Babirusa

This week my nature painting group painted the Babirusa. This remarkable curly tusked pig is found nowhere else in the world except in undisturbed rain forests of Sulawesi. Sulawesi is Indonesia's fourth largest island (175,000 km2). It is something of a "forgotten island" in that the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra receive much more attention from conservationists. However Sulawesi has an amazing diversity of totally unique species, of which the Babirusa is probably the most enigmatic.

The Babirusa is amazing in a number of ways. Firstly the tusks are the upper canine teeth, which in males grow upwards out of the snout and curl round towards the forehead. Further the Babirusa fight by rearing up on their hind legs and "dance" - it is quite amazing to see this in the wild apparently.

The unique Babirusa and the Nantu Forest are facing grave threats from destructive forest clearance and also illegal poaching for their meat. They face a real risk of extinction in the near future, given that their total world population is only about 5000 individuals, yet they are poorly known about worldwide. The Babirusa's tusks have in fact inspired artists from long ago, being featured in Balinese artwork.

I was actually inspired by these fascinating 40,000 year old babirusa cave paintings  to create my own!

Modern Cave Painting of a Babirusa, mixed media

I actually started the painting with two pigs' heads superimposed over each other with one upside down (hence the double set of tusks) and the image then morphed into a Babirusa hybrid. Here's my Modern Cave Painting of a Babirusa, mixed media (gesso, watercolor, alcohol ink, colored pencil, pastels).


Linking up with Paint Party Friday!


Happy Painting!

Little Yummy Hummingbird

I am part of an online Nature Painting Challenge Group. Each week we take inspiration from a photograph of an endangered species to create inspirational artwork to create awareness of the animals' plight.

This week's topic was the Saw-billed hermit (hummingbird, Ramphodon naevius) feeding on a large torch ginger (Etlingera elatior). This hummingbird is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and the largest of its hummingbirds. But sadly, he is considered near threatened because of the status of the Atlantic Forest. This forest is under serious threat as 93% of it has been destroyed. The large cities along Brazil's coast, urban sprawl and agricultural interests are the main causes.

I had fun creating a loose work of art with alcohol inks on yupo paper. It was such fun as always!

I am linking up with Paint Party Friday so come on and join in the fun. The hummingbird painting is available as a print, cushion cover, mug etc at Redbubble. It is also available as a silk scarf from the Art of Where.

Happy Painting!

Little Owl

I have made an amazing discovery! My mind is blown by my experiments with alcohol inks. I have been keen to try these for a while and I was not dissapointed. I decided to just go with the flow and tap into my imagination. I knew that you can't really use these inks on porous surfaces to I grabbed some see-through packaging I had lying around and just slipped some white paper inside as the backdrop.

Using a straw I blew the inks across the shiny surface, causing some intriguing effects. As I worked I felt as if I was watching one of those psychedelic lightshows from the sixties (such as the video above).

Every time you add a new color everything else shifts around, in slow motion. As I added different colors I saw an owl emerge.

 

I left my little owl like this in the end but it was hard to stop. Believe me, using alcohol inks is well and truly addictive because they move and drip around so much. The fumes are also pretty bad so I opened all the windows to clear my head. I believe in future I might try adding alcohol blending solution and I will also try working on Yupo paper.

Have you had any experiences working with alcohol inks? What kind of surface did you use?

Linking up to Paint Party Friday so link up and spread the love.

A Mouse's Dream

And now I will give my answer to the perennial question of what mice dream about. My daughter says this is creepy and maybe she is right.......but the mouse looks happy enough to be jerking the cat around by the strings for once!



Here's Sandy Shaw's Puppet on a String:





What do you think mice dream about?


Linking up to Friday Sketches, Paint Party Friday and Illustration Friday where the inspiration was puppets!

Rockin with the Owls!

Advertised as: the ultimate romantic gift to share on the sofa with your Valentine –
the new Two Cosy snuggie combines the comfort of a blanket and the convenience of four sleeves!

Generally, come autumn, and that nip comes into the air, you will find me curled up on my couch with a good book, a cup of cocoa and my trusty guinea pig for company (although I would probably do better with a fat ginger cat companion, but alas I am allergic). I admit I have almost been tempted by the Snuggie apart from the fact they look a bit sweaty and claustrophobic (has anyone tried one? What are they like?) and also signals a bit that you have traded style for comfort and have decided to give up on shaving your legs to live inside a massive fleecy blanket. I mean come on, could anyone ever find a two cosy Snuggie romantic??


But I digress. Anyway, last weekend I was pulled out of my apathetic couch based existence, firstly when I dolled myself up to be a devil woman at a Halloween party. And secondly when I attended a rip-roaring performance of the Electric Pharaoh by the Baltimore Rock Opera Society.


Whoah! To say this performance was raucous would be an understatement. There was enough energy to light up an electric grid. The audience shouted encouragement and everyone was buzzing. They are now performing in DC and Philly so get a ticket if you get a chance!

The day after, filled with the energy generated by this singing and dancing troupe I was inspired to paint these rockin owls. They are bad boys ...or possibly girls ....who know how to rock an audience don't you think?

The Rockin Owls- watercolor & colored markers

The Owls really know how to screech their way to fame. Some feathers were really flying that night. These guys are Trouble with a capital T. At that gig they even bit the head off a mouse.


Available as a print from Redbubble here.


Linking up to Illustration Friday, Paint Party Friday and Creative Every Day where the theme is Flight!





Have a rockin weekend!

Who Let the Dogs Out!

Hi Everyone!

What a crazy week it's been. I am busy working at the moment. I teach art in residential homes and I must say it is fun. I love getting out into the community and inspiring seniors and those with special needs to tap into their creative side.

I also found myself asked to create a vivid blue doggie commission. I am rather pleased with it. A friend even told me it reminded her of Chagall. I found it intriguing to juxtapose the solidity of the blue body with the translucent watercolor swirls of the background. What do you think? I am now adding blue pet portraiture to my repetoire over here at Etsy.

 

I am also thrilled that my doggie calendar for 2015 featuring all my original artwork is now out. You can buy it here.

It's been such a crazy week I have not had time to make my daughter's Madhatter halloween costume for a party tomorrow. I will have to scour thrift stores for crazy jaquard prints to create a truly tasteless ensemble! What kinds of costumes are you cobbling together?

Linking up to Paint Party Friday! Come and check out some amazing artists!