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What a great subject this would make for an artist to paint.

Tomorrow, Parks Victoria staff will be joined by the volunteers with the Victorian High Country Huts Association, the Ritchie family, local schools, and members of the community to celebrate the completion of Ritchie’s Hut. The hut was rebuilt after the original was lost in the Great Divide Fires of 2006-07. The decision to rebuild the hut followed close consultation with the community and was based on the high social, cultural and refuge values of the original hut.

“Rebuilding of the famous High Country Hut started in May 2008,” said Parks Victoria Ranger Chris Clarke. “It was a labour of love for many of us. It was also a lot of hard work.”

“This was a true community effort. So many people were more than willing to pitch in whether it was with materials, services, or their time. We are extremely grateful for the fantastic efforts of volunteers from the Victorian High Country Hut Association, trail-riding groups, scouts, venturers and school groups who contributed over 2,500 hours to the project. ”
The original Ritchie’s Hut was built by the Ritchie family in 1947 at the junction of 14 Mile Creek and the Howqua River, near Mansfield. The hut was built with materials from the surrounding land, with timber for the walls and roof cut and shaped by hand from nearby trees.

Ken Birch, President of the Victorian High Country Hut Association, said that many of the traditional techniques were kept alive in the rebuilding of the hut. “We’ve seen a lot of the materials used in Ritchie’s Hut carried up on pack horse. It’s great to see everyone involved in the rebuilding embracing the heritage of the huts in the Alpine National Park.”

Parks Victoria’s Chris Clarke said many weekends were spent prefabricating the hut at the Blackbird Hut depot in the Howqua Hills Historic Area.

“Volunteers sourced timber from local forests, which they cut into slabs using a traditional blade and broad axe,” said Mr Clarke. “The hut was then dismantled and transported to 8 Mile Flat, where pieces of the hut were carried in by hand, pack horse and helicopter.”

“Although the hut’s remote location created some problems for the builders, it also gave the volunteers a taste of what life was like for local designer Fred Fry and the Ritchie family at a time before power tools and helicopters.”

Robert Ritchie, son of founder Bob Ritchie, said that this was a fantastic day to celebrate the completion of a lot of hard work by many people. “For Dad and his friends in the 1940s, spending days on end fishing the remote areas of the Howqua was their dream. It was the reason the hut was built in the first place. We’re delighted to see that dream re-imagined by so many. I, on behalf of my family, would like to thank everyone involved. We encourage visitors to come up and enjoy the simple pleasures of one of the most picturesque areas of the park.”

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I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

I was up late last night writing about a serious subject, plagiarism and recommending that people view the website Bloggers against Plagiarism, so we can learn to do more to protect our own and others, intellectual and creative copyright material.

I had a special occasion today, meeting a friend, I have known for more than a year, via a self-help forum, and I had never met her in person until today. I met her and her sister, also my friend now, and other family members.

We picnicked at the Kiama Blowhole and returned along the coast road to the beautiful strip of coastline where we are staying at the Seven Mile Beach, Tourist Park.

~~~
I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Australian entertainment legend Frankie J.Holden. Frankie J. Holden is an iconic, Actor, Singer, Entertainer and now a Holiday Park Owner!

Frankie J Holden told me of his plans, with partners Laurie and Di Dellavirgin and Garry and Narelle Hetherington, formerly of the acclaimed “Holiday Hub”, at Pambula, to turn an already lovely caravan park in a magnificent natural setting, into a park to be known as the “Little Park, With A BIG Heart”. Frankie J. Holden wants to bring the very best features he sees at many of the parks he is visiting in his travel show hosting, back to the Tathra Tourist Park.

We chatted about these plans he has for this park and his travel hosting role in the programme What's Up Downunder being presented by Channel 7on Saturday afternoon. This show brought the world of caravanning into viewer’s homes and was a hit with gray nomads and families alike.

The show was co-hosted, by this musician and actor Frankie J Holden and his wife Michelle Pettigrove and features their daughter Georgia and guests.

What’s Up Downunder focused on caravanning, camping, touring, self-drive and fly-drive holidays promoted through holiday parks. It will also showcased regional tourism in Australia. Staying in holiday parks had come a long way over the years, with consumers now able to choose many different product offerings from standard powered and unpowered sites for luxury spa cabins and more.
What's Up Downunder went to air on The Seven Network, including all regional affiliates on Saturdays between 4 pm and 5 pm.

