Above the clouds

In the air, flying back to base from the land of the long white cloud. You don't have be a space traveller to realise how small our world is.

Koru Fence in Wellington

Wellington has changed in the last 30 years from sleepy hollow to a capital city and much of the change is due to great design. This fence at the top of the cable car features a koru, symbol of new beginnings, growth, strength and peace. It is a motif you find throughout the city.

Koru Fence in Wellington, Greeting Card by Elizabeth

Wellington Greeting Card

It was clear and sunny during most of my visit to Wellington - and windless as well! So nice I painted outside and made the painting into a Wellington Card.

Wellington New Zealand Greeting Card by Elizabeth

I have spent the week drawing wonderful opera singers. They are singing The Valkyries in Wellington on Sunday and they are just wonderful ... every one of them.

After a week of painting I am exhausted and pleased to have two days rest before the concert.The sketch below is of Wotan and Brunnhilde.

Wellington on a lovely day

It is a beautiful day in Wellington - cool but bright sunshine. This is the view from the top of the cable car.

Down in the city at the Town Hall seagulls splash in the fountain.

The Hills of Home

This photo was taken from Cemetary Hill in Taihape looking south. It is cold there at the moment  - there is snow on the Ruahine ranges which you can just about see in the photo if you enlarge it, though small digital cameras don't see nearly as much as our eyes.

Its the view the alpaca and goats have from their paddock.

Alpaca and Goat

Farmers don't just farm sheep and cattle in Taihape (middle of the north Island in New Zealand) -  for years now they have farmed many and varied species. This photo was taken on a hill farm. The white alpaca was very friendly ... as was the goat who came over and wanted his nose rubbed.

North of Wellington

Sydney might be chilly (last post) but it is warm compared to Wellington. This photo was taken last Friday from a bus window on the West Coast just north of Wellington, New Zealand.

Four layer weather

Who said Australia isn't cold? It's four layer weather this morning.

It feels cold here, but then I look at the temperatures elsewhere (below).

This is my first post from my Android. I am finally catching up with technology but I haven't figured out how to turn photos around and make them better quality.

The picture above was the one I uploaded from my phone. The same picture (right) uploaded later via computer is much clearer.
Sydney 10C, Dunedin -5C, Hamburg 17C (but it is night there).

Collages for the Wagner Bicentenary

Richard Wagner was born in May 1813 and in honour of the bicentenary of his birth, many opera houses  including Opera Australia are preparing productions of his work.

Wagner: Collaged etching

I am celebrating as well and have just made series of Wagner collages using etchings. You can see the series here

Greeting Card: NSW Central Coast, Australia

I have been making a few cards recently. Like this one from a painting made down the road at St Clare looking back down to Woy Woy.

Australia, NSW Central Coast: Greeting Card by australia_nz

Guess where ...

Dark wooden furniture, Erdinger beer on tap and comfort food from the 1950s. Middle Europe somewhere?

No not middle Europe but lower north shore Sydney. Photo taken yesterday at the Bazaar Beer Cafe in St Leonards to be exact (and those are sliced dumplings on the plate).

Wooden seats

What happened to all the wooden seats?

If they still exist they are often like this one. Mostly they have been replaced by aluminium seats which might look like wood but which seep cold into you as soon as you sit down. Give me a wooden seat any day - even an old one.

Woy Woy in Winter

Calm clear day at the Woy Woy wharf. A bird sits at the end of a pier with its belly to the warm winter sun.

View north from the Woy Woy wharf over Brisbane Waters

On the end of the wharf sits a bird ...

...open winged in the morning sun.

The bird sat there still as a statue and was still sitting, wings extended, when I left.

Simon Tedeschi plays piano

Simon Tedeschi played piano at the Pearl Beach Festival with Ian Cooper on violin. They were charasmatic and fun. The chairs were in a semi-circle and from my viewpoint far left I could see Tedeschi face-on as he looked across to Cooper. He seemed to be all eyes as they communicated. Great show - thanks guys!
(More here)

Tedeschi plays piano

Jane Rutter plays flute

Among performers at the Pearl Beach Festival last weekend were the Enigma Quartet, Simon Tedeschi (piano) with Ian Cooper (violinist),  Jane Rutter (flute) with singer Peter Cousens.
Jane Rutter was difficult to draw as she moved all the time, walking from one and of the stage to the other and swaying back and forth as well. But occasionally I caught a brief glimpse of her face as she played.

Jane Rutter plays flute

You can see the sketches of most of the performers here.

www.artsmitten.com

Flowers at Rubys Cafe

White lillies and large red flowers with floppy petals. These are the flowers that sit in the vase at Ruby's Cafe in Umina.

Flowers at Ruby's Cafe

They never wilt
They are made of silk.

Rain Rain Sun Rain Rain

Rain rain rain. Then out comes the sun for five seconds, shining brightly before it is blotted out by the clouds again. Rain rain rain.

Banksia in June

In June the flowering Banksia shine like lights in the bush.

Banksia (Watercolour on Arches Paper)

Great North Walk

The bush track between Patonga and Pearl Beach is part of the Great North Walk which goes all the way from Sydney to Newcastle. The bush path is beautiful, with trees pushing their way between great boulders between which the path occasionally passes.

Steps cut between boulders

Trees push their way between rocks

Att the top of the hill above Patonga you can see all the way back up the Hawkesbury River.