...It's all about the Holidays'

kitesurfing lessons at St Kilda beach, Victoria

'It's all about the Holidays'
 detail
 Jo-Ann Hunt ©

'It's all about the Holidays'
 Jo-Ann Hunt ©
'The Child Within Series'
H122x102cm
H44x40ins
Acrylic on Canvas
 sold

It's all about the holidays....and I need one !
 Now!   :)  

 Jo

.

'Flippers and Fins'

'Flippers and Fins'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

'Flippers and Fins'
 Jo-Ann Hunt ©
'The Child Within...Summer ' Series
H120x120cm
H47x47ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

'Flippers' or 'Fins?'.

What are they called in your house?  In mine it was 'flippers', but my kids

probably use both terms. Having come through the rigours of swim school

and hours spent 'following the line', 'fins' were a part of their training kit.

But flippers mean more than just rubber for your feet.

remember this fabulous creature?

Do we love dolphins because of their smiling face, or has it something

to do with this? my generation has a huge soft spot for the star

of the 60's TV show, 'Flipper'.

'Flipper' with Sandy ....
....from the tv show 1964-67....plus years of re-runs!

'Flipper' with Bud

a couple of weeks ago , on the TV news on 11 June,  they showed

this huge pod of Bottlenose dolphins surfing the waves

at Observatory Beach, off Esperance, Western Australia.

excuse my screen-capture but how perfect!

researcher Dave Riggs captured this unique footage by drone...

apparently they do it just for the fun of it....usually only

in the bigger waves....just like humans!

 awesome!!

for the link to Dave Riggs 'You-Tube' footage, click here  

...30 seconds of fishy fun!

'Flippers and Fins'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

                          Jo     :)


.
 

...'a Simple Summer' ....

..... an easy summer....doing simple things....

.... doing not much really....a simple summer....

....the best summer!

'A Simple Summer'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

'A Simple Summer'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within'  Series
H122x137cm
H48x54ins
Acrylic on Canvas
.....

'A Simple Summer'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt

                                ....     Jo  x


.

'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©

.

Way Too Hot!

.... or 'beginning to dislike the number 4!'

  Tues 14 Jan 2014....43 C degrees 

   Wed 15 Jan 2014....  42C degrees 

   Thurs16 Jan 2014....44C degrees 

   Fri    17 Jan 2014 ....44 Cdegrees 

'Stepping Up'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt ©

 This is how I feel!

It's been way too hot for my studio.

Apart from the air temp inside a sunny, bright, large-windowed room 

without aircon, the paint would dry on the brush before I could get it to the canvas! 

So I've been holed up at home, trying to keep cool and updating my 'office-work' and records.

Thankgoodness the Cool-Change arrived today....

now I can get back to work and  rejoin the land of the living!

I hope we don't see that for another 105 years!!

Hope you found somewhere cool to hideaway!

Jo   x 

Some Stats:     

Record Broken...for the most days over 40C 

(last time in Melbourne was in 1908)

43C =109 F

42C =107.6F

44C = 111F   Ouch!

.

....'the runaway'.....

Agnes Water Surf beach... Queensland , Australia

At the beautiful Agnes Water beach, this dog had me intrigued.

It just rocked up as if it owned the beach, quietly sizing up who was about,

who it knew, checking out every single body and bag on the beach,

(that doesn't sound right...I mean people and their belongings!)

scanning the ocean.

A young boy excitedly exclaimed ' look, there's  Dude'....

and for the next two hours he and Dude were never more than a couple

of  metres apart.

'The Runaway'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within' Series
H 122x132cm
H48x52ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

Dude's stocky shape reminded me of my painting ' The Runaway.'

In hindsight, I think Dude belonged to one of the local surfers.

Boy and Dude ended up a kilometre or so down the beach where the waves

were breaking. 'Nanna' had her nose buried in a book and hadn't noticed

her charge trailing behind Dude as the dog headed towards the surf break

 miles down the beach. When she finally looked up and anxiously squinted

 into the setting sun, looking left , then right, I asked her if she was looking

for a small boy .

"No, he's just there on the sand behind the surf -boat" she said.