~~~
I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

​I had an art student who was a florist. We struck a deal for her to pay for her art lessons in flowers. I always remember her when I view my favourite flower paintings, such as this one of asters and stocks.

All my paintings have good memories attached to them.

This image from my artwork has been added to my print-on-demand designer gifts store with Fine Art America. Online, is so much easier for me at seventy than striving to hold in person art exhibitions.

What I love about the print on demand option for my clients is that everyone can choose the colour and style of frame they wish, and the mount colours to suit their personal taste and decor.


~~~
I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

Soft pastels have always carried the risk of inhalation of the fine dust.

Modern brands made in Europe, US and Australia claim their products are currently asbestos, free. They take this information from the companies supplying the talc used in the production of the soft pastel.

Tests by the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration found asbestos in all four, supposedly asbestos free, talc samples that it tested in 2000. Asbestos was found, in Artist’s Pastels and Children’s crayons as recently as the year 2000.

It is a case of ‘Artist’s Beware,' when you work with soft pastels, as you are working with fine dust that when inhaled is harmful.
I love working in artist’s pastels. If I did not already own a kit worth thousands of dollars, I would never begin to use them, and I swear I will never buy another pastel. I currently have a little play with them, trying to decide what to do with the kit I have. My knowledge tells me I should not ever use them, the recent results of what can creatively be achieved in a quick pastel sketch, makes me want to cling to these hazardous art materials. My heart has me sticking still to something intellect tells me I should relinquish.

Do yourself a favour, if you already work with pastels, wear a dust mask, work with as little dust as possible, no tapping on the back of the work or blowing off the dust, indoors and damp dust after each use. Use them as infrequently as possible and do not substitute this medium for anything else you could inhale, like volatile thinners.

Do all spraying of fixatives out of doors. Discourage others from taking up any art medium where the risk of inhalation poisoning is unacceptably high.

Yes, for sure the pastel manufacturers label these materials safely. The marketers are not the ones contracting cancers at a higher rate than the general population like professional artists do.

Art is to be enjoyed; you cannot enjoy life or art if you are chronically ill so chose your mediums with health as the high priority.

Work safely, free from the risks of inhalation, ingestion, and absorption through the skin; pigments and binders. This means to minimise your contact with artist’s soft pastels.

~~~
I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

Sign on my touring caravan door.

"Open Hours:

Open most days about 9 or 10. Occasionally as early as 7, and sometimes as late as 12 or 1.

We close about 5:30 or 6.

Occasionally about 4 or 5, and sometimes as late as midnight, or later.

