Category: Studio Practice

Worrowing Shroud Processing

Last Sunday Darren and I drove to Worrowing in our old ute to pick up the shroud set featuring the turtle, baby Port Jackson shark, stingray and kookaburra. A horse came to check us out and ran away snorting and shaking its head when I shook out the turtle shroud. Must have got a diabolical whiff of it! At home I put them in a vinegar bath before hanging them out to cure for a few weeks. The only body I kept was the cute little baby shark. The rest I placed under a large eucalyptus tree.

Worrowing Winter Shroud Set

In preparation for the Other Art Fair in Sydney I set up a new Winter Shroud set at Worrowing last weekend. Magically as soon as I thought I needed to create more marine shrouds a baby Port Jackson shark, green turtle and stingray magically appeared on the beach where I jog many mornings. Then on the way to the shroud site directed by Tom I saw something on the track and discovered a recently deceased kookaburra!

Bundanon Rainbow Lorikeet

On Sunday I completed the Rainbow Lorikeet I had created at Worrowing during my residency. The Lorikeet was found deceased by Alicia Talbot during my residency at Bundanon in 2015. Its shroud on paper is still waiting for a watercolour painting. At Worrowing I had a strong desire to paint on a sturdy linen stretcher with rich oil colours. I remembered a friend (my former primary school teacher) Bruce Malbon had requested a colourful bird, so I felt inspired. I began the ‘paint’-staking but enjoyable process of completing two coats of gesso in the negative space between the nest motif consisting of the raw linen glistening with rabbit-skin glue. I also left raw linen sections inside the Lorikeet too, which made the oil painting a little more challenging. I am very happy with the result.

Bundanon Rainbow Lorikeet 2017 68(w) x 64(h) cm SOLD

Worrowing Day 2

Waking up seeing the colours of dawn from bed and painting. I had soaked a batch of rabbit skin glue and alum to size a bunch of new linen and canvas stretchers, one being the ringtail and magpie shroud created at hill End. I worked on Bherwerre 6 more too and thought of a work to paint for the Flourish theme Ravenswood Art Prize, although I only have two days left to create it, which may be impossible. Darren and I walked down to the dams and swamp on the property and found some clay colours suitable for the ochre expedition on Sunday. I was hoping to also find wattle glue but there were mainly casuarinas, eucalypts and paperbarks.