Museum of Old and New Art 2

The museum has been carved out of the rock and is a labyrinth several stories underground as can be seen here

These  works below were  by Wim Delvoye a Belgian conceptual artist

Museum of Old and New Art Hobart 1

What an an extraordinary place. People had told me how wonderful it was, but seeing it first hand was indescribable.
The first image here is of a man called Tim  whose tattoo has been created and sold as a work of art. He has been paid, and a condition of his payment is that he must sit in the gallery for a number of days each year, and that his tattoo is the property of the collector who has bought it when he dies. Thsi was by Wim Delvoye.

Below is a library of blank books

This is a concrete mixer carved exquisitely from wood in the Thai tradition.

 Anslem Kiefer's work below

Derwent River - on the way to MONA

A glorious still day for a ferry ride up the Derwent River to the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart

 This is MONA from the river - a magnificent piece of architecture

Bruny Island Cruises

Another highlight was the trip around Bruny Island with Robert Pennicott who runs Bruny Island Cruises.
His boats were wonderfully equipped, the sights were spectacular, and the commentary was great. He has a very integrated operation which made the participants feel very at ease. Robert s a warm and generous person, as is his whole family. Great panoramas, interesting facts and figures conveyed with humour and memorable anecdotes, and a good lunch. Highly recommended.

Giant kelp

 Astonishing rock formations

 Many large smelly bull seals

Snug Butchery Tasmania

A highlight of the trip was our introduction to the butchery at Snug. What wonderful meat and fish these guys sell. The place was highly recommended and it exceeded our expectations. Fresh local produce, served with beaming smiles and good humour.

They are at 2203 Channel Highway Snug Tasmania 7504   (03) 6267 9127

Cygnet Tasmania

Cygnet in the Huon Valley - charmin place where there is a butcher who has an emergency 24 x 7 offering.  Just in case.....

and murals on the public conveniences

the Cygnet historical society below

the local clothes store 

 and a wall garden

Charlotte Cove

Picnic at Charlotte Cove.. such a picturesque spot - we stumbled upon this lovely place, and had sandwiches and berries from our picnic hamper.

View from the Grandvewe

A lovely day going down the Huon Valley  - a lingering stop at Birch's Bay where we called in to the Grandvewe Cheese farm. The cheese from the sheep was delicious - we had to eat the sheep's milk ice cream and drink coffee made from sheep's milk. We were given an informative talk by the proprietors and a tasting - mmm.

Dinner that night was pasta with blue sheep's cheese, walnuts and cream........

There was a terrific view from the cafe. 

 Below are some of the boy sheep

Oyster Cove General Store

One day we headed south and could not make our usual visit to Meredith's Produce shop. So we had a lovely time buying fresh fruit and vegetables from the Oyster Cove store.

A great variety of apples and potatoes, cherries and stone fruit.

People at the Salamanca Market

As well as the wonderful produce and hand crafts at  the Salamanca Market, there were some interesting people too.

I met the creator of RedBunnySays who creates a range of interesting wares - tee shirts, patches, badges and bags.

Witty and entertaining indeed, and interesting entrepreneurial stall.

And then there were these two young buskers who were singing John Lennon's 'Imagine"...... I was so thrilled to hear the song being interpreted by these two very young boys singing it with the same passion and sincerity that was associated with it when it was first performed.

Salamanca Market

The day we visited Salamanca Market it was hot and the sunshine was very bright. It made the market even more colourful in the drenched yellow light of the market umbrellas.

Meredith's Local Produce Store

 One of the treats in Tasmania was our daily visit to the Meredith store to buy local fresh fruit and vegetables as well as local honey, bread and cheeses. The people who worked there, and the owner always were friendly and happy to help.

Coningham Cottage

Having a lovely stay at Coningham cottage.

We are staying at Coningham Cottage It is a great place for photography.

End of Times

I have been busy in the studio this week - I set myself a challenge of creating works on wooden panels using encaustic (wax).

I used masonite, and started with a paper layer and then added wax and built it up. Using wax can be tricky, but using a variety of styluses on a wax tool helped control it.

I deliberately used classic colours of burnt sienna and french ultramarine - a magic combination.

That was the relatively easy part. Creating frames was the hard part.

I eventually managed to get the first image framed with a timber surround thanks to some help from John Ross. I have called it 'The Fracturing"

 I have submitted it for the 69 Smith St Gallery show "The End of Times which runs from February 8th to 26th and opens Saturday 11th Feb. 

The theme, "The End of Times" is a reference to the newspaper stories about the Mayan calendar supposedly predicting the end of times in December 2012.

I will be in Tasmania so will miss the opening. 

 The second image is also under consideration but is still a WIP - note, no frame..
Using terre verte and Naples yellow - two other favourite colours