....happy 'Australia Day' !

'We Love a Sunburnt Country'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

.....happy 'Australia Day' !

....and for all of you from overseas that drop in to this blog....

some Aussie kangaroos....and a trip down memory lane for me!

....and a 'reminder-to-self' that one day....soon... I should

 commission myself to paint my own kids!    

                                           :)   Jo

PS  : you can see  'We Love a Sunburnt Country'  by clicking here ...


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..good morning it's Christmas.....

'Percy Button's Aspiration' wearing his Xmas finery
Hay Street Mall, Perth
Sculptors Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith 1996

Three days of  Xmas dinners...

.....the first with adults outnumbered by the ankle-biters, 

santa and a summery breeze on the deck .....

.....the next with a new baby and perfect weather for the pool....

and then a table that filled the room and a game of Kubb.

and now to diet! 

after we polish off the leftovers !  :)

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'Weekend Warriors'

Scouts Raft Race on the Yarra
...too many years ago!

We encourage, we badger, we illuminate, we push, and we love....

....and love some more.... and why?...to grow up independent, 

motivated, warm, balanced, generous, caring human beings. 

 And what happens?

 It works...way too fast! 

they grow up, become independent, and leave !  

 (pity they forget to take all their stuff! )     

                   :)

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Weekend Warriors 2'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within' Series
H120x135cm
H47x53ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

...this painting is headed for my exhibition at Sorrento...

.....I first mentioned it a few days ago here.....

it's not really as blue as my photo...I really need to learn 

to take better photos and to try photoshop.... sigh ...

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Weekend Warriors 2'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

out of focus...I'm shaking with laughter..

I always love a happy ending!

                                              

                                                  have fun today!   Jo   :)

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....Perth...Western Australia....

Peter Pan ....by George Frampton, 1929
Queens Gardens, East Perth

two rabbits at the base of  the George Frampton 'Peter Pan '
look, there's even a little snail!

this squirrel made me homesick for my dog!

Perth, glorious, beautiful, stunning Perth.

I've just come back from a way-too-quick trip to Perth to catch up with my son.

wow I love this city.

the beaches are sensational, the views around the Swan River,

Fremantle and its historical buildings...and no traffic!

the city has soul and it is human-scaled.

police on horses in the mall

Friday Night Noodle Market

the waca 

at City Beach....with my kids :)

floor to ceiling windows make the trip to the ladies a real treat....
...Indiana Restaurant, Cottlesloe 

I love it! wondering if I could live there and cope with the heat.

hmmmm  :)

and the art....did I mention the public art....it is everywhere ...

and so approachable, entertaining and totally beguiling.

not too many pretensions here!

a little tourist with 'Kangaroos on the Terrace'
Stirling Gardens
St Georges Terrace ,Perth

'Kangaroos on the Terrace'
Joan Walsh-Smith and Charles Smith
1997

a tourist family in front of the big one.
Kangaroos on the Terrace.....there's a mob of 5

'Kangaroos on the Terrace'.....
fascinating to watch people interact with these life-size lovelies!

....now I need to get back to work.....
....my exhibition deadline is looming and I've still so much to do!

                    Jo   :)

view of Perth from Kings Park


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.... a part of you.....

....it seems like yesterday....

'Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.'

Anita Desai

lots of  excitement at our house ...... 

after 9 months travelling, my daughter returned home. 

unbelievable to me she travelled the globe with just a snowboard, 

a backpack (yes just one bag of clothes) and a huge heart and willingness to be open to new experiences, cultures, foods, and all you wonderful strangers out there.

From Japan, to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Spain. 

On to Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland and England.  

Then Croatia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, 

the Netherlands, Belgium and home!

She has ridden buffalos, balloons, kites, camels, pedalos, pushbikes, 

motorbikes, tuktuks, rickshaws, canoes, rafts, rubber-duckies,  

yachts and junks, planes...30 of them...trains, buses, buses  and more buses. 

And walked, and hiked, and walked some more. 

Photo:Claire J

So to all her new  ( and old) friends around the globe, who walked and rode with her, ate with her, swam and snored with her, talked, laughed, lent her some floor to sleep on,  and just helped and befriended her .... thankyou, from the bottom of my heart.

image from woodleywonderworks

And to all the warm, embracing  strangers who have served her a meal, sold her a ticket, driven the bus, given directions, and generally just helped her through your part of the world, .......another huge thankyou.

Because all of you have helped her return excited about the future, positive, adventurous, eager, confident, and supremely happy. 

What a blessing!  I'm a lucky mum......life is great! 

                                            Jo  :) 

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....unexpected outcomes....

I know its not considered 'correct these days, but returning

from a life overseas, and without their father for the holidays,

leaving friends and starting over, the Easter Bunny decided to spoil them.

but what happened next was not what I expected.

......these huge eggs put them off chocolate!

both kids have a 'take-it-or-leave-it' approach to chocolate now.

Sure they'll eat it if it's there....but otherwise it's not that relevant.

Small...with quality, now rules!  who would have thought!

sometimes our bad parenting decisions become good ones!

                   Happy Easter!

                                               Jo  :)


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'Hanging Out Together'

It's probably time to show you how my 'pier-people' ended up.

the original sketch is here...10 November 2013....  I altered her legs...

and 'little Miss' was almost complete here...02 December 2013.

'Hanging Out Together'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within' Series
H120x135cm
H53x47ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

'Hanging Out Together'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Hanging Out Together'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

As children we were always playing around, on, under the jetties

at our holiday shack.

a special time was when Dad would start up his home-made motor-boat,

tie the dinghy to the back and tow it, with my brother and I bouncing inside,

to the 'big pier' at Point Henry.  he had built a long 'scooping-basket'

with huge razor-sharp teeth.

...I thought he was a genius! ....

( little girls and their dads!!)

and he would slide it deep

down the pylon,below the tide line

 then drag it up filled with

fat, fresh  mussels.At age 7 or 8

 we were roped into scrubbing

and debearding hundreds of mussels,

readying them for cooking, where they'd be thrown into a

big, metal laundry tub on a fire built on the sand in front of the shack.

no garlic, wine or parsley in those days! just a-la-natural with vinegar.

I still adore a feed of mussels.

and this little girl is sort of a Retro Self-Portrait.

she brings back such great memories.

                                Jo  :)

'Hanging Out Together'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

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Xmas part 1

Gladstone Queensland

Xmas part 1 is a write-off for me.

still out-of-sorts.

to cheer myself up I was looking back at my Queensland photos.

I think I'll start a file for my 'Tattslotto-home'

either of these will do....

Agnes Water beach, Queensland.....  and 1770.....

Agnes Water Beach, Qld

lovely Queenslander, lovely Agnes

my absolute favourite dream home....today :)

I'd never leave that verandah

just look at that view

1770....sigh

Ok.... it's working....feeling chipper  !

          Jo  :)


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