Sculpture by the Bay- Dunsborough 2023- Western Australia

Last weekend we visited the Sculpture by the Bay exhibition as part of the Dunsborough Art Festival. This is an annual event which has been held in Dunsborough since 2011. 

Always very interesting to see the range of large sculptures through the park along the foreshore and along Dunn Bay Road, and the small scultpures in Christian Fletcher's Gallery. 

I was particularly drawn to those with an environmental message. 

Below top left you can see - 

- Insiduous by Heloise Roberts - Flowers made from plastic bottles attached to trees and trailing through the garden representing insiduous introduced species that are suffocating our native ecosystems. This piece seemed like it was lit by solar lights in the middle of each flower. Would have been good to see at night. 

And below that -  Cumulonimbus by Shanti Gelmi & Louise Grimshaw - using waste and products of over consumption, it reflects on the effect of climate change on our environment. But I did love the little plastic creatures. 

I enjoyed the play of light and reflections on the fish in The School by Richard Aitken - reflecting on the warming of the oceans and the delicate balance. 

I really liked The Plant Apocalypse by Year 6 students at Dunsborough Primary School and their teacher Karen Seaman -  a colaborative piece using recycled paper, cardboard, plastic, salvaged fishing rope and wood, using metallic patinas to disguise the origins of the materials and creating a skyscraper that has been overtaken by nature. 

Musical Bones by David Johansen was a piece that encouraged interaction. Made from an old piano and bits and pieces inside to create the sound. Lots of fun! 

My husband particularly liked Brian Plank's - Kite - each piece moving independantly at the whim of the wind. 

Below 

- Jillain Warnock has used her artworks printed on aluminium to create Spiral Journey of the Spirit.  

- Plastic rope has been unravelled to make the tail of Kerry Walker's Peacock  

- and recylced objects have been used to create a dog as part of Merrilyn Whisson's piece - To Fetch A Pail of Water. 

In Size Matters by Margaret Rees - a hungry seagull is sizing up his options for breakfast, knowing the future of the ocean's sustainability is on the line. The pylon base is salvaged timber from the old Busselton Jetty. 

Below here you can see - clockwise from top left - 

- Shorts too Big by Greg Banfield created from windfall jarrah tells the story of hand-me-down clothes. 

- Tempest - by Wayne Smith - Created from corten steel this piece is like a whirling dervish or dust devil in the desert outback. 

- Metamorphosis by Rod Barnes - made from metal including old car doors representing the Year 2080 where machines reaching out to assist in developing mechanical life forms to restore beauty and wonder to the world. 

- Stealth Birdhouse by Keith Lush would almost disappear in the garden follage. 

And a few of the small sculptures - clockwise from top left - 

- Best Laid Plans II by Shanti Gelmi - representing the manipulation of dreams and expectations and the delicate balance between honouring wishes versus following your own path made possible by parental scarifice. 

- Lil'Bird by David Barbour made from washed up driftwood. 

-  Don't be afraid to think outside the box by Sue Smorthwaite representing the importance to think and decide for yourself whilst still being mindful of the need for social cohesion and tolerance of other views. 

- The Money trap by Louise Grimshaw aims to provoke discussion about the assumption that more money equals more happiness and the risks associated with obtaining more at the expense of simple pleasures. 

- Our Prickly Earth by Joshua Nicholas - made from wire, nuts, and washers represents the state of our global climate which is at least, a bit prickly. 

I hope you have enjoyed this look at the Dunsborough Sculpture By the Bay. You can see more at Sculpture By The Bay. Click on Galleries, then 2023 Sculpture By the Bay Gallery to see all the entries and prize winners. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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!
   

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

Travel 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

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Weekend getaway - Wildflowers from Indian Ocean to Boranup Forest

 A couple of weekends ago we took a three day weekend getaway only about one hour from home that took us from the Indian Ocean to the Boranup Forest and of course there were wildflowers. It's amazing how just a few days away can be so refreshing. 

First off - the seaside holiday town of Busselton and the iconic Busselton jetty. I've brought you the Busselton Jetty a few times over the years. 

Busselton Jetty is the longest piled wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. Built in 1865 to cater for shipping for both goods and tourists, several subsequent extensions were added up until 1911. A final extension was added in 1960, and the jetty was closed to shipping in 1972. In 1978 when Cyclone Alby swept through the south west, the southern arm of the jetty was washed completely away, leaving only the railway jetty.

We have had many enjoyable times fishing and squidding off the Busselton jetty, then buying hot chips from the fish and chip shop at the end of the jetty before heading home. 

