Snow gum forest

The New England region of New South Wales, Australia, is high country at 1,000 metres above sea level. Here you can find forests of eucalypt trees such as snow gums. Near Bendemeer is a huge area of eucalypts whose iridescent trunks reflect gold of the early evening light. Their shapes are gnarled - no two trees the same shape. They grow wild and to their own, individual form.

The image below is a painting in gouache, where I depicted these forests in their beautiful depths.

Eucalypt Forest by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

Painting a cathedral

Dear Readers

I hope you are well.

The image below shows a painting of a cathedral in Armidale, New South Wales (Australia), which I completed a couple of years ago. The fancy brickwork of this building was really challenging to depict, and took all my concentration! It was fun to do, though....

Cathedral in Armidale, NSW by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

Rainbow Cake

I'd like to try and make a rainbow cake. They look so beautiful! It might have purple icing, like the one I've illustrated below. That would complete the spectrum.  This picture is actually a snipped-out detail of an illustration I painted for a storybook character I invented earlier this year, who is a bit of a gourmand and adventurer.

Rainbow Cake by Alisa Perks, gouache on paper.

To Canberra

A road trip to Canberra was the inspiration for this image below, which I painted in gouache on paper. It documents winding mountain roads, meals and accommodation, the car, things we saw on the way. I wanted it to look like computer icons, as if you could press one to get more information.

It's fun to try and get the gouache to portray other substances and surfaces, like computer screens or even sometimes, biscuits! But more about that another time...

To Canberra by Alisa Perks, gouache on paper.

Motel Carpark

Dear Readers

Here's more evidence of my fascination with motels. This is a motel we've stayed at numerous times, although we don't need to now, because we moved to the town where this motel is. 

Motel 1 by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

The owner of this painting said, "This painting tells me all I need to know about motel carparks".

That reminds me...

I must clean the bathroom!



Bathroom by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

This was our bathroom in a house we rented in Lismore. How glamorous.

Woollen cakes in Queensland

Our recent travels in the "South Western Area of South East Queensland Western Country" (I think that's what it's called?), were incredibly interesting.

At Jondaryan Woolshed, the biggest working woolshed in the world, I found a glass cabinet full of knitted wool cakes and sandwiches. What a delight! They are so beautifully made.

Here are some of them:

Yummy woollen cakes and sandwiches at Jondaryan Woolshed, Jondaryan, Queensland

And we searched for the ghost town at Koorongara, south of Milmerran, but couldn't find it. It remains a mystery to us.

Shortlisted and lamingtons

Dear Readers

I have just been shortlisted for the inaugural New England Illustration Prize. This competition is held by the New England Writers' Centre, in Armidale NSW. As well as encouraging and supporting writers, the Writers' Centre have begun to encourage illustrators with their practice. 

The shortlisted and prize-winning illustrations are on show at Gallery 126, Jessie Street Armidale until 18 July 2016.

Entrants to the competition were asked to create an illustration inspired by a poem by Sophie Masson.

The Writers' Centre intend to hold this competition every year, so that's very exciting for illustrators!

A lot of my paintings seem to contain buildings or food (shades of Talking Heads?). I created the image below while thinking of Lamington National Park, in Queensland. It was a finalist in the Country Energy Landscape Painting Prize in 2014.

Lamington National Park by Alisa Perks, gouache on paper.

Road trip

South East Queensland is the place we will explore in our next road trip: Toowoomba, Dalby, Chinchilla, Pittsworth, St George and more. There will be so much to see and we have no idea where we will head each day, as we don't know what we'll find. It's impossible for us to map out a trip completely when we don't know the area, so we will play it by ear.

Here is a car travelling through the night on the New England Highway in New South Wales:

Highway by Alisa Perks. Gouache painting.

Project

Dear Readers

I'm working on a project that is kind of secret at the moment. The unveiling time has not yet arrived, but below is a detail/hint of it. It involves fun and big hats.

I hope you are all well.

Train Ride detail, gouache painting on paper by Alisa Perks 2016.