona and I have made and scattered about the grounds of the cottage.

This time I particularly like the combination of the daffodils and the assemblages such as in the case of the background to the cube in the opening photo.

Following are images of most of the pieces in no particular order or priority.











I like how the art ages and just seems to settle even more into the garden landscape. We don't have plans to make any more pieces in this trip.

Friday, April 17, 2026

A little bit of art

 

We are settling into life in the cottage and have started to carry out maintenance tasks. We are now trying to find bits of time for art. I got a couple of hours this morning and started on a couple of wee watercolours. 

The opening photo shows where I got to - a reasonable start. Some process photos follow.



The kitchen table became the studio!!! It takes a bit of time unpacking and packing the art box but it is worth the effort.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

First fragments from the cove

 


We have been at the cottage for just under a week but have managed to walk to the cove most days and down on to the stone beach twice.

There are still enough bits of rust and stones to bring a smile. How about the delicate tracings of the heart stone in the opening photo - too large to bring home - it will reside on the stone beach for more folk to find and enjoy maybe.

More photos of stones follow.



A few images of the rust and other abandoned bits




Even though the current trip is a short maintenance one I'm sure we will visit the cove and it's treasure on a few more occasions.

Sunday, April 12, 2026

Leaves - an artists' book

 

I have completed a  5 'page' unbound  book in leaf form - including grinding and polishing. I blogged on the process of this book a couple of weeks ago - but it is now ready for exhibiting if my application is accepted.

The content of this book is my original fragmentary poem Leaves below:

leaf whispers

ruby

emerald

emerging

unfurling

 

autumnal flourish

copper

golden

falling

flying

 

quiet litterfall

bronze

russet

sheltering

renewing

A few more photos of the finished work follow.





I like the form of this book and the earlier one (Mighty River Trees) that I did for the Narratives exhibition at the Little Red Cottage Gallery Maleny.

Friday, April 10, 2026

Small Scottish watercolours

 

This very short blog post is the first from Scotland - so good that it shows a few images of a couple of watercolours of local buildings - the old shop in Melvin and local aged stone building. Opening with the old store watercolour. Stone building watercolour follows.


Couple of process photos.


And a couple more of the finished works.







Wednesday, April 8, 2026

Farewell fragments from the iPhone

 

Fiona ands I will be on our first flight heading towards the cottage in Scotland when this blog post publishes - at least that is the plan.

I have taken random photos from the iPhone simply as a way of saying we are making the transition from our Maleny home to our Armadale home - so my next iPhoneography on Wednesday will be from the cottage - hopefully!!! The opening photo is a carpet of petals - just gorgeous - at least I think so!!!










One of the features from quite a few of the images is that it was/is wet. Another feature is the beauty of petal and leaf fall!!

Sunday, April 5, 2026

All packed for Narratives

 

The opening photo and photo below show that I have completed my two artists' books for the Narratives - constellation of stories 2026 exhibition at the Little Red Cottage Gallery Maleny - May 2026

When I say completed - that includes the paper work and some art journals that could be included in the Narratives Pop Up Shop - see journal photo below.

Though earlier blog posts have shown the two books ( Mighty River Trees and Leaf Cycle) in progress, the photos below show the finished works: first Mighty River Trees and then Leaf Cycle






The shape of the 'pages' for Mighty River Trees was inspired by the shape of some fallen leaves similar to that below.

Fiona will be exhibiting a book in Narratives - of course Fiona's book is very different to mine!!!

I hope that folk can get along and support this local artists' book exhibition.