Welcome to: CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN WILDFLOWER ART - BLOG
INSTAGRAM - Pats current day to day works and paintings may be seen on Instagram - pat.wildflower
SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE FOR RECENT & COMING EVENTS as well as BIO for Pat.
RECENT EVENTS
BASA Exhibition - Canberra.
The Botanical Art Society of Australia held a recent Exhibition of Australian Flowers in Canberra simultaneous with Worldwide Botanical Art Societies from 25 other World-Wide Countries. Pat's painting of a Croatalaria which grows in the Simpson Desert was one of many selected for the exhibition by Australian Artists.
Patricia with her Painting of a Croatalaria at the BASA Canberra World-Wide Botanical Art Exhibition.
WORKSHOP - Bendigo
Patricia Weeks conducted a workshop for the Bendigo Art Society Inc. titled:
'An Introduction to Botanical Art Water Colour'
on SAT, SUN APRIL 14, 15th 2018 - Mandurang Community Hall
Patricia demonstrated her technique as a botanical artist who has been working in Alice Springs for 12 years with Australian native plants and landscapes. She is also a designer of fabrics, print making and decorative art pieces.
The course was organised by Joy Tatt of the Bendigo Art Society Inc. joytatt@gmail.com 0419539237
Kinglake Library Talk Wednesday 8th November 2017
Pat gave a talk at the Kinglake Library on her Botanical Painting of Wild Flowers in Central Australia over the past 12 years with a slide show of many of her paintings and Desert Trips.
St Johns Alexandra - FESTIVAL of FLOWERS Friday October 27th
Pat presented a slide show and a talk on her painting of the Native Flowers of Central Australia and then opened the flower show. Full details at bottom of page.
BOTANICAL ART SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA - Featured Artist
In the BASA 2017 Winter News Letter.
The article may be seen at:
GUEST SPEAKER in OCTOBER 2016 for the Australian Quilters Association - Patricia Weeks
This months speaker Pat Weeks and her photographer husband Allan shared with us their expeditions into the Northern Territory.
Pat is an accomplished artist who directs her energies to our native flora and fauna; examples of her beautiful work were available in the foyer. She says she has painted forever. She worked as a commercial artist in the advertising field after studying at RMIT and has only taken a break from painting while her five children were small. Pat & Allan have until recently, spent 6 months of each year in either of their two homes, dividing their time between Alexandra and Alice Springs. They now have a mobile home which allows them to spread their wings a little further.
Pat leads a very active life in Alice Springs and has painted in the botanic gardens, been a member of a choral group which has performed in Ormiston and Trephina Gorges, submitted a variety of artworks to local galleries and conducted water colour classes. Allan's numerous photographs showed many of our beautiful native flowers and birdlife. The purple Swainsona and white paper daises; brolgas and water lilies on the Georgina River near Camooweal, Queensland and the fluffy white flowers of the Mulla Mullas ( a grass type ephemeral plant which takes advantage of favourable conditions).
During their most recent stint in the Northern Territory the couple spent 6 weeks in the West McDonnell Ranges as well as the Mount Zeil and Mount Sonda areas. We saw photos of several species, the parts of which are used for many diverse purposes. The wild hops, while not indigenous, flourish in the area their seeds were used as padding under saddle bags. The stems of the aptly named spear bush were heated to use as spear tips/heads and the beans of some species were used in necklaces. The gloriously named yellow seeds of the Snotty Gobbles (Persoonia longfolia) are evidently a child's treat and are so named because the yellow sticky seeds cling to the faces of the indulgers.
Pat has developed a range of William Morris inspired fabric designs aimed at quilters. The species featured include quandong (Santalum acuminatum), Sturt's desert pea, members of the purple hibiscus, flannel flower and grevillea families as well as the iconic Desert Rose (NT's floral emblem), eucalypts, Eremophila and Hakea. Alice Springs Quilters created a quilt using fussy cut sections of the desert rose prints.
Pat not only paints landscapes, cards, posters etc., and designs quilting fabrics, but also creates stencilled goods featuring native birds and animals; spinifex pigeons, Major Mitchell parrots, emus and our cute Bilby. She has also written and illustrated a story for a friend's birthday. Titled Legend of the Todd River Penguins her imaginary Seed Pod Penguins are featured throughout visiting local NT landscapes.
Like so many of us now older souls, Pat and Allan have not retired from life, but have merely refocused their energies on their life's pleasures and interests. Thank you for the tour of the outback.
Check out the following websites for thoroughly beautiful prints and fabrics: www.wildflowerart.com.au ; www.caasinc.wordpress.com (beautiful shots of William Morrisish Eremophila fabric) and www.aboriginalfabrics.com.au . They are located at Shop 3/91 Gregory Terrace Alice Springs 0870, and for those without internet access the phone number is 08 8952 6163. Story Nanette Griffiths - Australian Quilters Association.
