As I am determined to go with my first thoughts in regards to these inchie images this year, I was a little dismayed when I looked for examples on Google. The flower size and colour presented some difficulties, how to depict such a tiny image, and another reddish flower to add the the collection. However, on with it!
However, after no less than five attempts during the whole morning, I had to give up on this one...I could draw a reasonable little outline but the colouring simply wouldn't come together. More below...
The Indian sandalwood tree has been utilised, cultivated and traded in several cultures, both for it's fragrant wood and medicinal attributes, for centuries.
Due to the slowness of the trees' growth, they are usually not harvested until at least fifteen years old, plus the length of time the wood retains its distinctive soft, warm, creamy scent, these trees have become endangered. It is reputed to be the second most expensive wood in the world, after the African black wood.
It is a semi-parasitic plant, similar to the European mistletoe, and can co-exist with a range of hosts.
Sandalwood oil has many uses in the cosmetic and scent industries, and also, due to its low fluorescence and optimal refractive index, sandalwood oil is often employed as an immersion oil within ultraviolet and fluorescence microscopy, (Thanks Wikipedia! That is certainly something I did not know)
I am certainly finding collaging very slow work, especially when using my own photos. I don't have access to magazines so I have to source images from both paid and free image sources and I am always very wary of breaching copyright when obtaining images...still, learning the processes involved is filling my days, so I am not really complaining.
I did purchase a few online collage sheets from Mischief Circus, which have proved to be fun and quick to use, but I think I prefer the originality and potential of using my own images. Scanning and copying photos enables colouring and better sizing, plus playing in Photoshop to crop, resize, recolour et all is always time consuming for me.
Yesterday the girls and Hollie came for lunch. Afterwards they took me for a drive, as I hadn't been out for a few days, which was lovely. We drove up to the waterhole on Pawleena Road, as always I was looking out for birds, but only saw the usual suspects. There were a few wild ducks on the water, but not much else was in sight.
We did see a couple of echidnas, both were well away from the road, fortunately for their longevity, but less happy for the photographer. They are shy little things, the sound of the car stopping is usually prompt enough to fade into the background with surprising ease...
Tim's garden though is doing very well. The waterhole he uses for watering has delivered until now.
We have had a super abundance of beans, broad, runner and now butter beans. The girls went home with a lovely bag full. Tim and Chris found enough pink-eyes, a delicious, waxy little local potato, for us to have with our lunch, while they were watering and picking the beans.
The sweetcorn cobs are filling out also, they will be a nice addition once they ripen and I have great hopes for the pumpkins, a bit of rain, though, would help ensure a good crop.
Bye for now,
Di