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.

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.

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.

Harrington Waters

I put in an order to Vistaprint recently for a t-shirt with one of my paintings on it. They do such a great job of printing. The colour quality is amazing and I can't wait to receive my new shirt. (This is not an paid endorsement. This is unsolicited praise!)

The painting I've put on the t-shirt is called "Harrington Waters". Harrington Waters is a housing estate on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales. The land was claimed out of the living mangroves and now has large houses perched on it, each guarded by a standard large dog. The estate is near the original village of Harrington, which is charming and which provides some of the best fish and chips I've ever had. Just north of Harrington is Crowdy Head, whose Santorini-style lighthouse features in some of my artwork.

Here is my painting of Harrington Waters, soon to be star of t-shirt:

Image: Harrington Waters by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper,

Seminar for "creatives"

Hi Readers

Today I went along to a seminar for "creatives", to a talk about helping artists to be in business. It was very entertaining and I came away feeling more free and inspired than even before! There were lamingtons, too.

A point that the speaker, Monica Davidson, made to us was that it's OK to do artistic things to attempt to make a living. The arts are an increasingly popular occupation in many countries, and it deserves respect.

The high unemployment of the last 20 years had made me think that there's no such thing as a "safe" job any more; something to "fall back on". Who wants to fall back anyway, if you can possibly avoid it?

Surviving: I work one day a week as an admin assistant and that keeps the wolf from the door, as we live very cheaply at home. I make lots of the things we need for our home - food, household things, clothing. That saves us money. The less money you need, the less you need to work.

Today's seminar was run by Arts North West, who are active in encouraging arts practitioners from our region of New South Wales. Thanks to them and to Monica for today!

Image: Green Irises detail, by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

Yarrie Lake

Dear Readers

Yarrie Lake is a magical place near Narrabri and Wee Waa, in New South Wales. It was a chance discovery for us a few years ago. We had just visited the CSIRO Australia Telescope near there (see Blog Post #1) and saw an interesting blue dot on the map which needed investigating.

Yarrie Lake is like the beach but inland; a large, round lake fringed with casuarina trees, beaches and picnic shelters. The belief is that the lake is an old meteor crater.  All we could hear there was the sighing of the breeze through the casuarinas. 

The lake is not always there though. During drought it can disappear, but it comes back when the rain does. It's a beautiful swimming place. I painted the image below from my memories of Yarrie Lake:

Image: Yarrie Lake by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

Motels and hotels

We were staying at a small hotel in Sydney recently. Some of the guests seemed to have strange nocturnal habits. Lying in bed in the early hours of the morning, I was trying to figure out what on earth people could possibly be doing, by piecing together all the noises they were making. I worked out that a young couple staying there were in the habit of taking their pet goose for a drive every two hours throughout the night.

It was incredibly humid in Sydney, as is fairly typical of February. It's always interesting though. We checked out Kinokuniya Bookshop in the city. They have a huge range of art books and great air-conditioning. I bought a book full of Art Nouveau patterns.

Motels are on my mind again as an idea for creating images. I've just finished a repeat pattern painting of motels, inspired by kimono fabrics. The image below shows another of my motel paintings:

Image: The Citysider by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

PS. Check out this link to the Australian Bookplate Design Awards for 2015. My two entries are shown among many other fine bookplates. There were hundreds of entries for this popular competition. One of my entries shown on the site appears in an earlier blog post, and the other features a gentleman wearing a panama hat and trying to read amid cement mixers and barking dogs.

New buildings and concrete

Hello and I hope your 2016 is good so far!

They're doing a lot of building nearby, with lots of concrete. There's a new supermarket being built, for a "Smarter Shopping" experience. We've already got several supermarkets, so this must be the cluster theory in action.

Down the road are these townhouses (pictured), built a few years ago. You can probably see the driveway from space; it's very white and expansive:

Image: Three Townhouses by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

PS Mr Biscuit was born yesterday (literally). But more about that later.

Itchy feet!

Sometimes a feeling of restlessness is natural, and the desire to explore other places gives me itchy feet. I feel very lucky to be able to roam around the country, visiting towns, cities, national parks, lots of places, without having to  show documentary evidence of my existence to authorities.
 
It's great fun to decide where to go and explore, and so interesting to arrive in a place where I've never been before but have probably heard about many times.

"Get in the car!" has become the catchcry in the household lately, as those itchy feet make themselves felt. The places we choose to visit are often west of the Great Dividing Range.

When travelling in the car, the dashboard becomes a useful keep-warm facility for meat pies and other hot snacks to be eaten further down the road at a good stopping place. This facility is called the "Dashboard Bain Marie".