"Ah , no...see that speck of a dog in the distance...behind him is your boy"

She waddled off, madly waving arms in the air, and soon Boy was headed

towards her. I'm not sure if I was witnessing  the laid-back

country-Queensland attitude, or being a local, or just someone older

and out-of-touch with the randomness of a young boys mind.....but this

little city-bunny couldn't relax until nan had him in her grasp again.

He didn't runaway, he just followed Dude!   :)


                                          Jo   x

'The Runaway'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt ©

'The Runaway'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

Agnes Water Surf club, nestled behind the dunes,
hopefully keeping a watchful eye on Boy and Dude.

                                         

'Summer's Children'

learning skills for life

Inspired by the myriad of water activities I enjoyed as a child,

and growing up with yachts, dinghies, boards and the beach...

...always the beach....this painting just had to have

some 'little tackers' in life jackets.

'Summer's Children'
 detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

I've been tweaking and fiddling with the face of this little fellow

right up until the last minute....but now he must be varnished

because he's off to the Camberwell Art Show.

His mate too, has been through a few incarnations....

'Summer's Children'
detail
Jo-Ann Hunt©

sometimes these little guys seem to fly off my paintbrush...like this one...

others misbehave...and take their time ....

'Summer's Children'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
'The Child Within ' Series
H122x122cm
H48x48ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

....and fight you all the way...

                             ......a bit like kids in real life, hey!


                                                         Jo    :)



Update:  'Summer's Children' has found a new home...hello and thankyou to the folks that want to share their space with these little guys.... I'd love to see where they end up! email me!






.

Three Best Mates....

It's no secret I am a 'dog person'.

I think you're born in one camp or the other.....dogs or cats.

Sure you might love both, but I think

everyone leans more towards one side or the other.

Kids and their relationship with their dog can be magical.....

....this painting  on it's way to the 2013 Canterbury Art Exhibition,

is inspired by memories of all the dogs ever loved!

'Three Best Mates'
Jo-Ann Hunt©
H30x30cm
H12x12ins
Acrylic on Canvas
sold

...and just one more for good measure.....

  So cute!  ...both of them!





                                               Jo    x








.and if you are not one of the 6 million people to have

already seen this on You Tube ......'Best Friends, a kid, a dog and a puddle'......

 it's worth a minute of your time and will make you smile.

No Swimming

my backyard

 Whoa! ......was it cold today!

             a ' cold snap' with brief hailstorm has left our street  looking

                     like it's been snowing!

I am working on a new 'Series'....it's  'beach' themed....

think summer....

surf....

salt-spray in the air....

swimming....



yesterday
New Haven Marina
Phillip Island
Victoria



hmmm....


but  it's a little tricky to keep my headspace in the sunshine ....


with warm yellows and cerulean blues ....


when outside it is all grey and silver!

No Swimming!

....Jo  x

U-Boats and Beaches

Sorrento, Victoria
late Spring 2010

Some months back I took a day-trip to Sorrento, a favourite haunt just one hours drive from home. the day was remarkable for two things.




Remarkable Fact no 1 ....


 
I saw a submarine in the bay. excitedly I pointed this out to some elderly ( or middle-aged, or mature, or fully-grown, or ripened...whatever you fancy is politically correct) tourists happily snapping photos of the pier, the sand, the trees, everything but this torpedo shape slicing quietly through the water.

'jah, ooh-boat, oooh-boat' he said in his heavy russian/germanic accent, looking at me , puzzled.

obviously submarines in his part of the world are an everyday occurrence.........first time I've ever seen one in Port Phillip! 

Remarkable Fact no 2....

photographed with friends, same day,  at the beach, this shot has become the catalyst for a whole new series of paintings ....my 'Small Works' ....which I hope to spotlight on ths blog.

it was such a perfect day....

she just didn't want to go home.....

'Mummy, Wait'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Small Works ... Summer' Series
H30x30cm
H12x12ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx

and neither did her brother..... 



'Let's Go'
Jo-Ann Hunt
'Small Works ...Summer' Series
H25x30cm
H10x12ins
Acrylic on Canvas
xxxx



and to tell you the obvious....neither did I !

Jo xx