Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I've noticed how the local's faces light up when they talk about its history. It was impossible not to include Bribie Island as part of 'The Land and I' project since it has experienced such pivotal historical moments and once I'd learned of the uniqueness of Red Beach I knew I had my location. If you haven't seen the project already, please visit the 'Stories of Bribie Island' page at Visit Moreton Bay Region.
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Red Beach[/caption]
Like many I was quite taken with the story of Bribie the Basket Maker and initially wanted to portray the convict with his Indigenous lover but was advised against it by the historical society who understandably are sick to death of the myth. As I was already pretty sold on the concept I decided to keep the idea but shift the focus to Thomas Welsby, the story's creator. I think the notion of this enduring myth having been hotly contested and written about excessively for generations is just a captivating as the original story itself.
When studying the few existing photos of Welsby I realised he kind of looks like my dad, so that was my model sorted! We had to leave around 5am to make it to Bribie by sunrise so it's lucky my dad's an early riser (although not so lucky for me who needs my sleep). We walked for a few minutes in the dark to my chosen spot where I set up my camera and lights (which kept blowing over) while he shivered away in his secondhand suit. Thanks Dad. Eagles circled overhead to see what we were up to.
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I always envisioned the Welsby character writing the 'Bribie The Basket Maker' story in the sky with an oversized fountain pen because a normal sized pen would be too difficult to see. I tracked down a historical looking font for the the text which was a challenge to make fit in a pleasing way.
The koala was added from shots taken at Australia Zoo as many believe Bribie's name actually came from the Indigenous word for koala, 'Boorabee' or 'Borobi' (which you may recognise from the 2018 Commonwealth Games' mascot) but this word originates from the Gold Coast region so no one is sure. The crab and basket are stock images and their significance is explained further in the main post.
It was very difficult for me to get any form of Indigenous approval for this project as none of the elders I reached out to responded, which meant I had to be very careful including any Indigenous content. I decided to show the couple strictly as small silhouettes which I created by finding stock images of an Aboriginal woman and colonial man and filling their shapes with black. I wanted to include other references to Indigenous culture of the time but could not do so without permission.
The final image:
[caption id="attachment_4483" align="aligncenter" width="960"] (Apologies as my website has a terrible habit of making images look fuzzy)[/caption]
This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) which is a partnership between theQueensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
I chose Lake Samsonvale as a subject for my 'The Land and I' project because the history of Samsonvale has virtually been erased by the creation of North Pine Dam so I wanted to pay homage to the community that one stood there by compositing houses rising from the water. If you've not seen the project already, please visit the 'Stories of Lake Samsonvale' page at Visit Moreton Bay Region.
Lake Samsonvale provides a number of visitor areas so during my initial site recce I chose 'Tukuwompa Park' as the most picturesque to photograph. I came back one evening at sunset to photograph it as I wanted to use the symbolism of the 'sun setting on the community'. I visited a second time on an overcast day to capture images for the travel blog and figured I might as well shoot the scene again with moody clouds just so I had some options. I also took some panoramas at Bullocky Rest because, as it's the main visitor area, I figured it would also be the most recognisable. After much experimentation I ended up using the photos from Bullocky Rest in the final image because I liked the banks on either side.
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The houses were all photographed at Old Petrie Town as I really wanted to include authentic historical houses from around the region and felt it was important to include the few remaining houses that were moved from Samsonvale before the dam was built. It was extremely tough organising a time to shoot there as it's a very busy place, complicated by weeks of rain which continually hampered my plans. As the deadline loomed I decided to shoot at 6am on Good Friday. It was raining as we drove to Old Petrie Town but thankfully it eased for the few hours I was shooting and began again just as I finished. Thank you weather gods! Each house was photographed from the top of a ladder because I needed to get the angles right. Many thanks to my assistant, Mum, who is always a trooper in these situations. And also to Nicholas Dodd for his help providing background information on Old Petrie Town.
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In Photoshop I stitched the panorama of Lake Samsonvale, cut out each of the houses and created their reflections, then added the fisherman, flying geese, trees and sunset sky. The colouring took weeks of experimentation to get right and I'm still not convinced (I even made three new colour variations today even though I "technically" finished this image weeks ago!).
The final(ish) result:
This project is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) which is a partnership between theQueensland Government and Moreton Bay Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
A little over four years ago I was standing in the kitchen and noticed how lovely the light was hitting my mother's desk so naturally I had to climb under it and take some self-portraits. It was only the second time I'd ever taken artistic self portraits and I was pleased that there were some really beautiful poses among them. I love the glowing skin, the pop of the pink and my face hidden in darkness.