On some days we're not here at all, but lately we've been here a lot, unless we're not here."

~~~
I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

The Daly Waters Pub is a ‘must see,' stopover for gray-nomads, on the trip up through the center of Australia.

Each time we make the journey we stop over for the night, enjoy the famous barra (baramundi fish) and beef evening meal with entertainment, camp in the paddock (they cll it a camping ground) shower with cute little green and pale brown frogs (dozens of them) and leave refreshed the next day.

I have just finished my small flow formula acrylic painting of Daly Waters Pub. There are art prints and gifts available of this image.

I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

Prehistoric:

Paleolithic (30,000BC-8000BC)
Neolithic (8000BC - 1000BC)
Bronze Age (2000BC - 1200BC)

Western:

Egyptian (3000BC - 332BC)
Sumerian, Assyrian, Persian (3000BC - 331BC)
Aegean (2000BC - 1100BC)
Greek (1100BC - 146BC)
Roman (146BC - 476AD)
Early Christian (313-600AD)
Byzantine (330-1453) - also from Persian culture
Romanesque (1000-1200)
Gothic (1137-1550) typically religious, distinctive arched design of churches - also from Islamic culture

International Gothic (1350-1480) more secular eg. de Fabriano, Witz, van Eyck,
Gothic Revival (1820-80)
Proto-Renaissance (1300-1420) eg. Giotto


Early Renaissance (1420-1490) eg. Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Francesca, Botticelli
Renaissance in northern Italy

examples:
Mantegna - (1431-1506) the master of perspective and the fore-shortened figure
Foppa (1427-1515)
Da Vinci (1452-1519)
Bellini
Giorgione - painted the 1st "reclining nude" in 1507, creating a new genre
Titian (Venice - 1490-1576) - influenced the Lombards & Caravaggio
Brescian artists Moroni, Moretto & Savoldo (1480-1550) who specialised in the study of light & was a precursor to Caravaggesque luminism
Renaissance in northern Europe (1495-1580) eg. Durer, Hans Holbein, Brueghel
High Renaissance (1490-1520) calm, ordered eg. Michelangelo, Raphael Mannerism (1520-80) tension, discord following scientific discoveries and Calvinist Reformation & Counter-Reformation of the Christian Church.

examples of Mannerists:

late Michelangelo (Florence) - anti-classical
Tintoretto (Venice)
El Greco (Spain)
late Raphael - respectful of classicism, achieved a perfect synthesis of form and colour with the most expressive results.

northern Lombard naturalism:
in Lombardy, a more expressive style of Mannerism flourished, based on regional peculiarities that had already been evident in previous centuries. Artists endeavoured to avoid stylistic compromise, preferring simplicity & attention to naturalistic detail, following on from the Renaissance painter Foppa, who, in the 15thC, was interested in the perception of the fluctuating effects of light and shadow, and noted for his lively, realistic representation & Da Vinci who had arrived at a representation of truth founded largely on scientific investigation and was the 1st artist to concern himself with expressing the feelings of the people he depicted.
in the 1580's, the Lombard painters flocked to the more culturally rich Rome and Pope Sixtus V who was an art lover
Carracci academy Bologna's naturalism (1585-88)
return to Lombardy naturalism in opposition to the artificiality in late Mannerist art.
the origins of the still life (late 16th C):
a return to easel painting instead of frescos in order to capture the immediacy of real life events combined with Flemish experiences of portraying natural detail and a sense of three-dimensionality led to the "still life". Use of actual models.
Udine,
Caravaggio (southern Italy d1610) - studied the movements and spontaneous reactions of people in a manner far removed from the captiousness that so often pervaded Mannerism
late Roman Mannerism (1585-1600):
Pope Sixtus V (1585-90) overseas the reconstruction of Rome and imposed on artists a homogeneous style of figuration that reinforced the work's overall moral purpose. For the 1st time, Flemish influences were seen in Italian art. eg. da Reggio
Baroque (1580-1750) heavy, theatrical, dynamic, emotional, often violent
during the 1620's, painters throughout Europe were alerted to the news emanating from Rome: the revolutionary art of the late Caravaggio who achieved astonishingly realistic effects through the use of diagonal light, corresponded with a rapid expressive development of the Baroque style & the result was a lavish tour de force of colour & animation.
examples of Baroque:

