Blackened Forests & New Beginnings

HAPPY NEW YEAR POSSUMS!

2013.....

just doesn't look right to me. 

Maybe because it's an odd number. I never trust an odd number.

But, I guess I'll give it a go.

Things have been a little on the quiet side lately. I am at a bit of a loss to be perfectly honest.

I've got so many loose ends from last year I don't know where to start!

I need some inspiration. Something new to look at.

I've been so lost I've managed to procrastinate myself into dusting the house and getting rid of all those bits and pieces that hang around forever until you just give up and throw them out. 

You know the bits I mean.....

Now......just to START. 

Or.....maybe finish my book. 

Did I mention how great "Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil" is? I just can't put it down. 

You should read it too. 

OR....I could watch one of the many MANY movies I have managed to acquire. 

Lawless was great. 

Thankyou screenwriter extraordinaire Nick Cave. You've done it again. 

Can't wait to hear your new album soon....

So, maybe I have some inspiration already. There's something about Forests and Bayous and things associated with the wilderness around New Orleans and Savannah and the South in the States that's intrigued me. Something about Mangroves and trees and mud and stillness.

Sally Mann is a biggy. 

Sally Mann

There's Down by Law too.....Tom Waits as an prison escapee.

Down by Law still

Mysticism, Spirits in the Forrest, Voodoo.... 

Mum got me a book for Christmas, "Gossip From the Forest" by Sara Maitland. 

It's next on my list. 

On the way home from Sydney we passed some forest that had been devastated by the fires a couple of weeks ago. There's nothing left. Everything is black and charred and what used to be dense vegetation is now a wasteland of blackened earth and black tree trunks. The fire must have been so hot. You can see the damage for miles. The smell was amazing. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures. I wasn't quick enough on the phone draw. I would like to go back and draw some of it though. 

Charcoal is the first thing I reach for when I start a new drawing. 

Here are a couple of pictures I found on the net. 

The burnt forest below is pretty close to what we passed on the highway only the ground was even blacker. 

Burnt forest at Dean's Gap, NSW.

No wonder the highway was closed....

I love my little animal friends dearly but it may be time for a change. 

It's devastating thinking of all the wildlife that would have been lost in all of this fire and smoke. 

Speaking of...here are a couple of new guys....

Meet Eugene Badger & Francis Skunk. 

I picked them up in Sydney.

More Lino prints on the way. 

I have plans to make a whole alphabet bunting this year.

Here is a cake I made. I'm particularly proud of it.

Rosewater & Pistachio Cake

And a silly picture of me wearing a party hat at Christmas. 

We made our own last year. A new tradition.

I've got an exhibition in April in Sydney too. 

Better get cracking!

Here's a pretty afternoon sunset to end on.

J

xo