Capital idea with muddy beginnings (Gov Gibbs Landing)

In the 1840's the people of Brisbane insisted that their town should be the capital. Many of the squatters, objected to Brisbane being the capital on the grounds that it was some distance from Moreton Bay and that wool and other produce would have to be shipped down the Brisbane river at considerable cost.

By this time the squatters had established their own newspaper, the "Moreton Bay Free Press" at Ipswich which they considered to be the capital. They also attempted to build a rival port at Cleveland on Moreton Bay.

From Ipswich they built a road direct to Cleveland, but in March 1842 Sir George Gibbs, Governor of New South Wales, visited Moreton Bay on the ship "Shamrock" in order to settle the question of where the capital should be.

It is said that there was some official prejudice against Brisbane because of its penal associations and its remoteness from the sea, so the Colonial Secretary in Sydney directed that a new site should be chosen.

Gov. George landed at Cleveland when the tide was out and had the misfortune to sink deep into muddy ooze as he stepped ashore. This unfortunate accident, which apparently annoyed the pompous Governor somewhat marked the end of any thoughts that Cleveland would be the site of a port.

Gibbs chose Brisbane instead. Pastoralists weren't discouraged in the least by this and persisted in their attempts to develop Cleveland, by building a sawmill, a wool store, and a shipbuilding yard.

For a time the town was the social and political centre of the squatters and their supporters. However in 1854 Cleveland became unpopular as a port following the wreck of a ship nearby and the loss of another by fire.

Bibliography - Carina State School's 75th Jubilee Book 1917-1992

The above is a little background on my next watercolour pencil piece, which I painted last Sunday from a park at Cleveland on Moreton Bay. It is the actual site of Gov Gibbs landing.

As you can probably make out, not much has changed today there's still plenty of mud at low tide. Also it wasn't a particularly clear day, lots of ominious looking grey cloud, with the sun trying to peer through on occasion. It was indeed amazing to watch colours change as I drew. The little muddy island of trees to the right, went from dark forest green to almost lime green as the clouds moved around whilst here and there bits of silver grey sea turned to sparkling turquoise.

Closer to the shore are a few mangroves where the mud takes on a reddish tinge, the soil around many of Moreton Bays communities is a brilliant red, very fertile and still supporting vegetable and flower farms.

ED: Forgot to mention that the rising landmass in the background is North Stradbroke Island which is 32 kilometres long, 11 kilometres at its widest cross-section. The island has become a great tourist destination and is probably the most accessible island in Moreton Bay.

Point Lookout, Amity and Dunwich are the three main settlements on 'Straddie' as it is colloquially known. It has a total permanent population of more than 3,500.
Point Lookout is also the major tourist centre and was named by Captain James Cook on his discovery voyage to the east coast of Australia in 1770.

At "Straddie" visitors can enjoy world class beaches, famous for fishing and surfing, watch humpback whales on their Northern migration, scuba dive nearby rocky reefs or simply soak up the laid back island lifestyle. It also has some wonderful beach camping sites that are dog friendly.

To get to "Straddie" you can either catch a water taxi or the car ferry from Cleveland.

First attempt at Watercolour pencil and Ink

One afternoon a couple of weekends ago, on our way back from Point Cartwright after a walk to the point and along the beach, back up the hill past the lighthouse and down the boardwalk and then lunch in the park, we decided to take a detour and travel back via the beaches at Caloundra.

We've done this a few times, so by the time we hit Moffat Beach at Caloundra its usually afternoon tea time. We park in the car park and carry our chairs and esky over to the edge of the green nature strip that overlooks the sea. Its a great spot on a summer afternoon, usually breezy with lots of activity on the beach below.

I sat for a while gazing at the landscape to the left and then to the right of me.
Decided that it was a bit too hazy to the left and settled down to draw the headland to the right. I used a superfine Indian Ink Pen on 300gsm rough and then proceeded to colour in with Derwent Aquatone (reasonably expensive) and Faber-Castell (really cheap)watercolour pencils. This is my experimental piece as its the first time I've tried this medium and I wanted to see how each of these brands of pencils would perform and interact with one another.

The Aquatone pencils are solid watercolour sticks wrapped in protective paper, no real need to sharpen unless you want a point, so its just a matter of tearing the paper back. The colours are strong and vibrant, right up my alley.

