I’ve had a busy but thoroughly enjoyable School Holiday. I took the chance to join the Teacher Challenge, enlarged my Personal Learning Network via Twitter and read and commented upon many Blogs. I’ve learnt so much  during the past six weeks that I’m  concerned that going back to school might slow down my learning. I’m even more concerned that some of our students might be thinking the same way. I  aim to make our Visual Arts classroom one which encourages more individual exploration this year. I hope that we will focus on our small part of  the incredible amount of learning happening in and out of schools throught the World and that we will explore new ways of showcasing it on our Blog and connecting with others.
I took this photo on  a Kingfisher Cruise on the Murray River in the Barmah Forest in Northern Victoria, Australia. The trees are River Red Gums.

Over the past few years Mosaic art has  become a special interest area of mine. I had the opportunity to take part in Mosaic Workshops run by Nola Diamantopoulos of Sydney and Deborah Halpern of Melbourne. Nola’s horse, Enoran, was one which was simple in its design and coloring but which has emerged as a favourite of mine. Deborah was  photographed while polishing her work after she demonstated the grouting process. Australia Artist  Jane Byrne visited our Grade 6 students in 2008 and  inspired our work on the Year of the Rat mosaic. Jane showed us how extra interest can be added to a piece by adding cup handles and pieces of  old mugs, plates etc which have different textures. I have a lot to learn about mosaic art but I look forward to continuing to be inspired.

Among  my daughter Kate’s photos from China were some of sculptures in which she knew I would be interested. The  ancient Terracotta Warrior and his patient horse and the  modern junk sculptures of resting Kangaroos are hundreds of years apart in their making. However, they still allow us to appreciate the artists’ skills in capturing their mood and expression. There is an exhibition of selected characters from  the Terracotta Army at the New South Wales Art Gallery in Sydney until March 13th 2011. 

Last year my older  daughter,  Kate, and my son, John, visited China. A highlight of their trip was seeing the  endangered Pandas at the Panda Research Reserve in Chengdu.  A lot closer to home, I visited Ballarat Wildlife Park and was pleased to be able to get up close to a Koala which is one of Australia’s endangered animals. It was a very wet day at the Park but that didn’t daunt the enthusiastic Kangaroos (from Kangaroo Island) who love to be hand fed and didn’t mind me patting their soggy fur. Wherever you are in the World, Ballarat Wildlife Park is worth a visit next time you come to Australia.

Digital photography has enabled us to keep a comprehensive record of where we go and what we do. Slide shows of our enormous photo selection bring  us a lot of joy (and a little embarrassment) as we recall the places and occasions. Today’s selection is a set of two  flowers from the UK   and a wombat from Ballarat Wildlife Park here in Victoria, Australia.

The folder these three photos were in was entitled “Flora and Fauna” so I made that the title of the post. The  fascinating passion fruit flower was on a vine in a lane off Portobello Road in London. The holly berries were in a lane near Castlegregory, Ireland and the  photo of the tiny bird was taken in  St. Fiachra’s Garden, Kildare, Ireland.

Looking for some images for today’s post I came up with some from a Melbourne  Zoo visit several years ago. Taken several cameras ago, the feathers don’t show up as well as they would if I took them with our current Canon 5D but they show  expression in their eyes and they would be good inspiration for drawing. The head only shot is of our flightless bird, the Emu.The bird which seems to be without a tail is a member of the Kingfisher Family and the third photo is of our Australian Pelican which is the largest of the World’s seven Pelicans. All three are timeless images which I hope you will enjoy.