We have been extremely lucky here in West Australia to have the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on exhibition in Perth, finishing 31st January. I think it only came to Perth in the whole of Australia, which is really great, because of our great distance away from the Eastern States we rarely get any of the great exhibitions and shows that they do, a flight over there is 4 or 5 hours and forget about driving, so you can see why I am excited about this. But I haven't made the effort to get into the Art Gallery to see it and almost missed it. Finally got there on Thursday. I prefer to go to art galleries on my own, as I love to study the colours, the textures used, how they achieve light and shadows. I get a real kick out of standing in front of an original art piece and feeling the aura of the artist from so long ago. Picasso's painting above was one such painting, the fact that it has cracks in the oil paint adds to its authenticity, I just love his style, his choice of colours, that each line is not perfectly straight. mmmh I love his style, this has grown on me over the last 20 or so years. I also loved Mark Rothko's art.
This is only a short blog, we are having extreme heat conditions, my fingers are sticking to the keyboard. Very high humidity in which our evaporative air conditioner does not cope with, so I try not do anything that takes too much effort. I have boards with textured backgrounds that required at least 24 hour drying time waiting to be painted as samples for workshops, flyer's to be designed for said workshops, all will have to wait until this humidity drops. However there has been a cyclone warning that is due to hit Perth Sunday morning with extreme flooding, winds and inland fires, hope everyone is safe, it is predicted to be bad.
Stay safe
Jacky
Although Koala bears are not native to Western Australia, there is a enclosure here, we spotted quite a few asleep up in the trees as we walked along the boardwalk in their enclosure.
This little guy got hungry and we stood watched and took photo's of his progress down the tree.
The particular eucalyptus leaves that they eat do not grow here so are flown in each day to feed them, you can see the downward facing leaves that he is eating.
He decided that he preferred this bunch of leaves and scampered across the branch to feed on them, they do look so cuddly.
I do not know the botanical name of these trees but they are commonly called blackboys, they are very slow growing but do look lovely with their grass skirts.
This lovely amphitheatre is nestled in the bush, don't think that it is aboriginal though.
Lovely earthy colours of bark and stone.
A touch of verdigris on the tap shows how well it blends with the natural bush colours.
lovely bronze new growth on a native protea
these beautiful gold tipped pink blooms are such a contrast against the white/grey leaves, the flowers are almost the size of a teacup.
and these amazing wood cups after the blooms have finished
This rather large beautiful grey kangaroo was about 2 meters away from the path that we where on, she has nestled into the shrub for shade, can you see her little joey between her front feet.
lovely old gnarled tree smoothed from wind and rain, and probably bushfire at some time
a mushroom growing into the trunk of this old tree
waterfowl looking for dropped picnic snacks
to make up for the dry browns of the bush the bird life is so vibrant, but they lack the lovely musical birdsong you get from the plainer birds. I think this was a mother and child bird 
jetties for canoe's but the water is so low that it is impossible to tie them up here, grand daughters at far end. It was a lovely day spent with lovely family members, I hope you have enjoyed the beauty of the Australia through my camera lens. Jacky
The photo's above are from the latest issue and in English language. I am looking for those who would like to commit to putting in an order, the minimum I can get is 10 but I would like to get 20. I have 6 interested women from my classes and family and would love to share with others that would love to get such an inspiring magazine in beautiful soft colours, vintage style, a little bit on gardens, a little bit or cooking. If you love Norwegian decorating style this will impress. A gorgeous timeless magazine to keep on your table. If you are interested send me an email and let me know what area you are from, if you are out of Australia I could get you a postage cost as well.