The Faber-Castell pencils are also nice to work with and as far as I'm concerned just a vibrant. These pencils do need to be sharpened as the colour is contained inside wood, just like a normal pencil.

I've never painted with straight watercolour mainly because I'm one of those artists who likes to see a strong outline and vibrant colour which is why I prefer acrylics. I don't think I can achieve those requirements with just water colour although I'm sure it can be done with the correct technique and a good teacher. Such is my reason to try out Watercolour pencils with Ink.

I'm reasonably pleased with how my first attempt turned out, it took me about two hours to complete, not bad for a quick sketch and swash of colour. I do think however the sky could have been better, there appears to be too many stops and starts and so the colour doesn't follow on and blend as I think it should. It would have best been done with a broken piece of pencil used side on like chalk to give a more even finish and leaving some of the paper white to give the impression of clouds.

Noosa style themes

Just finished this painted canvas with a few little bits and pieces I picked up at Noosa on the weekend. The starfish, shells and flowers were a bargain, from the local hardware store. I was a bit annoyed that the two market stalls I really wanted to visit weren't even there. I figured the stallholders stayed away because of the rain, pity cause it had fined up by 8.00am, but then again, by noon it was steaming hot. The temperature was reported as 26 degrees C, I have to dispute that, it was more likely over 30 degrees.

Not sure where I'll hang this one yet, it really wasn't mean't to match the bedroom, but I decided to use up the paint I had left over from the other seaside themed canvas paintings I completed a few days back.



Here's a pic of the newly renovated bedroom, apologies if some of the photos are a little dull, but its been raining cats and dogs here in Brisbane for the last few days, so no sun to help with the lighting.

and another angle

It's 2008 - Happy New Year to you all

I've just be wading thought my photo archive trying to pick some photos to frame.
I decided a few days back that we ought to renovate our bedroom seeing as we have a few days off. Of course since then its done nothing but rain. (we have a Low off the coast near Fraser Island, which was being watched closely in case it turned into a Cyclone. We've also had close to 10 metre waves out in the bay off to the east of where we live.) So the plaster that was used to mend the crack in our bedroom ceiling is taking its time to dry. This damage was done a couple of years back when we raised our Queenslander home to build in underneath. Everything moves when you raise a house, luckily ours wasn't too bad.
So I've been to the local hardware to purchase sample paint pots and think I've decided on a lovely shade of Aqua, bright white trims and white ceiling. I'm aiming for a cool beachy feel. Also went to the local furniture store yesterday and picked out some 50cm wide slatted blinds in white (I really wanted white shutters, but I think the cost is going to be a little out of my budget) so the blinds are the next best thing. We also bought a new white ceiling fan, the built in cub boards were painted white last year and the handles changed to brushed silver. I've also picked out a 8 drawer chest in white (unfortunately it has black handles, but that's easily fixed, I'll try spray painting them with silver metal paint first and if that's unsuccessful, then I guess I'll just bite the bullet and go buy some replacements in brushed silver) My other problem child is the carpet. Why oh why does carpet fade so easily. The area under the bed is bright jade green the rest has turned a colour that I can't even describe. So as soon as the room is painted I'm calling the local carpet store and asking them to bring by some samples of the best non fade carpet they have. Beats going to the store with a inch square paint swatch. That brings me back to the photos, today I sanded back the photo frames that were hanging in the bedroom and have given them a watered down white wash, in fact three coats, then sanded back edges and raised areas to expose the timber and sealed them. I love this shabby chic look and have given the same treatment to other bits of old furniture in my home. e.g a couple of old pine bedside tables look wonderful in my guestroom with the addition of some gorgeous clear glass knobs which I purchased at an antique shop. The photo below is one I'm thinking of using. It was taken on Stradbroke Island, these are my favourite sea birds. The one above was taken down on the far south east coast of Tasmania in winter at one of the most scenic places I've ever travelled to. Its in the Freycinet National Park and known as Honeymoon Bay. This picturesque area was about a 100 metre walk from the front of our forest like cabin.

Coral Charm - More things from the Sea

As you may or may not be aware, I love the beach. One of fav past-times is fossicking along the high tide line, often I take pics there and then of things that I find, arranging them into pleasing patterns.

