For the past several months I've been working on a commission for the garden of a private residence.  

In February I gave a talk to a local art group about my experience attending The 3rd Contemporary Mosaic Art Symposium in Sardinia Italy (subject for another post - long overdue).  The following day I was contacted by a woman who had been at the talk,  who commissioned me to create 2 mosaics for her beloved garden.  She'd been introduced to a variety of materials during my talk, and as a result decided on Mexican Smalti, as her material of choice.  OK by me!    

The Osprey flew off to his new garden home .... On to the flowers!

Being out in the country, Belinda assured me that I would see some of Australias unique wildlife.  Sometimes, they just appeared in front of us, and to see others we had to go out hunting in the night.

Another fun excursion was taking a ride on the Puffing Billy Railway.  The line is one of the most popular steam heritage railways in the world and is kept in operation through the efforts of volunteers of the Puffing Billy Preservation Society. The railway aims to preserve and restore the line as near as possible to how it was in the first three decades of its existence, but with particular emphasis on the early 1920s.
I was told that normally everything is lush green, but unfortunately what I saw was mostly brown, due to the recent drought conditions.

We were lucky to have Conductor Fraser, a friend of Belinda's, ride with us, as our  personal guide.

Though I flew in and out of Melbourne, this is all I saw of the city, driving to and from the airport.  Hopefully next time I'll get there!

I taught 2 workshops - Flowers and Portraits
​Here are the results & happy creators.  

It was a gorgeous day to take the train and then the ferry into Sydney.  Approaching the iconic Opera House from the river was a treat.

& a few  random shots from my final walk around the city. 

We had a super lovely group of people for the workshop.  Several of them had extensive experience with stained glass, 2 of them being instructors at the Brisbane glass guild.  Everyone did great work, while enjoying themselves and helping each other.  

On the second morning we all met before the workshop at a local gem and stone shop.  AMAZING..... 

For a special treat, on my final day, I took Catherine for her first ever reflexology session.  I love having a foot massage, especially after being on my feet for days, teaching and touring.    Ahhhhhh!


And finally, A mandatory excursion to visit the Koala sanctuary..... pretty much impossible to spot them in the wild.  Australia has so much cool wild life!

Farewell Brisbane - It's been fabulous!

Of course, I was delighted to find several mosaics along the  pathway.

​These strange looking birds were everywhere.  Apparently they're quite annoying, noisy and dirty.  

Just a couple of the names I heard locals call them,  bin chickens or tip chooks.

If you want to know more, check out this song/video!

At the end of the river walk are the Art and Natural history museums.  Both excellent.  Just a few pics of exhibits, art and nature that made an impression.

This is where I stayed while in Perth! It was amazing for me to stay in this idyllic and beautiful location, with a view of the Indian Ocean.  The little blue building on the right is Pat's mosaic studio.

The Art Supply store where my workshop was held, was aptly named Friendz.  And, to my great surprise, located on Pensacola St!

Hey! That's where I live!

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Inside, the workshop begins, with everyone drawing.  It was a wonderful 3 days.  The room was soon full of laughs and learning as everyone worked diligently on creating thier portraits, over the next 3 days.

I just love the diversity of their work and all their smiling faces!

My first flight, out of my home airport, was delayed.  I finally arrived in Dallas as my flight to Sydney was taking off.  24 hours wait until the next flight!

Back at the Dallas airport, I was happy to have a bit of time to check out the mosaics in the International terminal, as I waited for my flight.

& finally.....in the sky.... headed Down Under!