Deck Chair #1

As I stated earlier I have some old deck chairs that have seen better days. They nearly went out with the rubbish on several occasions but I thought I would hang on to them as I had this idea to replace the canvas. Well now that I have my new studio space I thought it would be a good opportunity to get to work on them. I priced some canvas in a fabric store and it was actually cheaper to buy artist canvas from the art shop and that canvas is a lot stronger. I had a fun day in the studio yesterday. Didn't even go to gym in the morning. I went straight into the studio and had a good and messy play. My fingers got covered in paint and medium. In fact I'm still peeling medium of my hands today. Bliss, absolute bliss hehehe. I have four deck chairs altogether that will get a make over. Each one will have its own design and colours. I've decided to carry the turquoise through in each one but change the other colours. The one I'm working on now is turquoise with orange and purple so watch this space for a deck chair update.

before

after

close up

When I got up this morning I had all intention to go to gym but I just couldn't bring myself to go. I went on a photo shoot with Julia recently and we went to Belair National Park. I used to spend a lot of time up there in my younger years but haven't been there for such a long time. I promised myself I would go back and wander along one of the walking tracks. Well that's what I decided to do this morning. I asked my Mum if she felt like an adventure. She's 76 but still enjoys a good walk. So we packed up our dogs and water bottles and off we went.

Its only about a 15 minute drive from home. Once there we looked at the maps and chose our walk. There are several to choose from and they each have the estimated time it takes. We chose an hour walk which would take in the old railway dam. Of course dogs being dogs, they need to stop and sniff and pee on everything so the hour walk took us two and a half hours hehehe. It was absolutely fabulous though. The wild flowers are all out and everything is still green from the winter rains. The sound of the birds was simply delightful with the squawk from the parrots and the yodelling from the magpies. There were a few caw caw caws from the crows and that made me think of Laura. Rainbow Lorikeets were everywhere and at one point we were able to get quite close to a pair and admire their bright colours. Brilliant green and red and purple. We were even lucky enough to be laughed at by some Kookaburras. That's a true bush sound.

The air was fresh and filled with the scent of spring that just invited big deep breaths to be taken. Mum's cheeks got that healthy rosy glow to them and I knew it was doing her good physically and emotionally. The trail took us right round to the old railway dam which originally supplied the steam trains with water. The National Park Trust bought the dam and surrounding land from the railways once the steam trains stopped and it has been part of the park ever since. There were ducks and other water birds swimming on it as we passed. This was the most beautiful part of the walk with the babbling sound of Minno Creek in our ears and over grown vegetation with fallen trees and wild flowers everywhere.

In the early days when the park was established exotic trees and plants were planted. People were more interested in having parks that reminded them of home in the northern hemisphere. You still see examples of this throughout the park today. We came across a wonderful old oak tree, one of Mum's favourite trees. Some of these exotic trees are heritage listed and are protected but the rest of them are slowly being eradicated as are the non-native plants like the blackberries and lilies. They grow like weeds and smother the native vegetation which just isn't good for our fragile eco system.

Once back at the car we loaded up the tired dogs and headed home promising to take weekly walks there before the weather gets too hot and we are forced to stay indoors with the air conditioning on. It does the soul good to commune with nature. We don't do it often enough.