Winter Trees

Here are the two finished works as described in yesterday's blog. Click on the image to get a better view:

Winter in Bathurst

Winter in Bathurst gets me down. I'm a gardener, so I have to avert my gaze from the bleak barren backyard. I burst forward when the veges do.

I had a bit of an early spring clean with my kids in the last school holidays. We came across a very large bag of forgotten textas and started doodling. Textas are not usually my first medium of choice, but it was nice for a change. This is my first attempt on printer paper. (you can click on the image to enlarge it)

Then I thought, there's a series in this, why not celebrate the bare trees, honour them in some way, and use some nicer paper in the process. I photographed some of my favourite deciduous trees around Bathurst: elms, oaks, claret ash. This one is on very large beautiful heavy artist paper that a friend gave to me.

This row of trees has a real presence in the street. Here's hoping they don't get cut down. It's only half finished, so I'd better get cracking.

Anyway, these trees are helping me find my way through Winter.

Art Workshops

I'm starting up classes in my home studio. Over the last couple of years I've held many workshops from schools and community centres to adult educational art.

For this workshop I was invited to a friend's shed out of town. Around 8 or 9 women were gathered for an afternoon of still life painting. Views from the windows out over the paddocks were lovely, but we turned our backs on those and concentrated on the still life arrangements which were set up on the trestle tables, everything from freshly picked roses and dahlias to gourds and pots. I wove my way between the easels and talked of tone, composition and light. Afternoon tea was a treat with homemade biscuits and little cakes. Needless to say I enjoyed myself enormously.

Classes will run on Tuesday evenings, commencing in August. You can phone or email me for details. 6331 0224 or art@catherinehale.com.au