New cartoon

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 10:59:17 +0800

Portrait of computer guru Grant 'Kaos' Booth of Temora Computers

Utes in the Paddock exhibition in Katoomba

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 11:10:35 +0800

Photo of Eris Fleming, Karen Tooth and Bill O'Shea Katoomba Novemeber 2009.

Golden opp with Melbourne cup!

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 10:04:48 +0800

Yes it is the real solid gold, $200,000 genuine 2010 cup, which was on the Emirates Melbourne Cup tour with Victorian Racing Ambassadors Des Gleeson and Amanda Elliott. And if you were lucky enough you got to hold it and POSE for the camera - too good an opportunity to miss!
And what was the connection?
Condobolin has a strong connection with the cup as a locally bred 3 year old brown colt called Merriwee, owned by Herbert Powell and bred by George Lee, won the 1899 cup for the prize money of 4,293 pounds.
After the success of Merriwee, who was named after a lagoon on George Lee’s property ‘South Condobolin’, Lee decided to rename the whole property after the champion horse.
Condobolin has a rich history regarding horse racing and interestingly many of the properties in the Condobolin region bear the names of Melbourne and Sydney Cup winners; ‘Revenue’, ‘Dunlop’, ‘New Haven’, ‘Progress’, ‘Glenloth’ and of course ‘Merriwee’.

UPCOMING EXHIBITION

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:05:27 +0800

Great news I have been invited to hold an exhibition of up to 30 works at the Grenfell Art Gallery.
Dates are April 19 to June 4th 2011.
Will keep you posted if I can workout this blogging thing!

With the famous

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 13:02:17 +0800

Recently had the opportunity to interview some famous NRL All stars players: Laurie Daley, me, Percy Knight and Ricky Walford.

Australia Day at Gum Bend Lake Condobolin

Sun, 06 Feb 2011 12:52:55 +0800

A hot and windy day relieved only by fresh watermelon!

Utes in the Paddock stories in magazines

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 18:14:23 +0800

The Utes in the Paddock have featured on pages 11 to 13 in the magazine Discover Australia Issue 3, September 2010.

This link will take you to the page about the Utes in the Paddock: in PDF format

Here is a list of the highlights in Issue 3:

From the Editor
Letters to the Editor
Baby boomer takes a hike – Sonia Ellem interviews John Vriesekolk
All over Oz – a poem by Terry Everson
Discover Australia’s Best Shot
Daylesford – A town for all seasons by Jocelyn Pride
The heart, mind and soul of the Utes in the Paddock by Darren Stones
Retracing the golden miles by Terry Everson
Transformation by John Vriesekolk
A walk in the park by Michelle Smith
Flinders walking by John Vriesekolk
Cool Cooloola by Sonia Ellem

Also an article appeared in the NRMA's Open Road magazine "An Outback in the outback" by Kris Ashton

Another was in Outback magazine by R M Williams issue 63 Feb /Mar 2009 p 144 -146.

'Utes Annual' 2010 p40 and 41 Eat my Dust and p60 Tribute in Song and pages 104 -105 for Welded to Utes.

'Utes Annual' 2009 p48 -51

NRMA's 'Australian Classic Car' magazine December 2009 p 68 - 71

Welcome to my new website

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:57:20 +0800

Grant Booth from Upside Down Websites has been working hard on creating my new website which went live at 11.52 p.m. on Wednesday 13th October.

Visit his website to see what wonders he can create!

I feel like cracking a bottle of champagne!

Dame Edna Looute at Utes in the Paddock Ootha

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 20:29:51 +0800

Eighteen months ago I completed a painted 1965 HD Holden utility for the outdoor gallery of utes based at Ootha.

Have a look at the Album on the Artworks page - Dame Edna's Looute and go to www.utesinthepaddock.com.au for more information.

The studio starts...

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 08:22:17 +0800

The construction on my new studio started in mid April 2010.

The back 3 bays of a 6 car garage were converted to a lined insulated work space.

The work was carried out by Condobolin builder John Adams.

Apple a day

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:52:15 +0800

They say an Apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Well let's get down to the core...

It was an apple that tempted an adventurous Eve in the garden of Eden - a story that isn't meant to be taken literally. It is a parable like most stories in the bible.

"Your ribs are right over your heart. Eve's birth from the region of Adam's heart speaks of spiriual awakeing. That this spiriutal awakening marks the beginning of human kind....People may choose to embrace their spirituality or not. So there's a story about a fruit tree, the tree of knowledge...

Adam chose not to eat from the fruit tree, but Eve, his spiritual side, persuaded him to taste the fruit of knowledge."

p136 The Unholy Book of Mischief.

From this then consider the quaint tradition of giving the teacher an apple; the use of the apple as a symbol for Macintosh computers; for the teachers credit union and health fund and so on. The link is knowledge and education.

Maybe an apple a day gives you the knowledge and spiritual insight to make healthy choices that keep the doctor away!

PS This unravelling apple is my view of what teaching in the NSW system can do to you...

Just An Egg

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:51:51 +0800

Treading on eggshells.

Life can be a tricky thing avoiding treading on the eggshells of other people's personalities - their hopes, their desires.

Some eggs are thin skinned while others are boiled rock hard through and through- a full 20 minutes!

Which one are you? Do you tread on other people's eggs?