Image: To Mungindi by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

I got the inspiration for this painting when we were heading north from Moree to Mungindi. Mungindi is up on the Queensland border with New South Wales. We had been enjoying the hot artesian spa baths in Moree, as we have done many times, and decided to take this side-trip as a bonus. We had a pie in Mungindi. 

Hot weather!

It's been so hot lately (even for the high country of the New England), that all I want to do is sit and read. I'd go swimming at the town pool, but somehow I can't seem to raise the energy to do all of that. Hopefully it will cool down soon......

Panda has the right idea:


Image: Panda Reading by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

 

Grevillea Frieze: Botanical painting

Hello Readers

Recently I entered a Botanicals art competition at Light Space and Time, an online art gallery based in the USA.

My entry, Grevillea Frieze, was selected for Special Recognition which, I think, may be equivalent to a Highly Commended. It was nice to be counted amongst some fine artworks in this competition. Click on the gallery link above to have a look.

Grevillea Frieze is inspired by Art Nouveau repeat designs for wallpaper and furnishing fabric. I have always loved this era of design, with its swirling lines and muted colour-schemes.

See what you think:





Image: Detail from Grevillea Frieze by Alisa Perks. Gouache on paper.

I love the curved fiddle shapes in grevillea flowers, as they are offset against the spiky leaves. The grevillea which inspired this painting is a ground-cover variety which grows beneath the front hedge. It is a very tough plant but very beautiful.

 

Russian Orthodox Church in Lidcombe, Sydney

Hello readers and also hello to my readers in Russia!

I recently visited Sydney and saw through my train window, once again, the Russian Old Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation - Assumption, in Vaughan Street, Lidcombe. 

This church really stands out as a beautiful piece of architecture, with its golden and coppery domes and white-washed walls. 

I few years ago, I did a painting of this Russian Orthodox Church in Lidcombe, to celebrate the fabulous shapes of its domes. The medium is gouache on paper:

Image: Russian Old Orthodox Church of the Holy Annunciation-Assumption, Lidcombe, Sydney. Medium: Gouache on paper.

Lidcombe is a very multicultural place, as is much of Sydney. I think this makes Sydney a very exciting and interesting city to visit. Sydney is also a culinary feast, with delicious foods from so many cultures available in restaurants, cafes and food stalls. 

One of my favourite places to eat in Sydney city Chinatown/Haymarket) is Eating World, an Asian food court featuring a dazzling choice of dishes from China, Vietnam, Malaysia (including Nyonya), Japan, Thailand and other cultures. It is busy and bustling at midday, as many workers enjoy eating their lunch there. One dainty lady nearby was steadily working her way through an entire fish!

Bookplates: Portrait of a book owner

I have been designing bookplates for people recently. Bookplates are a delightful way to reveal aspects of the book owner's character, interests or sense of humour. They can even be a bit wicked!

The bookplate below is for a family member who, luckily, has a great sense of humour. She is actually very generous in lending books, contrary to what this image shows:




Image: Bookplate by Alisa Perks. Gouache and watercolour on paper.

Painting the kitchen

Sometimes I paint scenes inside the home, of everyday objects and happenings.

This washing up had just been done and was shining in the light from the window.

Drawing up this gouache painting, entitled "The Washing Up 2", made me feel a bit woozy because of the strange, warped perspective!





Image: The Washing Up 2 by Alisa Perks. Painted in gouache on paper.

Swimming Pool

It is the swimming season now in Australia. The local public pool has opened and looks blue and inviting. It will be great to swim some laps there, then back-float and look up at the sky.

I painted this public pool (shown below) during winter when it was cold, still and quiet. The pool is in East Maitland, New South Wales and the painting is entitled "Swimming Pool".





Image: Swimming Pool by Alisa Perks. Painted in gouache on paper

 

PS. I have been designing bookplates for people recently, showing funny views of their interests and personalities. More about that soon.....

Cath's House

Recently I had the privilege of painting a portrait of a friend's house. I thought that it should pay homage to her interests and say something about her, and be more than a view of her house.

She collects beautiful tins of different shapes and ages. There are also some fascinating light fittings inside her home which appear in the top of the painting.

Thanks to Cath for giving me this commission, entitled "Cath's House" (and for the permission to include it in this blog).




Image: Cath's House by Alisa Perks (gouache on paper): a portrait of a home and its owner.

Coffee with friends

Cafés are wonderful places to meet and catch up with friends. During regular meetings with an artist friend, we'll draw what's on the table in front of us for practice while we talk. The image below, entitled "Fat Goose Crossing Café", evolved from one of our meetings:





Image: Fat Goose Crossing Cafe by Alisa Perks. Painted in gouache on paper.