I once found the tiniest pieces of red coral whilst on Holidays on Heron Island off Gladstone on the central Queensland coast, mostly broken, but still a vibrant red. That is something we don't see along the beaches here in the southern parts of Queensland.

Here's another new set of jewellery I made last week using vibrant red coral and sterling silver. The necklace can be worn with the feature clasp to the back of the neck or on the side for a different look. I added some Dark Red Coral 5301 Swarovski Bicones for just the tiniest sparkle. I love this set. The Bracelet is Plated Sterling Silver and has some handcrafted silver spirals that I hammered flat using my new chasing hammer and anvil. These pieces will be available for sale at my pre-christmas jewellery show.

Here's a close up of the earrings in the set.

Holiday Antics in New South Wales

Just back from two weeks camping down at a little place by the name of Nambucca Heads in northern New South Wales. Its about 4.5 hours drive from Brisbane. We stayed in a pet friendly park, so that Rem our 6 month old Border Collie could experience the joys of camping and the beach. There are plenty of opportunities to experience bird life at this park.

Lots of black cockatoos, Major Mitchell's, Rosella's etc. Its very rowdy at sunrise as you can well imagine. Plenty of Pelicans too on the Nambucca river, they wait for the fishermen to clean and discard their fish scraps.

Rem was very interested in the birdlife just sat and watched as he's not seen birds that close before. He was fascinated by the cattle and sheep that we passed along the road. He probably knew he had some sort of affinity with them, but not sure what.

He took to camping like a duck to water. His beach soccer skills are amazing too and he's now waiting for a contract with a major soccer club...lol....Extremely funny sight chasing after the ball and knocking it with his nose and paws. Rolls over it, ends up sitting on it, gets cranky with it and growls when it gets away from him..... we ended up having to take the soccer ball off him, as he was exhausted and still wanted to run.... typical Border. Mind you the soccer ball hasn't faired to well though. I'm surprised it didn't explode and send us all out to sea.

Overall it was still a little chilly and we had a couple of blustery days wind wise. Only one mishap, accidently sat on the sunnies and snapped both their little legs off... Good excuse for a new pair! Luckily I found a chemist shop in a little town not far from Armidale that had at least one pair of trendy sun glasses.

We visited some rather nice easterly spots in New South Wales. A couple of my favourites were Sawtell not far from Coffs Harbour, and South West Rocks. We managed day trips to Port

Macquarie in the south and Armidale in the west

which was very cold and windy...... burrr...

Here we visited the tourist info centre to get hold of some maps of the area, as well Rem had managed to break the ring on his collar that holds his ID tag so a trip to the saddlery across the road in the hope of getting a replacement didn't bring much joy. These businesses are really suffering with the horse flu outbreak. They can't take in any work and many horse transport businesses are likely to go under in the next few months if things don 't improve. After a trip to the local pet shop for a new collar and a restock of Rem 's fav doggie biscuits we headed off to explore Armidale.

I really wanted to go to Tamworth, but that will have wait till the next trip, as it was too far for a day trip. One of the highlights was the trip along the "Waterfall Way" from Bellinger, (not very far from Coffs Harbour,) very scenic part of the world. Passed some orchards once again full of birds which am sure are a pest for the farmers.

Lots of interesting Flora for camera buffs around the beaches. It's rather difficult travelling with 4 legged friends as they're not that welcome in most places, including most beaches. We found a few dog friendly beaches, but the thing that disgusted me the most was the number of cigarette butts found in picnic spots we visited at lunch time. Smokers should be banned from these places as well, as least my dog doesn't smoke, is well behaved and I clean up after him. Why on earth butt bins are not supplied by NSW councils in these tourist areas is beyond me. I guess that goes for the rest of the country too.

On the way home on the weekend, we stopped off at a little place named Woolie, sleepy seaside village outside of Grafton. I really liked this spot, lots of little holiday huts for rent as well as a couple of van parks, great little cafe on the river that makes the best coffee too.
Continuing on from there we headed home home via East Ballina the coast road where an amazing storm was brewing out at sea.

Then into Byron Bay for a little look around as its been a few years since I've been to there. Didn't recognise it.

It was a long day having packed up camp and headed off around 10.00am we arrived home close to 7.00pm tried but happy. Overall a great trip, very relaxing and a great time had by all.