Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are well. June has been such a busy month for me and I still feel like I am tryng to catch up. Where did winter days sitting in front of the fire with a book go?
The first part of the month was filled with getting ready for and attending the Dardanup Art Spectacular and Art Trail. Various artists had art displays and sales throughout the town and also in the Ferguson Valley.
I and three other artist friends again hired the lovely old heritage listed Anglican St Mary's Dardanup church to display our wares. Whilst the other girls had beautiful paintings, I had my photography prints, greeting cards, cushion covers and totes, and my botanical eco printing scarves, upcylced tops, tote bags, greeting cards and prints. Unfortunately due to the wet weather we didn't have as good a weekend as last year, but it was still ok. It had taken me several weeks to get organised and I felt exhausted by the end of it all and needed a couple of days to recover.
In the pic below you can see me with the other three artists - Sylvia, Sandra and Christine, and the beautiful church.
And below some of my botanical eco-printing products. - upcylced shirts, prints, notebooks and greeting cards printed mostly with local eucalypt leaves.
And some cynoptype greeting cards - a craft new to me in the last few months - but so much fun!
As well as the Art Trail - the Art Spectacular art competiion is held every year in the Dardanup Hall. I entered three pieces - 2 photographs and one of my framed eco-prints. I am happy to say that this top image of the autumn leaves which I took in May at the Balingup Tree Park was award a Highly Commended - ie equal second.
Here is a happy snap of me accepting my award. Two fellow photographers from the Photography Group of Bunbury won 1st prize and the other Highly Commended prize. Sorry about the poor quality of this photo.
Since then I have been unsuccessfully trying to catch up with life. Some family issues, trying to walk every day, complete some writing projects for my writer's group and a magazine I write for, and I have also been doodling drawing some botanical sketches with pencil. There never seems to be enough hours in the day. Somewhere along the line I need to do some housework! I think my husband thinks so too!
It was lovely to go bushwalking on the weekend to the Crooked Brook Forest in the beautiful Ferguson Valley. We picked up some morning tea from the Dardanup Bakery first. A must visit.
Crooked Brook has walks from relatively short easy walks on wheelchair and pram friendly paths to a more challenging 10km walk.
There were not many wildflowers out yet, but they are on their way. I really need to start a catalogue of wildflowers I have photographed. Clockwise from top left - ground hugging Banksia nivea, commonly known as honeypot dryandra, one of the dryandras, one of the grevillias, the red jug flower, prickly hakea, and jarrah tree buds.
Gosh we have a lot of prickly plants in the Australian bush. All of these except for the red jug flower and the jarrah are prickly!
We were also fascinated to see a Mountain Marri - Corymbia haematoxylon - a variety that I have actually photographed before I have discovered - but obviously it hasn't really registered with me before. It doesn't flower till October to March so I will have to go back then. They call this bark - tessellated bark
I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
MosaicMonday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf
Sharon's Sovenirs
Our World Tuesday
Pictorial Tuesday
ThroughMy Lens
Image-in-ing
My corner of the world through my camera
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global hosted by Randomosity.
and Little bird - Pienilintu
Thankful Thursday
Welcome to Nature Thursday
The art trail looks very interesting. I'm visiting from Mosaic Monday
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your win! Your items are lovely! It looks like such an interesting event.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on Highly Commended; your painting is beautiful. All your artwork is!
ReplyDeleteCongrats for the second place, you deserve it. That was certainly a lot of work in preparation, but nice if it is accepted.
ReplyDeleteGreetings to you
Nova
Jill - I have always admired the shirts with the eco-printing! Congrats on winning Highly Commended for one of your photos. I can relate to "not enough hours in the day" and our days are longest right now!!! I am thrilled to be playing in my flower garden, and something has to give - might as well be the house cleaning! Thanks for linking to Mosaic Monday!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear the house cleaning is bottom of the priority list as that makes me feel good about my own priorities. Would loved to have visited the exhibition and sale. I love those blue prints - they are so unusual.
ReplyDeleteyes, the blue cyanotypes are something new I have been playing with. I thought they were rather nice too. :)
DeleteThe art trail looks so interesting, and I like the photos of the unusual (to me!) plants!
ReplyDeleteLovely art. I just started experimenting with Cyanotypes.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your win. I love the autumn leaves.
Love your eco art prints. Looks like an amazing process.
ReplyDeleteYour award was much deserved. It's way too hot and humid to walk here, but your hike seemed lovely.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations <3
ReplyDelete