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However those photos, along with many, many others have sat on my hard drive all this time, unseen by anyone but me. A couple of times I've tried to make something of them but the ideas never really took off.
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I actually really like that third image but I could never quite work out why an angel would be trapped in a jar. If my stories don't make sense I will abandon them. It's frustrating because I've seen plenty of beautiful images from other photographers that have no story or make no sense, but I personally need my images to be believable, despite their strangeness.
Recently I thought I'd have one more go at it and by giving the image a more renaissance toning it began to go in a direction I was happy with.
My mother loves angels so I've grown up surrounded by them. She even pins an angel brooch to her outfit every single day. Only natural then that one would eventually creep into my work. For me, the story here is about an angel who feels overburdened by modern society. No one is truly good or truly bad and I feel like those lines blur even more as time marches on. If we take the seven deadly sins - pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth - I know that I, personally, commit at least one of these sins daily (mainly gluttony thanks to chocolate) but fundamentally I believe I'm a good person despite this. I'm not religious at all but I'm well acquainted with the bible and if there IS a heaven and hell, how difficult would it be to unravel the complexity of a human mind and proclaim it either good or bad? Particularly when the decision results in an eternity of either reward or torture. So yes, I feel like this angel is trying to hide herself away from the overwhelming burden of her position, hence the name 'A Burden Too Big To Bear'.
The ground was photographed at Mt Cook in New Zealand. I chose it because of the golden tone of the grass. Her wings are from a swan in London's Kensington Park. The sky is a mixture of several layers.
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The end result!
For some time now I've been feeling the call of the wild, a desire to run off into the woods and shack up in a log cabin away from society. As urbanisation consumes the natural world and disillusionment with consumerism and 'stuff' grows I've noticed that more and more people are sharing this desire. I've been reading about people with similar interests, starting with Barbara Newhall Follett's, 'A House Without Windows', a novel about a girl who leaves her family to live in the forest. The book was published in 1927 when Barbara was just 12 years old. At 35 she walked out of her home and was never seen again. Currently I'm reading 'The Nature Fix: Why nature makes us happier, healthier and more creative' highlighting the studies of leading scientists into nature's effects on health, crime and productivity. It's fascinating stuff and I hope to explore it further in a forest based series I plan to work on next year.
Lacking the funds and the means to find a forest home of my own I decided to book into O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park. Here I spent four days alone wandering by waterfalls and through ancient forests in an effort to soothe my soul and unload some of life's burdens. Forest bathing, or Shinrin-yoku as it is called in Japan where the term was coined, truly is magical and I long for a time when I have a little forest of my own. I hope the intent of the image is obvious in that, by spending time in nature, it causes us to bloom ourselves.
This image was photographed in two spots. The pose was taken from me draped over an Antarctic Beech tree estimated to be thousands of years old.
The location was photographed near one of the waterfalls along the Box Forest Circuit.
A really cool little feature of this image is that if you look closely between the two centre rocks and behind the middle one you'll see streaks of white and blue. This is the Lamington Spiny Crayfish which only lives in this part of the world.
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I've released the image to coincide with Earth Day, the focus of which for 2018 is reducing plastic pollution and being mindful about your consumption of single-use plastics such as plastic bottles, cling wrap, food containers, cups and straws. We have lost so much of the natural world but as governments start to realise the healing benefits of green spaces we can all do our part to preserve what remains.
When I was 16 I overheard someone in an elevator say ‘why waste the emotion’. At the time I was riddled with teenage angst and thought this was the most profound thing I’d ever heard. I adopted it as my mantra, my security net against the world, and slowly taught myself to repress the messy and unnecessary emotions that come from not only being human but also an empath.
After two decades of practice I’ve become a fairly unemotional person. I am an INTJ anyway, the type of introvert who prefers reason to feelings (hence why I like to categorise myself), and I’ve learnt to avoid situations that require emotional expenditure. I refuse to watch sad or scary movies, I have little to no desire for a relationship let alone children, and I keep my friends at an arm’s length. I do these things unconsciously and I’m certainly not proud of them but I’ve had to make peace with the way I am.
Naturally as a black hearted ice queen I’ve built up a fairly impenetrable fortress with bricks made of cynicism and distrust. So you can imagine my surprise when I found someone had snuck through my defences.
This series is about a heart that starts to feel again and the tidal surge of emotion that comes after decades of repression. It’s also, in part, about the need for an artist to bleed to create meaningful art. I want the images to portray something beautiful, about broken and hardened hearts that begin to heal and awaken; about that delightful moment when something or someone touches your heart profoundly. These are the messages I will send these images out into the world with.