Rubens (Flemish - 1577-1640 - dominated the Antwerp school) after trip to Rome in 1601, recognised Rome could offer a wealth of old & new material, which he converted it into "Baroque" form. He linked this with Titianesque colour & Caravaggesque chiaroscuro, and was fascinated by the power of Caravaggio's religious paintings but had little admiration for his figurative compositions.
Utrecht School (Catholic Dutch) - inspired by Caravaggio
Rembrandt (Calvinist Dutch d1669), his portraits tended to be character studies of a more psychological nature. He is one of the greatest engravers of all time.
Velasquez - strongly influenced by Caravaggio
Gentileschi - strongly influenced by Caravaggio, famed for his female nudes in particular
La Tour - St Mary Magdalene with candle1635
Rococo (1700-90) King Louis XV; dainty, charming often based on motifs from shells eg. Watteau, Fragonard, Boucher, Tiepolo
Classicism (1550-1760) return to calm Renaissance style eg. Poussin, Le Lorrain
English 18thC (1760-1800) eg. Reynolds, Gainsborough, Hogarth
Victorian Classicism (1840-1900)
Neo-Classicism (1780-1840) American & French revolutions style - a severe, unemotional form of art harkening back to the style of ancient Greece and Rome eg. David
19thC European Academic
Romanticism (1800-1900) reaction against neo-classicism - a deeply-felt style which is individualistic, beautiful, exotic, and emotionally wrought. eg. Goya, Constable, Hudson River School, Turner, Friedrich Symbolism (late 19thC) spooky mysticism eg. Moreau, Redon,

Expressionism (see below)

Australian Colonial (1831-1885) eg. Glover, Martens, Buvelot

Contemporary Australian (1939-) eg. Dobell, Drysdale, Nolan, Boyd

Pre-Raphaelitism (1848-1900) return to early Renaissance eg. Hunt, Millais, Rossetti Golden Age of Illustration (1880-1930) eg. Rackham, Crane, Dulac, Beardsley, Pyle

British Arts and Crafts movement (late 19thC) craftsmanship & design
Art Nouveau (1880-1920) elegant decorative; intricate curved lines eg. Klimt
Art Deco (1920-1940)
Realism (1850-80) rejected academic artificiality, historical fantasy & romantic exaggeration eg. Manet, Courbet, Daumier
Impressionism (1870-90) capture transient light on scenes eg. Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, Degas
Australian Impressionism (1885-) eg. Heidelberg School (Roberts, McCubbin, Streeton, Conder); Hans Heysen, Gruner; Meldrum;
Les Nabis (1889-99) tried to connect Impressionism with theories of Gaugin eg. Bonnard, Vuillard
Precisionism / Cubist Realism (1920-1940) realistic rendering of objects but emphasising geometric form eg. Sheeler, Demuth
Social Realism (1930-1940) eg. Rivera
Magic Realism (1943-1960) overtones of fantasy & wonder eg. Cadmus, Evergood, Albright, Tooker
Photo-realism (1965-1980) eg. Kacere
Contemporary Realism (1965-) eg. Wyeth
Modern Primitivism (late 19thC) eg. Rousseau
Modern Architecture (1880 onwards)
Post-impressionism (1880 onwards) underlying structure, emotional use of colour & scientific approach to patterns eg. van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Seurat
Pointillism (1880's) brush-style using tiny dots of primary colors to create secondary colours eg. Seurat
Fauvism (1905 onwards) "wild animal" unrestrained freedom of artistic expression to bring emotionalism into art eg. Matisse, Dufy Expressionism (1908 onwards) highly personal expression of psyche eg. Roualt, Munch

Blaue Reiter (1911-13) eg. Marc
The Bauhaus Painters (1919-33) eg. Feininger, Klee, Kandisnsky - also from Cubism
Kinetic Art (1920 onwards)
Dadaism (1916-22) eg. Arp, Duchamp, Ernst
Surrealism (1924-39) "super-real" dream-like eg. Dali, Miro

Abstract Expressionism (1947 onwards) rejection of natural form of objects eg. Pollock, Kline
Colour-Field (1948 onwards) large flat areas of colour eg. Rothko
Op Art / Optical Art (1955 onwards) optical illusions eg. Vasarely, Uecker, Riley
Cubism (1907-25) geometric shapes as basis for art eg Picasso, Gris
Futurism (1909-20) dynamic sensation of motion & speed eg. Severini, Boccioni, Balla
Suprematism (1913-1918) eg. Malevich;
Australian Post-Impressionism (1913-) eg. Wakelin, Bell, Shore, Frater, de Maistre;
Purism (1918-) eg. Le Corbusier, Ozenfant
Neo-Plasticism / De Stilj (1917-44) 2D geometric eg. Mondrian
Geometric Abstraction (1932 onwards) Hard Edge Abstraction (1955 onwards) eg. Albers, Kelly;

Minimalism (1960's-) objects stripped down to geometric form & represented impersonally eg. Kelly
Pop Art (1953 onwards) explores the everyday imagery which is part of contemporary consumer culture eg. Warhol, Lichtenstein, Wesselmann, Rosenquist