The old shop is gone now, but the jetty is still a focus for locals and visitors. The jetty "Boatshed" interpretive centre is just a short stroll from the beach, and the Underwater Observatory, 1.7 kilometres from shore, which can be reached about the jetty train or by walking. There are also restaurants, a fabulous adventure playground, shady lawned picnic areas, a new Brewery, and a hotel is currently being built. 

The jetty is also the location of the annual 3.6km around-the-jetty swim race. 

The bronze sculpture of the girl located at the beach end of the jetty is called "Fish" by Nicole Mickle. 

The next day was perfect for walking - a bit of sun and cloud - so in the morning we walked part of the Meelup to Dunsborough coastal trail. We had wallked from the Dunsborough end in 2019 and seen lots of wild orchids. We didn't see as many orchids this time around, I think we might have been a bit late - but below you can see on the left hand side some donkey orchids, and on the right hand side the Bronze Leak orchid (top) and the Mantis orchid (bottom). 

A few of the wildflowers along the walk. Clockwise from top left - Hibbertia, Claw flower, grass tree flower, pink Trigger plant, Fringe lilly, Trigger plant, Coastal rose, Southern native rose, Banjine, and in the center one of the pea flowers. 

The native rose family has always been one of my favourites. This is Diplolaena dampieri - Southern Diplolaena native rose

Two coastal views - looking towards Meelup beach - and Castle Rock

After lunch we went down to the Carbunup Reserve.  This little reserve is a great place to see wild orchids. 

I won't even pretend to be á botanist with acurate identifications - but clockwise from top left there are three of the spider orchid varieties (the middle one being the Chapman's spider orchid), one of the white orchids, the purple enamel orchid, Karri cowslip, cowslip orchids, forest mantis, and in the center are rattle beak orchids. 

Here is another look at the Chapmans spider orchid, the Forest Mantis and the Rattlebeaks. 

And a few other Carbunup wildflowers - clockwise from top left - the red and green Mangles Kangaroo Paw, green Kangaroo Paw, Banjine, Curry flower, possibly Pepper and Salt, ReedTrigger plant, Book Trigger plant, Milkwort, and in the center on of the yellow peas. 

And for those of you I know love me sharing photos of kangaroos that we randomly come across when we are bush walking, we disturbed this one having a snooze in the sun, so he got up and had a scratch. 

We then drove down to the Boranup Forest south of Margaret River in the Leeuwin Naturaliste National Park. I wanted to see how the forest was recovering after the devastating bush fire last December that burnt out of control for several days and destroyed up to 8000 hectares of this iconic native bushland and karri trees, some over 60 metres tall. 

We didn't walk a long way in along the walk trail as it was now late in the day, but it was heartening to see the bushland regenterating after being scorched bare. 

Two wildflowers - pink Fairy orchid and Native Wisteria. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of our Western Australian coastal wildflowers. 

I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week. 
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!

Mosaic Monday @ Soul & Mind & So On

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

Skywatch Friday

Hello there! I love reading your comments. If you scroll down to the bottom you can comment too! I would love to hear from you.

Hunting for wild orchids, Western Australia

It seems to be a shame to miss the wild orchid season while I keep you in the Northern Territory on my half lap of Australia so for this week I am going to drag you away from my travels and back to the south west of Western Australia where the wildflowers are blooming. If you missed it, I did share a few local wildflowers back in September.

Lazy Sunday Vineyard Lunch- Flutes, Brookland Valley Vineyard, Western Australia

On Sunday we enjoyed a lovely lazy Sunday lunch with friends at Flutes Restaurant at the Brookland Valley Vinyard in Western Australia's south west corner Capes wine region. 

Our friends traveled down from Perth on Saturday, and on Sunday morning we took a leisurely drive down through Busselton, Dunsborough and Yallingup and then along Caves Road to Brookland. 

Along the way we could see that the grape vines are starting to sprout

  
The "Verse" range of wines from Brookland Valley Vineyard have been a favourite of ours for some years so it was lovely to visit them again.  Can you see the statue of the flutist in the middle right of the collage below? He is featured on their wine bottles.

Australia Day - 26 January - on the beach

26 January is Australia Day and the day we celebrate everything Australian, our history, the future, way of life, mateship and cultural diversity. 

I'd love you to waltzing matilda over to my post from last year to look at a more humouress look at what Australianism is - Celebrating Australia and Waltzing Matilda

Why do we celebrate Australia Day on 26 January?  This is the day in 1788 that Captain Arthur Phillip landed in Sydney Cove with the First Fleet (eleven convict ships) from Great Britain. They raised the Union Jack to symbolise British occupation of the eastern half of the continent claimed by Captain James Cook on 22 August in 1770. We should also remember on this day that Australia's first inhabitants, the traditional indigenous owners, have a slightly different view of this event. You can learn more by clicking here - Australia Day History 

Please click on "read more" to read more!