Brief BIO Patricia & Allan
Born and educated in Melbourne, Australia, Pat has recently spent twelve years living in Central Australia painting the native flowers and landscapes of the region, she now lives in Victoria and returns to Alice Springs in the winter months.
Pat's first recognition came as a teenager when her artistic impression of the First Royal Tour of Australia by Queen Elizabeth the 2nd and Prince Philip, was selected to be sent to Buckingham Palace from the youth of Australia.
Pat went on to study art at RMIT, working as a commercial artist, first with Royco, an advertising firm in South Melbourne, then with Edments Art Department producing advertising art work, as well as silk screened posters for their Australia-wide stores. After her marriage whilst juggling a young family, she specialised in hand-colouring photographs before colour photography became the new media. Then Pat turned to her own passion, which is her art.
Since then she has studied many facets of art, including water colour with Melbourne based Dutch artist Yolanda Calquoen, and that is where her interest in flora, and in particular botanical art blossomed painting wild flowers from nearby bushland in Victoria, in later years she has enjoyed passing on her methods of water colour illustration to many interested students, giving lessons to both adults and school children.
Pat first travelled to Central Australia over 50 years ago and unable to resist the dramatic landscapes returned many times. The very wet year of 2000 in the centre produced masses of wildflowers and it was then the idea of botanically painting them evolved, and two years later her work culminated in a Poster of 47 of the more commonly seen Central Australian Wild Flowers.
In 2004 Pat and her husband Allan took up residence in Alice Springs and as a prolific artist, Pat has continued to record the desert flora and fauna. Her collection has been reproduced in a series of cards, prints and the much sought after Poster.
Allan trained as a photographer in ARDU (Aircraft Research & Development Unit) RAAF Laverton in the early 50's, he then worked for Granger Studios in Toorak and later started his own photographic business in Alexandra and became a representative for the Herald Sun Newspaper, ABC 2 & local local Television Stations in North East Victoria for many years. At age 70 Allan went back to Charles Darwin University in Alice Springs and did a Graphic Arts Course Module on digital processing of photographs including photoshop. These days he does all the Graphic Art work using his wife Pat's paintings to produces prints, cards, canvas's & photographs using archival paper, canvas, card & inks.
As a relief from the intricacies of the finer detail of botanical work, Pat finds working on larger acrylic landscapes, textile design and her unique emu pictures an enjoyable alternative. The amazing colour of the desert landscape has also been an inspiration and challenge inspiring some of her latest work of the gorge's and ranges of Central Australia.
Her Emus on Parade are a quirky, sophisticated combination of landscape including emus created from grevillea seeds, water colour and ink.
Exhibiting locally and nationally Pat's work is represented in many Australian and overseas collections. Her paintings have won her many awards and commendations.
Pat's works are available in selected retail outlets, and has had continuous representation at Leaping Lizards Gallery - Alice Springs since the year 2000.
For Retail Sales of Selected Fabrics Contact:
FABRIC DESIGNS: Many of our fabric designs may now be purchased from Spoonflower in suitable lengths to your requirements and posted direct to you.
To view & or order available designs - Click on the following link to Spoonflower's Website:
https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/centralaustralian_wildflowerart
Also: The Braidwood Quilt Shop - 119 Wallace Street - Braidwood NSW (near Canberra). Tel. 02 4842 2355 - E. braidwoodquilts@bordernet.com.au
Also:* Wholesale - M&S Textiles - 136 Cromwell Street Collingwood - VIC 3066 - 03 9417 0052. Go to their website http://www.mstexaustralia.com/shops-2/ to find a retail outlet near you.
Fabric shown on the - Desert Fabric Design - Page annotated as - Sold - have been sold to the Fabric Printing Trade and as such should be available at many retail outlets. Designs not so marked are not currently available for retail purchase.
Textile Design Sales to the Fabric Printing Trade Welcome.
WHEN VISITING ALICE SPRINGS SPEND SOME TIME AT THE OLIVE PINK BOTANICAL GARDENS AND VIEW THEIR VERY LARGE COLLECTION OF NATIVE PLANTS, SHRUBS & WHEN IN SEASON WILD FLOWERS MAY BE SEEN OR CHECK THEIR WEBB SITE - LINK: www.opbg.com.au ,
A SPECIAL TREAT: IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STAY AT A HALL'S GAP HOLIDAY HOME - IN THE BEAUTIFUL GRAMPIANS - VICTORIA - DECORATED WITH PAT'S PAINTINGS - Click on the following link: www.antshallsgaphouse.com.au .