The reality though is much darker. The reason the security of my fortress failed is because it was not equipped for the small percentage of people who operate differently from the rest of us. This is how I became briefly entangled with my first and last narcissist; that particular breed of toxic human who feeds on the emotions of others. When you’re cautious about guarding your feelings there is no worse person you could invite into your life than these masters of manipulation. But empaths and narcissists are drawn to each other because they both have high emotional intelligence, it’s just that one uses this skill to heal while the other uses it to destroy. Thankfully I quickly realised what I was dealing with and was able to escape with only slight emotional bruising.
That story might inspire my next series.
I read a lovely quote on a blog that said ‘narcissists can be like angels in disguise. They are catalysts of change in people’s lives: they stir up all the old wounds, scars and shadow elements in a person and force growth.’ This sums up perfectly what this work is actually trying to convey.
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When I realised it was all lies[/caption]
Human heart from Pixelsquid[/caption]
I wanted this series to be a Photoshop project instead of photography one and so I didn’t shoot a single image for this series, using only stock I’ve purchased or photographs I’ve shot before. With much experimentation and the help of YouTube tutorials I applied different effects to give each heart a unique look. At the moment my focus is on creating work that, while still dear to my ‘heart’, is faster to make, cheaper to produce and more affordable to buy. After much soul searching I’ve decided to spend 2018 focusing less on pursuing a fine art career and more on creating collectible art pieces for my Society6 and Redbubble stores and so this series is in that ‘vein’.
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I created the first nine images with the intention of portraying something romantic and uplifting.
After much deliberation I then created the tenth image that puts a whole new spin on the series. Since it was partially inspired by real life events the last image was necessary in sticking to the truth. While it’s difficult to talk about the exact circumstances that inspired it, the beauty of art is that it allows you to abstractly express the things you’re uncomfortable saying with words. It’s the best kind of therapy.
I loved the challenge of telling a story in this way and recommend the exercise of using one object to tell a story for other creators who are feeling stuck or looking to hone their skills.
What does this series stir up for you?
After the success of my 2017 calendar and the many requests to create another for 2018 I am proud to announce my new calendar is ready!
My 2018 collectible calendar features double exposures of some of my favourite animals and landscapes. Creating double exposures is one of the most fun things to do in Photoshop allowing you to sandwich images together with different parts showing through. You can learn how to do it here.
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The calendar makes a thoughtful Christmas gift for every animal or art lover and will pretty up your home the whole year through. It looks great printed on 200gsm glossy paper and is personalised for Australia's notable dates and climate but can be changed if you'd like to purchase one for another country (just let me know where you live).
At only $20 Australian (a measly $15USD or $11.50GBP) plus $10AUD for local postage or $20 worldwide it's the most affordable way to collect my prints!
Purchase through me directly (via my contact page or send me a message on Facebook).
Here's the images featured in the calendar in the order they appear. You can click on each to see them full size.
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Wishing you strength for the festive season. May it be the merriest yet! x
It was the scenery of New Zealand's South Island that had us embarking on a two week road trip but it was a wedding that brought us here and today was the day! To make the most of every sight seeing opportunity we got up super early and headed to Akaroa, about 1.5 hours south east of Christchurch. It'd been suggested that we drive the scenic Summit Road but be warned that its windiness was a great cause of stress for my mother and the views not much better than the main road. Do beware of the motorbike riders who don’t seem to value life as highly as the rest of us! Akaroa is a pretty French themed harbour town with a fascinating history (the locals will be quite happy to tell you all about it) and of the many places we visited in New Zealand Akaraoa was the one I'd heard hyped the most. After everything else we’d seen on our trip I was surprised to find it all a little underwhelming although the souvenir shops were interesting and there’s plenty of wildlife tours to do if you have the time.
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The rest of our day was devoted to wedding preparations but if you have the afternoon free visit the Cardboard Cathedral and Earthquake Memorial followed by a guided tram tour of the fascinating earthquake ruined city centre.
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We were excited that the wedding was to be held at the top of the Christchurch Gondola. If you fancy a wedding with a view then there’s no better than this and it was great to have after hours access to the views after the tourists had all gone home. We will, however, not speak about the party guest who was left dangling in the gondola after the staff forgot about her.
