Gallery trip to Mornington Peninsular

Sketching during a rather long wait outside Oak Hill Gallery before we go onto the next destination. This was one of our monthly galleries trip with Casey U3A this time to Mornington Peninsular, Vic, Australia.

It was a lovely autumn day and noisy cockatoos were roosting in a large tree nearby. What a pleasant way to pass the time.

Marker pens, #Moleskinesketchbook 3.5”x5.5” 

Cloudehill Gardens and Nursery

I'd been wanting to go to one of their gardens ever since I joined the Digger's Club (Australia's largest gardening club). We finally made it to one of their 3 gardens – Cloudehill Gardens and Nursery in Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges east of Melbourne. 

What a treat to have lunch and a walk around the beautiful gardens on a sunny warm autumn day. There was not enough time to sketch but here's a few photos.

On the way to Cloudehill driving through native bush.

Lunch at Seasons Restaurant in the gardens.

More of the gardens.

To see more about the gardens click here.

Marker pens, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8” 

Monthly Gallery Trips

I belong to the Arts Appreciation group of Casey U3A. Each  month the group goes in a City of Casey bus to visit a couple of galleries...with lunch in between. 

Our February trip was to the extensive McClelland Sculpture Park near Frankston (a small township east of Melbourne). Set in natural bushland, the park was much bigger and more interesting than I had expected. 

My favourite was a wonderful sinuously moving twirling sculpture by kinetic sculptor Phil Price. 

A larger than life concrete sculpture of the opera singer Dame Sutherland took everyone's attention (but I didn't do too well with the sketch). 

The visit was all too short.

For a history of the park click here. 

Marker pens, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8” 

A "Little" Tumble

My spouse took a tumble in the kitchen hitting his head.  Several hours later – 10 stitches and some good sketching. Glad he got off so lightly.

Marker pens, #Moleskinesketchbook 3.5”x5.5”

Summer Birthdays

I recently celebrated my birthday with our children and their families. It was a BIG number birthday, one of those after which you say "every day is a bonus". Elder grand daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday with me and we had a joint cake which required 2 toppings! The family shared an Airbnb house in the beach community of Avalon, just north of Sydney for a long weekend. It was successful bonding time for the 6 adults and 4 children, this being only the second summer that we are all living in the same country since 2002.

Here's the cake!

Clareview Beach is safe for little ones and oldies. 

The Airbnb house was marvellous except for it being (as we discovered belatedly) without air-conditioning. Temperatures soared to 47 degrees on the cricket pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground that Sunday for the Ashes Series test cricket match between England and Australia. Luckily there was a coolish sea breeze in Avalon and a pool at the house to take refuge in. 

By the way Australia won.

Here's a sketch from an upstairs window. It was beginning to feel really hot that morning.

I love this photo of older grand daughter defying the ocean at Clareview Beach.

Marker pens, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8”.

From a Backdoor in Croydon

Here's the first couple of sketches for 2018! They were done from the back door of a house I was staying at in Croydon, NSW, Australia.

On the second morning I watched the neighbour next door feed wild birds in his backyard. Cockatoos and Lorikeets perched on his clothes hoist and helped themselves from a feeder he put out. What fun!

Here's another sketch looking the other way.

That's the Holy Innocents' Parish which also has a primary school. 


Marker pen, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8” 

Sub-urban Sketching

You could say I like capturing the mundane. Here's a sketch looking down our street in Casey County. 

The weekly garbage collection for us is early Monday morning and everyone puts their wheelie bins (tall bins with wheels) out by the pavement the night before. Bins for garden waste and another for recycling are collected fortnightly. This red bin is the one for garden waste. 

Here's another sketch looking across my street. Agapanthus is a very popular plant with flowers in blue and white.

#LamyPen, #DeArtramentis Document Brown Ink, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8”