Artful Stroll - Tiny & Progress

Here I am again, trying to catch up with the prompts provided by Natalie in her "Stroll through the Hood" art challenge adventure. I think they are getting harder and we have to put more thought into what our responses will be. Interesting and still fun!

Day 19 - Tiny

Here I have used an old photo from the nearby Botanic Gardens. These beautiful birds used to visit my yard when I first moved in to the area over 20 years ago. Sadly they have been moved out by road building, factory building and of course, predators - because they are tiny - smaller than a common sparrow.

They are the Superb Fairy Wren whose males turn this lovely bright blue for part of the year, and I was exceptionally lucky to get this shot as they are very fast movers.

Day 20 - Progress

I am taking part in a year long on-line course learning how to paint faces and skin tones.  (https://karabullockart.com/product/lets-face-2017/)
One of my colleagues at work is taking a keen interest in my progress, so occasionally I post something on Facebook for her to see. I posted this last night.

I still have work to do with shading and skin colour, but I am happy with it so far. I hope I can get more done this afternoon after work. Then I can start on the next lesson because, guess what? - I am about three weeks behind on these classes.

Thanks for looking and cheers.

These photos are in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Text

Today I have photographed a crate of books - one of about 10 sitting behind my desk waiting to be processed. The company that I work for gets books "shelf-ready" for libraries. We label and cover the books, and for many libraries, we then add the books to their databases (catalogues) before delivering them.

My job is data entry to the library catalogue and I do some editing or downloading of catalogue entries. I retrained as a library technician in 2012 & 2013 after working more than 30 years in accounts and admin for various companies.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Thanks for visiting and cheers for now.

Artful Stroll - More catching up

So here I am again, behind on the challenge and playing catch up. I got my night shot when I popped out to the local supermarket after dark, and then stopped to get my mail. The crack was easy and I cheated a bit with the reflection shot.

Day 13 - Night

This is looking up the drive of where I live from the front entrance where the letter boxes are - you can see the front of my car in the shot. It is quite a long driveway and my unit is way off in the distance.

Day 15 - Cracks

We have a very large crack in one of the windows at work. It appeared shortly after we moved into the building last year. We don't really know how it happened but we keep checking to make sure it hasn't grown any larger.

Day 16 - Reflection

This is an old photo - taken in a beautiful garden and lake complex near Shanghai. In my old job, I had do a couple of trips overseas to attend company meetings and seminars. I was only in Shanghai for 4 days - two day seminar plus one day visiting the office and one day sightseeing.

The delegates from the seminar had a lovely day walking the gardens and sailing the big lake. The blossom was just starting to come out - it was really pretty.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Thanks for looking and cheers for now.

Artful Stroll - Catching up

I've been busy with work lately and missed quite a few of the daily challenges. I thought that I would catch up here and then try to get myself into gear and keep up.

Day 11 - Sign

That was easy. My sister-in-law bought this sign for my garden at my last place and it followed along to the new place. The string at the back broke, so now it hangs off the trellis on a couple of hooks.

Day 12 - Trash

This is my recycling bin inside the house - it's where I accumulate recyclables until it gets full and I need to chuck them in the larger bin outside that the local council empties every fortnight.

Day 14 - Pattern

I like doing word puzzles, particularly Code Words, where you have to find the letters and make words. It is often a matter of knowing common structures or patterns of words that helps work our which letters go where. I can sit for ages doing these puzzles or crosswords (normal and cryptic).

You will have noticed that I missed day 13 - Night. I will try to get that tonight - but I don't go out much after dark!

These photos are in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy this look around my neighbourhood.

Artful Stroll - Wildlife

We get lots of birdlife in the area - mainly because there are wetlands to our north-east and to our south-east. When the units were first built, there was a bit of a pond behind the property where you could see lots of water birds. As well, up in the sky hunting small prey (field mice, etc) were black-shouldered kites. We even had fairy wrens visiting along the back fences hopping in and out of low shrubs and grasses - usually only the bright blue male was visible.

Slowly the area around us has been built up - the pond filled in, factories built and a new highway gone in. We still have open ground to the south with a school and football ovals/cricket grounds, and because of the wetlands, we sometimes see flocks of birds flying by. The birds we see most of now are the rainbow lorikeets and noisy miners - both very loud and raucous. Outside my dining area, I have a grevillea and it is popular with both birds, however only the lorikeets are pretty to look at!

 This photo was taken from the doorway of my dining area and for some reason this pair did not fly off when I opened the door. I love it when they visit and could watch them forever!!

Artful Stroll - Plantlife

I was going to include photos from my garden, until I thought about the name of this challenge "Stroll through the Hood", so I decided to photograph some gardens that I pass by each day. Only problem was life (i.e. work) got in the way and I didn't have time for walking around the neighbourhood.

But when I went out into my backyard, I noticed a couple of plants in flower - so here they are. The first one is a small banksia - I think it is called "Birthday Candles". 

The other is a crowea - "Princess something"?? I love the bell shaped flowers of the croweas and I have one in my front garden with flowers resembling chef's hats (not in flower at the moment!)

Both plants help liven up the garden as we head towards winter.

Artful Stroll - Ground

Somebody decided to lay some rubber at the entrance to the property where I live.  I am on the Owners' Committee, so took a photo when I stopped to get my mail on the way home.

Not so good to see as you drive in, but unfortunately we get some dodgy visitors at one of the rented units. Otherwise, it is a great place to live.

Artful Stroll - Sky

This is not a very recent photo - it was taken last year just before Christmas, when one of the local community groups moved their fireworks display & carol singing to the football oval behind where I live. Their annual concert & display had got too big for their carpark, so we were the beneficiaries of a close-up fireworks display.

The view is from my front porch, looking over my opposite neighbour's garage. It was really nice to see the fireworks because usually we only hear them going off in the distance.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Window

This was the view from my front window this morning when I opened the blinds, and discovered a very foggy world. It did not lift for a few hours, but this afternoon it was sunny again.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/

Artful Stroll - Shiny

This was a no-brainer for me. Every day I get blinded by sunlight being reflected off cars in the carpark. My office has large windows facing north and west and while that makes the office very light and airy, on really sunny days, we get a bit too much bright light.

Fortunately Melbourne's weather is a bit changeable and five minutes after being blinded by sunlight, it will be cloudy or even rainy - especially at this time of year.

I might add that this photo was taken yesterday from inside  my office, over my colleague's desk which was bathed in sunlight.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Mailbox

Where I live, we have two banks of mailboxes flanking the entrance to the property. Sometimes they can be a bit messy with junk mail hanging out - worse if it has rained.

This photo is in response to the Artful Adventures Stroll through the Hood project. You can find out more here: http://nathaliesstudio.com/learn/online-workshops/artful-adventures-stroll-challenge/ 

Artful Stroll - Fence

Just a small part of the fence around my unit. This is an ivy geranium which looks lovely when in flower.

Artful Stroll - Transportation

Here is my car in my very crowded garage. The stuff is not mine - I am storing it for a nephew until he finds somewhere to live. The computer boxes don't have computer bits in them, they are full of towels, sheets and other household stuff, so are the drawers and the plastic tubs!!

Artful Adventures : Stroll through the Hood

I saw this photo/art challenge on Frieda Oxenham's blog, so thought I would join in - except, I had trouble find a user name on Instagram, then discovered that it is not compatible with my PC. So no other option but to use the blog (because Pinterest will surely be the same as Instragram!). Today I am playing catch-up with my photo posts.

Here is Day 1 - Home

This is my own little slice of a 37 unit complex in suburban Melbourne (Australia).