Today's Walk - Winter approaching

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The (Australian) winter is approaching, so I here's a set of today's photos of 

some of our winter flowering plants, specifically banksias:

Wikipedia: 

Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden 

plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, 

banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up to 30 metres tall. They are generally found in a wide variety of 

landscapes; sclerophyll forest, (occasionally) rainforest, shrubland, and some more arid landscapes, though not in 

Australia's deserts.

Heavy producers of nectar, banksias form a vital part of the food chain in the Australian bush. They are an important food 

source for all sorts of nectariferous animals, including birds, bats, rats, possums, stingless bees and a host of invertebrates. 

Furthermore, they are of economic importance to Australia's nursery and cut flower industries. However these plants are 

threatened by a number of processes including land clearing, frequent burning and disease, and a number of species are 

rare and endangered.

David Hawkes
Untitled, 1997
Oil on board, 15 x 15 cm
Esa Jaske Collection

The Rest of the Garage Sale Buys

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So I did go back to the sale, and got the following items from the nice lady:

David Hawkes

Untitled, 1997, oil on board, 15 x 15 cm

Esa Jaske Collection

Pottery #14 - Oil-spot ceramics, Midori Burns

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This is one of my favourite pots (why do I have a problem with a word, 'pot', I 

wonder - I guess I'd rather use a word 'vessel', but it doesn't necessarily mean 

clay, of course...). It's by an Australian based Japanese - well, potter? - Midori 

Burns. She doesn't have a website, and there're only a few images of her work 

on the net (see here for example), so I thought featuring her work in a single 

post would be good for spreading the word of this talented individual.

This is how she describes her work herself (courtesy of Planet Furniture):

I have been exploring the application of oil-spot glazes on functional and 

aesthetic vessels. My studies of a wide range of oil-spot pieces suggest that the 

technique may have its origins in the Sung Dynasty (960 to 1279AD). Pots from 

the area from which oil-spot pieces originated were referred to as "peasant pots". 

Although the finest pieces derived from the same kilns, the same clay, the same 

glaze mix and the same artisans that supplied the peasants were reserved for 

export and the very finest pieces were reserved for the Emperor. This might 

amount to only one pot in a million.

However, I have tried to reflect strong, contemporary influences and to give the 

pieces a refined spatial structure and a clear functional direction derived from 

modern aesthetic and design principles.

The intriguing prospect of working with such a variable and delicate glaze as oil-

spot and the exploration of the impact that differing, controlling temperatures 

might have upon the glaze were two of the more fascinating aspects of working 

in this ancient, yet surprisingly contemporary-looking medium.

David Hawkes, Untitled, 1997, Oil on board
Esa Jaske Collection

Sea Anemones at Avalon Beach Tidal Pools

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All of the local ocean beaches I've featured on this blog have rock/tidal pools at 

both ends, where the sand gives way to the rocky headland. I took the following 

photos at Avalon beach, which was Beach #3 (see here) in series "Ten Beaches, 

Ten Images".  They are of Australian Waratah Sea Anemone (Actinia tenebrosa), 

which gets its name from the waratah flower:

Waratah.

The following is from Victorian Government's Bayside City Council's website:

Rockpools, Platforms and Reefs

Rockpools, platforms and reefs provide habitat to an amazing diversity of plants and animals. Rock platforms are covered 

twice a day by high tide, thus creating two worlds for many plants and animals living on them.

When the tide is out, large predatory fish are excluded from the rock platform, allowing animals to move around freely and 

exposing plants to open air and sun. The two living worlds created by roockpools provide opportunities not available in the 

open ocean and the sandy shore.

The rocks give many species of barnacles a solid base on which to fix themselves, and the incoming tides wash nutrient-

rich waters over their appendages. Similarly tube worms emerge from their impenetrable limy fortresses as the waves cover 

them and retreat as the waves subside.

Living in rockpools requires specialised adaptations and the Waratah Sea Anemone is an example of a hardy rockpool 

creature.  Looking like a red jelly mass out of water it is able to withstand the heat of the sun for several hours per day, 

survive the beatings of the surf as the tide comes in and take its food and oxygen from water without being able about from 

place to place.

For a long time small marine animals were collected from rockpools for making soups and stews, for use as bait and even 

school field work. The result has been the decimation of populations in the most popular collecting areas. Conserving 

rockpool flora and fauna is now part of all school marine biology programs, reinforced by severe penalties in most states for 

unauthorised collection of animals.

David Hawkes
Untitled, 1997
Oil on board, 15 x 15 cm
Esa Jaske Collection
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