Friday, March 30, 2018

Vase with flowers ready for art show

©2018 Barry Smith - Vase with Flowers and Leaves
I got a bit of time in the studio-garage yesterday and quite a bit today. Ken has offered to transport my entry into the Aspects Art Show to Goondiwindi if I had it completed over the weekend. So that was the focus off my studio time.

I had to make one last flower and adapt my original prototype - I wanted to have 7 flowers in the end. I have had to use quite a large tulip vase for the last flower form as I had not been able to source a smaller one.

©2018 Barry Smith 
Flowers were ready for their final grind and polish.

©2018 Barry Smith
©2018 Barry Smith - Flower heads looking good
It had been suggested to me that I might attach leaves to the flowers. I rather liked the sparse for of the flowers asa you can see in the photo below.

©2018 Barry Smith Vase with Flowers 
But I decided to compromise and make some detached leaves to add to the arrangement.

©2018 Barry Smith - Patinated leaf forms glued to brass tubing
Fiona helped me with deciding on the balance between the height of the vase and the length of the stems of the flowers. I think we have got it right - used glass beads to raise the stems up and also to lock them in place once they were arranged.

©2018 Barry Smith - Vase with Flowers and Leaves
©2018 Barry Smith - Leaf forms make it appear more like a floral arrangement
I now need to document what I have done and pack the lot for Ken to take on his trip. The final piece stands at about 1m high.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Another moist and misty morning

©Barry Smith - Brilliant purple with crystal clear droplets
It has been raining almost every day for over a month now. Fiona and I were away for quite a bit of it experiencing crisp cold snow days. When I walked Treehaven Way this morning I met one of the regular walkers and she said "I'm just over it now." She and her dogs did not look like they were enjoying the misty morning.

©Barry Smith - Tree at top of our driveway
©Barry Smith - A subdued family of magpies in the mist
Still it is a good time for fungi and seed pods - they are beginning to pop up in all shapes and sizes.

©Barry Smith - Micro fungi - about five mm in diameter
©Barry Smith - Fungi on the book wall
©Barry Smith I love how the droplets are cascading from this fungi
©Barry Smith - Fungi on the base of a stump
©Barry Smith - Seeds bursting forth
©Barry Smith
The valley was totally whited out this morning.  On Monday it was shrouded in cloud - lots of clod puddles amongst the trees.

©Barry Smith
I guess if the rain ceases it won't be too long before we are complaining about needing water for the tanks and plants - we can be fickle.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Rust and other fragments in the landscape

No time in the studio/garage today as I was helping a friend move house. One of the payoffs however was seeing the vehicle below on the side of the bush road. I love the way nature is just incorporating the vehicle into landscape by growing around and through it.

©2018 Barry Smith - A passenger of a different nature
©2018 Barry Smith - It would be good to see this vehicle in 10-20 years to see how well the tree is doing
It reminded me of the other bits of rust and worn layered paint that I captured in Scotland; including some bits of rust in the snow. So for rust lovers here are a few photos.

©2018 Barry Smith - Disused fence strainer Armadale bay
©2018 Barry Smith - Rusted stationery engine behind the cottage 
©2018 Barry Smith - Rotted post and rusted iron ring coated in snow
©2018 Barry Smith - Sparkplug, snow and rust
©2018 Barry Smith - Layers of history Thurso
©2018 Barry Smith - Rust and stone
©2018 Barry Smith - Worn walkway in Edinburgh
I guess I will be back in the studio soon.

Friday, March 23, 2018

Light and other fragments from Scotland

Even though it is Friday and of course that usually means time in the studio-garage that just could not happen today as there were too many on-the-block jobs and a community share house meeting.

To give myself a little art injection I looked at some of my iPhone photos from the recent time spent in the northern highlands of Scotland.

The light in the highlands can be quite different to that on the mountain; and of course the presence of snow added to the mix.

©2018 Barry Smith - Sunset and moon in a cold winter sky
©2018 Barry Smith - Reflection of light on falling snow
©2018 Barry Smith - A subdued snow covered landscape - from the car
©2018 Barry Smith - Sun struggles through a cover of snow laden clouds
©2018 Barry Smith - Sunset on a rare clear afternoon - looking up from Armadale beach
©2018 Barry Smith - Moody land and sea - from the car
©2018 Barry Smith - A roadside visitor
And of course I tend to be drawn to detail of objects and the landscape.

©2018 Barry Smith - Part of a sculpture at John o'Groats
©2018 Barry Smith - Ice, stones and sand on Armadale beach
©2018 Barry Smith - Remnant of a post on Armadale beach
©2018 Barry Smith - Micro flowers on a a tiny moss plant on a rock at Camsten Cairns
©2018 Barry Smith - Delicate lichen filled decoration on a tombstone Bettyhill cemetery
©2018 Barry Smith -Delicate moss on a tombstone Bettyhill cemetery
©2018 Barry Smith - Kelpie sculpture Falkirk
©2018 Barry Smith - Kelpie sculptures Falkirk
©2018 Barry Smith - Reflection of Kelpie sculptures and swan in a loch pond Falkirk
©2018 Barry Smith - Survey marker Camsten Cairns - the meeting of light and dark
Hopefully I will be able to get back into the studio next week.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Colour and mist to welcome us back

We have been in the remoter north of the Scottish Highlands Scotland for about 5 weeks refurbishing the wee 120 year old stone cottage below.

©2018 Fiona Dempster - Stone cottage in the Scottish Northern Highlands
Maybe more images from the Scotland trip in a following post. We are now back on the mountain.We spent 5 weeks in snow; and have been welcomed home by warmish rain and mist.

©2018 Barry Smith - Looking towards the valley and mountains through a whiteout across the water filled fire pit 
©2018 Barry Smith - Birds on the wires in the mist in Treehaven Way
©2018 Barry Smith - A misty walk along Treehaven Way - Treehaven Way has one street light
Though we are officially into autumn there is still colour and textures to welcome us back.

©2018 Barry Smith - A full head of white crucifix orchids
©2018 Barry Smith - A web suspended blossom
©2018 Barry Smith - Odd shape and colour of an Australian native ground orchid 
©2018 Barry Smith - Odd shape and colour of an Australian native ground orchid  
©2018 Barry Smith - Colour of a ground orchid 
©2018 Barry Smith - This orchid plant has 7 sprays of  orchids
©2018 Barry Smith - Can you see the ants seeking nectar from this ground orchid?
©2018 Barry Smith - Bookwall through a fine web 
So fortunate to be able to experience the contrasts.