Coochie collected

My big news is that both of my monotype artist books that I created during my residency at Coochiemudlo Island in April 2010 have been acquired by State Library of Queensland for their artist book collection.

I created 2 books at Coochie, my 'Lost and Found' series, inspired by the diversity and fragility of the island's tidal mangrove environment.

So my books will outlive me and I can visit them at any time.  Truly wonderful!

NSW Southern Highlands

We recently returned from another motorhome holiday, this time to the Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands in NSW.

This was a great opportunity for me to collect plant materials for my monoprinting.  Several years ago, whilst first visiting the Blue Mountains, I collected a few sprigs of a beautiful fern which I have since discovered is called 'Pouched Coral Fern'.  This fern looks great in my monoprints and I was keen to collect some more, as my original pieces had fallen apart from many runs through the press!

I collected pieces of the fern from a public park in Katoomba, storing the fern in a small phonebook and layers of newspapers.  This means the fern will be dry when I print with it.  Sometimes this storage technique doesn't work as the dry plant will fall apart in the first run of the press, but I've had success with the more robust ferns using this technique.

I'm looking forward to using them in my monoprinting, and sharing them with my future workshop participants.  Luckily I always leave enough room in my luggage to bring my goodies back!

Exploring (note the scarf & raincoat!)

King Fern

There's a forest down there somewhere...
I'm at one of the many lookouts in the Southern Highlands. 
There was zero visibility due to rain, mist and fog!

One of my monotypes featuring my favourite, 'Pouched Coral Fern'