~~~

I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

Bendigo Pottery is Australia's Oldest Working Pottery

Reg and I visited Bendigo Pottery on Saturday. It has changed in many ways since our previous visits, but it is more hands on these days allowing creative interactive experiences. I loved viewing the working pottery environment and the historic section of the old bottle kilns and pottery. It fired my memories of my decades of creative work with clay.

I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.

When I have taught art, a high proportion of my art students were cigarette smokers, and I never allowed cigarette smoking in my studio both for safety reasons and my dislike of the cigarette smoke and the smell.

I would like to know these things, and I would be interested in comments on this subject.

This does not affect me personally, as I do not use highly volatile thinners, though most artists do and many also smoke cigarets while working with these materials. I have seen an artist smoke a cigarette while cleaning brushes over a large can of open kerosene, creating a risk of fire. Common sense is not always common.

Fire Hazards Associated with Chemicals Used in the Arts

The fire hazards associated with artist’s materials are often overlooked, yet fire may be the most significant risk artists face. Common art materials that may cause a fire include flammable or combustible solvents, oily rags, chemical oxidizers, and compressed welding gases.

Improper use of solvents causes most art-related fires.

Artists must be aware of a solvent’s flashpoint and volatility, the two primary properties that influence a solvent’s ability to initiate a fire.

The flashpoint, the most critical factor, is the temperature at which a solvent gives off enough vapour to form an ignitable mixture with air and can ignite in the presence of an ignition source such as a flame or electrical spark. The lower the flashpoint, particularly when it is at or below room temperature the more hazardous the material.

A substance’s volatility determines how much of it will evaporate and mix with air. In order for a solvent to catch fire, it must evaporate and its vapours must mix with air to form the right fuel/air ratio (typically 1-3 percent). The more volatile the solvent, the more readily it will evaporate and the more likely it will create an ignitable fuel/air mixture.

Acetone is extremely volatile, and if spilled, it will evaporate almost instantly. Mineral spirits, which has a much lower volatility than acetone, will evaporate much more slowly if spilled.

To control the risk of a fire, always choose a solvent with the highest possible flashpoint and the lowest potential volatility. Ventilate the area to keep the solvent concentration from reaching an ignitable air/fuel mixture.

Remove ignition sources such as open flames and electrical equipment that may generate sparks.

Vapours from flammable solvents are heavier than air. They can travel some distance to an ignition source and then flash back to the solvent source.

When dispensing flammable solvents, from large metal containers, ground both containers to dissipate static electrical charges.

To prevent fires, store rags soiled with setting oils (tung oil, linseed oil) in tightly closing metal.

containers and have them picked up daily for professional laundering or disposal

Flammable solvents should be stored in a storage cabinet designed for combustible materials.

When using flammable solvents, out in the studio, store them in safety cans. If you handle chemical oxidizers such as chlorates, chromates, nitrates, or peroxides, store them apart from organic solvents and other readily combustible materials in storage units specifically designed for these materials.

Some types of substances such as organic peroxides and nitric acid are so reactive they should be stored separately from all other chemicals. If you use compressed gases, such as acetylene or propane, be familiar with all the complex regulations that apply to them. Secure them in an upright position and test the regulator fittings and connections for leaks before using them.

Store flammable compressed gases, separately from compressed oxygen.

I travel extensively to draw inspiration for my paintings and writing from life experience.
You will discover my Australian rural-lit novels at www.rural-lit.com

​Ryn Shell.