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A night of drinking and dancing marked the end of our trip which brings my New Zealand travel blog to a close. After dreaming of visiting New Zealand for so long we learnt that our dreams weren't big enough to contain the majesty that is New Zealand's South Island. It exceeded every one of our expectations with its relentless beauty and the welcoming locals. I hope you're inspired to make it there yourself one day, just be sure to invite me. :)
We stopped at: Akaroa, Christchurch Gondola (and because we has one extra morning the Cardboard Cathedral and Earthquake Memorial and the Christchurch Tramway)
Distance: Christchurch to Akaroa is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes drive
Arthur’s Pass, the magical stretch of road that connects the South Island's two coasts, was top of the agenda today making it a day that’s more about the journey than the destination. Arthur's Pass is listed as a 2-3 hour drive but you'd be crazy if you don't take your time and you can see why! [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="4140,4141,4142,4143,4144,4146,4147,4149"] Arthur’s Pass can also be traversed by train, namely the Tranzalpine, but if you can manage it by car you'll be able to stop at your leisure, and believe me, with 360 degree postcard views there are photo stops galore. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="4151,4153,4154,4155,4156,4157,4158,4159"] We chose to stop at Otira Viaduct for photos and to freeze our bits off, Arthur’s Pass township for lunch and Kea sightings (Kea are large, native birds that will literally eat anything), Cave Stream where the hiking directions are sketchy but if you head to the right you’ll come to the mouth of, well a cave with a stream, hence the name I guess, and lastly Castle Hill where we wandered among rocks the size of buildings, as seen in both Narnia and Middle Earth.
We stayed at: Merivale Manor, Christchurch
We stopped at: Every roadside pullover, Otira Viaduct Lookout, Arthur's Pass, Cave Stream, Castle Hill, Christchurch
We wore (in spring): Layers, layers, layers including scarf and beanie
Distance: Greymouth to Christchurch via Arthur's Pass is approximately 3 hours 20 minutes drive without scenic stops.
New Zealand is not called 'the land of the long white cloud' for nothing. I love clouds. They're fantastic for photography. But when you've had opportunities to explore glaciers via helicopter in both Mt Cook and Queenstown but instead leave it until the end of your trip, you're really tempting fate in a country with a cloudy reputation. It rained all night on our second night at Fox Glacier and with heavy hearts we dragged ourselves out of bed at the crack of dawn and mosied up to the helicopter office knowing full well that our glacier landing flight would be cancelled a third time. Please don’t make the mistake we did and be sure to take a helicopter flight wherever and whenever the weather is best.
Instead we packed our things and drove to the nearby township of Franz Josef (20 mins from Fox Glacier) and found it was bigger and more developed than where we had stayed with the most expensive petrol I've ever seen in my life. Outside of town we discovered gorgeous Lake Mapourika where I took photos and Mum skimmed rocks.
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We drove on to small but spirited Hari Hari where a stop at Willows Crafts will be the highlight of your day. The delightful shop owner, Nolly (who last I heard was looking for someone to buy her shop) is the kind of human you just want to bundle up and take home with you so you can bring her out to entertain her friends. And those life size man cut-outs who guide you along the Franz Josef Glacier Walk? That's her son, which she will tell you with glee (so act surprised). Don't forget to peruse her interesting wares (and garden!)
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It was dreary weather so we virtually skipped past Hokitika but if I were to do this trip again I probably would have chosen to stay there to give us time to explore Hokitika Gorge and the quaint little township.
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Hokitika's wild beaches[/caption]
People rave about the drive along the West Coast and while it is wild and rocky and scenic, had we been short on time I don't think I'd have regretted missing it. Still, we didn't miss any opportunity for a roadside pullover to snap the scenery.
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Our stop for the night was Greymouth but I was keen to see Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks and blowholes so we drove the extra 40 minutes north. The scenery here is out of this world and if you haven't spotted a Weka chances are good you'll find one here.
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We’d have liked to travel on to Westport but were pushed for time so we turned the car around and headed back to Greymouth, which is a bit of a dreary old town, but we had a lovely stay at Alpine Rose Motel and the pizza at Do Duck Inn across the road is definitely drool worthy.
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We stayed at: Alpine Rose Motel, Greymouth (complete with spa!)
We stopped at: Franz Josef, Lake Mapourika, Hari Hari, Hokitika, Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, Greymouth
We wore (in spring): Thermal layers, jeans, long sleeve shirt
Distance: Fox Glacier to Greymouth is approximately 2 hours 40 minutes drive without scenic stops. Greymouth to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes return (to Greymouth).
