Hot summer

Dear Readers

In Australia at the moment it is hot. VERY hot! The grapevine which grows all around the back covered area of the house is growing crazily. Every few days I have to go out there with scissors and cut a way out into the garden, making a green doorway. There are bunches of grapes forming, too. They will be juicy red table grapes, and will be ready to pick in mid-Autumn.

Sometimes, when the leaves are newly forming on the grapevine, I make dolmades. How delicious! I feel very lucky to be able to grow such an amazing plant where I live.

This image I painted depicts just a tiny section of the grapevine, with all its twists and turns.

PS Happy New Year to you all and thanks for checking out my blog! You can also find me on Instagram: @alisaperks  

Grape Leaves. Gouache image by Alisa Perks.

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.

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.

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.

 

Trees

Eucalyptus trees grow in unpredictable forms. The snow gum grows in twisted, tortured shapes. In the New England region of New South Wales, where I live, the high country eucalypts (gum trees) such as snow gums have a haunting beauty. They often have sheeny, silver trunks and branches and silvery grey-blue leaves. 

When I lived on the coast, I didn't recognise the beauty of eucalypts. There, they often grow very close together so they don't get to show off their shape like a specimen tree. I now see their beauty and their subtle grandeur.

I painted the image below inspired by rows of eucalypts bordering high-altitude paddocks; their colour becoming softer with greater distance.

Trees by Alisa Perks, gouache painting on paper.

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Illustrations

Hello Readers

Some of my art is for the purpose of illustrating books or CD covers, and some of it gets projected behind plays on stage, which is very exciting.

The illustration below shows the cover design I did for a CD of the musical, "Everest, the Musical". This piece of musical theatre, by Robert Thompson, is a fabulous comedy containing "romance, danger, ice and snow". A deadly combination indeed. In this cover design, Marmaduke, the hero, finally locates Mount Everest after much journeying and trudging alongside his faithful companion, Godfrey.

Image: Marmaduke Finds Everest by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

PS Right now, I am working on a book with pictures and not much writing, and I'll show you more about it when the time comes. Mysterious.......

Carpark

I recently had the pleasure of receiving a Special Recognition award for my entry in the Painting section of the "Cityscapes" art competition, at the online art gallery, Light Space & Time. You can click here to view all the entries which received recognition in this competition.

For the "Cityscapes" theme, I chose the image below; a painting of my impression of one of the main carparks in our city. I was learning to drive when I painted this image, and I was beset by the idea of being trapped among all the concrete kerbing that interlaces carparks.

Image: "Carpark", by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

Motels

I love to do paintings of motels. I’ve stayed in lots of motels. The look of them is fascinating, with the carpark and the long, low rows of rooms.

You know it’s a special motel when they give you those little packets of biscuits in your room. And if you’re really lucky, you get a couple of sachets of hot chocolate mix among the tea and coffee makings.

As long as it's a quiet room with a comfortable bed.

The motel below was interesting, because it had a kind of tunnel you drive through to get to the carpark and the rooms.

Image: Motel 3 by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.