1 G'day, G'day $ 85
Two seagulls on a collision course greet each other.
2 See ya, See ya $ 85
The same seagulls take diverging paths after their initial greeting
3 Azure kingfisher $ 290
4 Welcome swallow $ 290
5 Black kite $ 290
6 White faced heron $ 290
7 Nearly caught you $ 690
This little girl is doing her best to catch a sea gull – which countless children (and dogs) have tried to do in the past, usually with as much success as this tot.
8 Tilly, if you're not going to play properly go away $ 290
Two of my grandchildren were playing when this altercation took place. Sam, the older boy was laying down the rules of play for his sister to follow. Despite the difference in age and size, Tilly holds her own in a dispute. She seems to me to be saying “Sam, why don’t you grow up”.
9 Port Macquarie reflections $ 280sold
Port Macquarie has gently sloping beaches that hold a skim of water for ages between waves giving great reflections.
10 Raging torrent $ 270
This is an image of a mountain stream in the Mount Ruapehu area of the North Island of New Zealand.
11 Redhead reflections $ 390
Redhead never fails to look beautiful in all weathers and all times of day
12 Little Gibber surf $ 380
Little Gibber is the first headland north of Hawk’s Nest Beach. It is a very scenic area with a beautiful beach and waves crashing against the rocks – real watercolour country.
13 The Three Kookaburras $ 550
These birds were all sitting in the same she-oak tree. Presumably all from the same family as I believe kookaburras are very territorial and an outsider would be laughed out of tree. Any resemblance to The Three Tenors is coincidental.
14 Memo - Weed the daisies $ 370
The magpie is making a plea for someone to clean up the daisy patch (which is still overgrown)
15 Sauron's bach destroyed peanut humour (5,7) $ 890
Sorry about how cryptic this title sounds. Yes it is a cryptic crossword clue for the title of the painting. *answer at bottom of page
16 Horsehead Nebula $ 790
This is a mass of space matter that can be seen from earth because it is backlit by some stars in an emission nebula behind it. It is in the Constellation Orion and the horse (?sea horse) head shape is pure luck. Have another look in 1500 years and it probably will have dissipated.
17 Galaxy NGC6664 $ 590sold
Our solar system is a tiny part of our galaxy – The Milky Way – which is thought to be a spiral galaxy somewhat of the shape and size of NGC6644 (about 100,000 light years wide). A galaxy is an organised set of thousands or millions of stars and many galaxies form this spiral disc shape with a central bright-light-emitting area due to active star formation, and a series of trailing arms containing stars (presumably many with planets like our solar system) of varying ages. In the scale of things, our solar system, containing the sun and all of our fellow planets would occupy maybe 3 square centimetres of this image. To give you some idea of the size of the universe, some scientist has calculated that if you hold two sewing needles at arms length and at right angles to each other, the tiny area where they cross hides about 1000 GALAXIES – mind-blowing.
More boringly, but for completeness, NGC (New General Catalogue) is a list of over 13,000 deep-sky celestial objects. It was developed in 1888 to allow different astronomers to know they were talking about the same thing in space.
18 Eagle Nebula $ 890
As the name implies a ‘nebula’ is a nebulous collection of visible (usually only with the aid of a telescope) space matter. Often the matter is termed dust but as it aggregates it collapses under the force of its own gravity and spawns off stars. It is the light produced by these stars (our sun equivalent) that allows us to see the nebula. The Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens is one such, and is named after the structure towards the middle of the image which is supposed to resemble an eagle. The red glow over the whole image is produced by activated hydrogen ions and is true to the colour as our eyes would see it. The stars in the nebula are quite ‘young’, only 5 million years old – as compared with our own star, the sun, which is 5 billion years old. See also “The Pillars of Creation” which is a special view and interpretation of the central part of the Nebula.
The Eagle Nebula is some 6500 light years away so we will not know what the Eagle Nebula looks like today until the earth year 8,507!
19 Pillars of Creation $ 780
In the centre of the Eagle Nebula is the structure that gives it its name. This image is from a close-up! view with colour enhancements that define the elements that make up the matter and was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1998. It shows swirling trunks of space matter, within which stars are born (hence the name).
20 Pindimar Dawn $ 780
Pindimar is a tiny fishing village on the North side of Port Stephens where we have a holiday home and I have a studio. I am an early morning person and enjoy the sun rising to the east of Nelson Bay. This day was a beauty.
21 Morning walk at Redhead $ 780
Another view of Redhead Beach where a mother and her daughter are taking an early morning stroll.
22 Towards the horizon $ 260
Nobbys under a spectacular sky. This is a view that a bulk coal transporter has when leaving the Port
23 Blue Lady $ 270
This lady seemed sad to me – walking along the beach at Cape Patterson in Victoria with her hands in her pockets, lost in her own world.
24 Dad's day out $ 290sold
Dad and his two children are taking a stroll along Redhead Beach with the imposing Redhead and the distinctive lifesaver tower in the background.
25 I've found a cave $ 270
Kids love running ahead and exploring when going on a family walk. This little girl has made a big discovery and wants to show off her prize to the family.
26 Port Macquarie morning $ 880
Port Macquarie has a magnificent set of beaches that are even more magnificent in the early morning light. Plenty of headlands and rocks on the beach, and, of course, seagulls, make for interesting paintings.