For our entire South Island trip I'd been barely containing my excitement about the activity we had booked for today, a helicopter ride onto a glacier! But, rising early we discovered that the weather was, much like every other day, drizzly and foggy and we learned with heavy hearts that our helicopter flight had been cancelled. With desperate hopes that the sky would clear we rescheduled for later and headed off to do the Franz Josef Glacier walk which was a 2 hour, mostly flat walk of epic proportions scenery-wise. Sadly the glacier you see in pictures on Google has vastly reduced in size, having melted more in the past year than ever before, and you’ll notice that the locals refuse to talk about it in case it scares the tourists off. Still, look at the following pictures and weep at how beautiful some parts of the world are, even without huge frozen chunks of ice. The walk is roughly two hours returning back the same way you came. You'll start by walking through a small forest which then opens up into this incredible scene fulls of waterfalls and rivers and bright green moss. You're advised to stay behind the barriers when nearing the glacier by a life-size man cut-out (pay attention because you'll hear more about him in the next post). The rock face is incredibly volatile but that didn't stop numerous people jumping the barriers to get an up close Instagram-worthy shot on their mobile phones. If you're really that keen you are able to get closer with an experienced guide. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="3933,3934,3935,3936,3941,3940,3939,3938,3937,3942,3945,3944,3949,3948,3953,3951,3946,3950,3954,3956,3955,3957"] [gallery columns="1" size="large" ids="3959,3958,3952"] It rained pretty hard for most of the walk and I actually ran for shelter towards the end of the track just to finally be somewhere dry. Naturally by the time we made it back to Fox Glacier it was sunny and bright (typical NZ) and we were hopeful our rescheduled helicopter flight would make it out this time, BUT ... no such luck. Instead we decided to punish our bodies further by doing the two hour walk around Lake Matheson. Apparently the view of the snow-capped mountains reflected in the lake here is one of the best views in New Zealand but the fog had fallen again and we struggled to see the mountains at all. Still, the walk through the mossy rainforest to reach the “view” was like travelling through fairyland and made it all totally worthwhile. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="3972,3973,3961,3962,3964,3968,3963,3970,3969,3966"] We stayed at: Fox Glacier Lodge We stopped at: Helicopter Line, Franz Josef Glacier Walk, Lake Matheson We wore (in spring): Snow boots (we loved our snow boots because they kept our feet dry but sneakers will do fine otherwise), rainproof pants and jacket with hood, thermal underwear, gloves, scarf and beanie. The scarf turned out to be really handy for wiping water off my camera.
Having worked there for three years, Bribie Island is close to my heart, and I’ve noticed how the local’s faces light up when they talk about its history. It was impossible not to include Bribie Island as part of ‘The Land and I’ project since it has experienced such pivotal historical moments and once I’d […]
I chose Lake Samsonvale as a subject for my ‘The Land and I’ project because the history of Samsonvale has virtually been erased by the creation of North Pine Dam so I wanted to pay homage to the community that one stood there by compositing houses rising from the water. If you’ve not seen the project […]
A little over four years ago I was standing in the kitchen and noticed how lovely the light was hitting my mother’s desk so naturally I had to climb under it and take some self-portraits. It was only the second time I’d ever taken artistic self portraits and I was pleased that there were some […]
For some time now I’ve been feeling the call of the wild, a desire to run off into the woods and shack up in a log cabin away from society. As urbanisation consumes the natural world and disillusionment with consumerism and ‘stuff’ grows I’ve noticed that more and more people are sharing this desire. I’ve […]
When I was 16 I overheard someone in an elevator say ‘why waste the emotion’. At the time I was riddled with teenage angst and thought this was the most profound thing I’d ever heard. I adopted it as my mantra, my security net against the world, and slowly taught myself to repress the messy […]
After the success of my 2017 calendar and the many requests to create another for 2018 I am proud to announce my new calendar is ready! My 2018 collectible calendar features double exposures of some of my favourite animals and landscapes. Creating double exposures is one of the most fun things to do in Photoshop […]
It was the scenery of New Zealand’s South Island that had us embarking on a two week road trip but it was a wedding that brought us here and today was the day! To make the most of every sight seeing opportunity we got up super early and headed to Akaroa, about 1.5 hours south […]
Arthur’s Pass, the magical stretch of road that connects the South Island’s two coasts, was top of the agenda today making it a day that’s more about the journey than the destination. Arthur’s Pass is listed as a 2-3 hour drive but you’d be crazy if you don’t take your time and you can see […]
New Zealand is not called ‘the land of the long white cloud’ for nothing. I love clouds. They’re fantastic for photography. But when you’ve had opportunities to explore glaciers via helicopter in both Mt Cook and Queenstown but instead leave it until the end of your trip, you’re really tempting fate in a country with a […]
For our entire South Island trip I’d been barely containing my excitement about the activity we had booked for today, a helicopter ride onto a glacier! But, rising early we discovered that the weather was, much like every other day, drizzly and foggy and we learned with heavy hearts that our helicopter flight had been cancelled. With desperate hopes […]
