Reef House

Reef Girl 2

1/2 sheet Watercolour on 640gsm Arches

Copyright 2009 Jean Burman

Okay… as promised… here is Reef Girl 2.  This painting swam away a couple of times and for a short while was lost at sea.  But just when I thought I’d have to start over… there it was… washed up in the shallows all along.   There are aspects of this painting that I simply love.  Nuances that I couldn’t have ever hoped or planned for.  Some things didn’t turn out as planned… but that’s okay. She has the breeze in her face and that’s what’s most important.

And besides… that’s the nature of watercolour and why I entirely love it.  It’s kind of predictably unpredictable.  But the unpredictability can be pretty much predicted… and expected even [if not entirely accepted]… and worked with to get a good final result… if you get my drift?  (((chuckles)))

Well… it’s been another busy week.  I am enjoying the Reef House experience.  The best thing about painting in an environment such as this… is that for the most part… people on vacation are generally a pretty happy lot.  I’ve met some fabulous people this week… enjoyed some engaging conversations which ran the gamut of social chat about the weather… to art… to politics… to architecture… to the Outback.. around to Art and back.  You know me.

Early in the week there were the four young Bostonians (hi guys!)… hell bent on enjoying everything they saw and did which included of course… jumping off… into… around and over as many obstacles as they could find around the place. Adventure was their modus operandi and I hope the far north of Australia did not disappoint.  I last saw them heading off to bungy jump in the rainforest.

I had earlier commented about how beautiful the rainforest was up there… how the platform is high up above the rainforest canopy and how glorious the view. [Or so I had been told - grin].  Then  of course… the inevitable question… “but what was it like to actually jump?”  Jump?  Who said anything about jumping!?

Let’s face it… I’m an artist… not a thrill seeker… and happily leaping off a platform high up in the treetops with a rubber band tied loosely to my left ankle is not my particular brand of nirvana!  They of course… remained unconvinced… but let me off the hook anyway to their very great credit. Grin.

“Double Island Duo”

1/2 sheet Watercolour Diptych

Copyright 2009 Jean Burman

Then there was the couple who had journeyed north onboard the MV Trinity Bay [the old port authority sand dredge] up around the tip of Cape York and back.  As fate would have it… I had once upon a time steered the Trinity Bay out through the leeds of Cairns Harbour leaving a rather wobbly wake behind… [but that's another story].  I was interested to hear about the old ship and how it was enjoying a new lease on life as a tourist vessel delivering the mail and supplies up to the Cape.

A bit of later research revealed that this was in fact not the same vessel that I had steered all those years ago.  The current vessel took on the name after the original vessel was scuttled at sea after a long and noble life as a humble sand dredge.  I have to say that part of me was more than a little bit relieved actually… as I was having a hard time reconciling the fact that the hulk of a thing I remembered captaining for just a few minutes all those years ago… could have survived to later become a seaworthy tourist vessel.  I mean… it was old back then!

And then of course… there was the lovely couple from Sydney who I’m sure were sent as messengers of the Universe to remind me that there are good people everywhere who are ready willing and able to take a moment [or even an hour or two] to encourage artistic endeavour whenever and wherever they see it… from the mines of Broken Hill… to the far northern tropical beaches of Queensland.  That’s a rare gift.  And one that will always be appreciated by artists [and humans] everywhere.  I hope we stay in touch.

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