Update to website – Tawny Frogmouth Linocut

I have finally started to get back to work – although slowly – and have just updated my website with the final version of the ‘Tawny Expressions’ linocut which I have called ‘Evry Move You Make…Watching YOU’.

The local ‘tawnies’ as they are affectionately known are back of an evening hunting under the street lights and sending out their thrumming oom-oom. Each year I hope they will find the trees in our yard to nest in but so far no such luck! But I look forward to thei summertime visits and hopefully they will bring a young one or two around again for a visit.

Tawny Expressions Linocuts – first hand coloured drafts

It is wet windy and cold here at the moment with a ‘weather event’ looming – according to the weather forecasters. Nice weather for being inside drinking coffee, making winter comfort food and well procrastinating which seems to loom large for me in recent times.

I have however managed to complete one set of colour drafts of the set of 12 tawny expressions linocuts. I wasn’t sure how much to hand colour at this point so have gone in this set for the full colour with glowing yellow eyes look.

Below are the template images with just yellow eyes…

Tawny Expressions Linocut Templates

I was planning to have them framed using black core black mountboard with a black frame so the second image here is to give some idea of that.

I will probably sit on these images for a while (yes more procrastinating!) so I am going back to carving some more work and also further working on the Barn Owl image. I did the original drawing of this barn owl about 5 years ago and it has waffled around for all that time. I have come up with a whole new way of looking at it and may even drop the orginal idea in favour of developing the new images. I will post the process at some stage as it can be valuable for an artist to look at their own processes in a more ordered fashion required for blogging and may provide some small insights for others. Well hopefully anway!

Emu Linocut – what a difference a background colour can make

Having finally carved, printed and now coloured this linocut (after working on the original drawing over a year ago and the pre-sketch ideas are over 2 years old!) I finally have finished!

I had hand painted the emu first as you can see but it felt a bit empty so added a graded wash of ‘Australian Red Gold’ which I am quite pleased with. I must say this one of my favourite watercolour pigments as it just seems to have a glow about it.  I think the background colour can make a huge difference to any work and often it may take several tries to create the effect you want. So now it is a matter of completing the edition of this design.

Oh and still deciding on a final name for this work? Any ideas?

Finally!! Four New Linocuts – Design Art

I have finally completed 4 new linocut designs. They are part of my Design Art Series and are designs using Australian Wildflowers. The last two are directly inspired and taken from own native garden.

The first is Scarlet Banksia – Banksia coccinea

This design is based on the Native Mistletoe – a parasitic native but pretty flowers and weeping nature.

Some strawflowers straight from my garden!

And the gorgeous Native Rhododendron…from my garden…

Australia Day – Golden Wattle and Wildflowers

Golden Wattle

Today – 26th is Australia Day – a public holiday here in Australia and a day to celebrate all things Australian – so today I am celebrating our unique wildflowers with some of my linocut designs.

The Golden Wattle – Acacia pycnantha is the Australian floral emblem.

Below is a design incorporating all the Australian State and territory floral emblems.

Australia – A Nation of Wildflowers

Australian Flora & Fauna – Homespun Magazine

Just a quick post about my work featuring in the latest Homespun yearbook (dare I say ‘also available at your local newsagent’) which has a focus in this issue on Australian Flora and Fauna. as you can see they featured some of my ‘design art’ images and a Tawny Frogmouth.

Wildflower cards @ Book Affair in Melbourne

My wildflower cards can now be found at Book Affair in Melbourne

200 Elgin Street, Carlton – Melbourne

VIC 3053,

Phone: +61 3 9347 3542

Open 7 days from 10.00am – 8.00pm

More Wildflower Print Designs

…some pastel inversions…

Australian Floral Emblems – Drink Coaster – Linocut Design

Australian Floral Emblems

Back in May I was commissioned to design an Australian Floral Emblems drink coaster for the Hanna Group. The coasters have been produced and are now available!!

This is the design – it was to include all the Australian State and Territory floral emblems surrounded by the Australian floral emblem – the golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha).

The concept was that there was no real ‘up’ and so the coaster can be swung around in a circle to reveal each of the emblems.