Tag: art

Australian Kelpies

Best friends. Loyal and trustworthy. Optimistic. Friendly, intelligent and reliable.

Hard working sheep dogs with a way of worming their way into your heart, the Aussie Kelpie was long believed (but now questioned) to be related to or bred from Australian native dogs – dingoes.

“For much of the 20th century and early 21st century it was claimed that kelpies were partly descended from dingoes.[6] In 2019, it was widely reported[7][8][9] that a genomic study conducted by researchers from the University of Sydney indicated that the kelpie had no dingo ancestry[10] although this is still uncertain. Claire Wade, co-author of the study’s paper, said that she has never suggested there was “no dingo blood in the Kelpie breed” as the media reported.[11] Wade explained:

The genes studied in our analysis were specifically chosen because it is those aspects of Kelpies (the ears and the ginger/cream colours) that lead most everyday people to presume the relationship between Kelpie and dingo. The evidence of our study proves conclusively that, at least for those characteristics, there is no evidence for relationship to be found.[11]“

exerpt from Australian Kelpie Wikipedia

Learning to understand the many needs of an animal from a young age is beneficial for teaching empathy to children.

This print of his pet dogs Duke and Lou was designed by Frank Errington age 8.

Australian Kelpie cards 3 pack

Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards 100% recycled Australian made card. Colours vary. 19 x 12.5cm Designed by Frank Errington

A$45.00

Border collie gift cards 3 pack

Hand carved, hand printed onto hand made gampi and washi paper, mounted onto gift cards. 12 x 12cm Designed and carved by Jo Bradley

A$30.00

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Bush stone-curlew

Burhinus grallarius

Bush stone curlews are largely nocturnal with large eyes to assist a life in low light. They favour open areas to forage and nest. Eggs laid directly on the ground are vulnerable to being eaten by predators. Nesting parents can adopt a range of strategies to protect eggs, the bush stone curlew relies on camouflage, as the name suggests. It’s able to strike a pose like a statue, sometimes lying flat on the ground, neck extended, looking like a stone. The eyes are partially closed when the curlew is intent on blending in, but flutter wide open if detected, with eye contact maintained while the bird attempts to distract attention from the nest.

The eggs are also speckled to blend in with the leaf litter and go unnoticed.

If a person should come too close to nesting curlews they will attempt to lead them away from the nest by hissing, strutting and flapping around with raised wings. Naturally time off the nest is not good for the eggs and stressful, stone-curlews would prefer to remain on the eggs. Stone-curlews in repeated contact with people have been observed to allow closer intrusion towards the nest.

Bush stone-curlew numbers are under threat in NSW where they are declared endangered. Feral foxes make an easy meal of ground dwelling birds.

Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ

Bush stone curlew mini print and 5 card pack

One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm

A$45.00

Bandicoots mini print and 5 card pack

One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm

A$45.00

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Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot

Horseshoe Crabs and Red Knot
Endangered horseshoe crabs provide eggs for endangered shorebirds.
Evolutionary storylines reaching back hundreds of millions of years are now in danger of ending with habitat destruction and ocean harvesting.
The red knot is a medium sized migratory shore bird, it flies vast distances from breeding grounds in the north to winter feeding grounds in the south. The feeding areas are restricted to highly productive wetlands and sand flats on intertidal zones, places that are increasingly taken into human use, for agriculture and coastal property development.
In the middle of the major migratory path from the Arctic tundra to the tip of South America the red knots make a vital stopover to feed on eggs of the horseshoe crabs. The extinction of horseshoe crabs through over-harvesting would likely cut off the migration path of the red knots. Other migration paths exist but all are under similar pressures.

20 x 20 cm, 1 Shina block, Water-washable oils (COBRA) on Nishinouchi washi with sumi sizing, edition 24 for Baren Exchange.
Part of the Double Dagger series where two printmakers illustrate environmental themes

Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ

Red knot and Horseshoe crabs lino print

Hand carved and printed by Tom Kristensen in the style of Ono Tadashige onto black hand made Japanese washi paper. 20 x 20cm

A$100.00

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Regent Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater

Anthochaera phrygia

Endemic to southeastern Australia.

Critically Endangered.

Migrates in flocks following nectar flow in ironbark woodland.

Major threat – land clearing.

Warragamba Dam Raising Project Offset* prices exceeded capacity for government to pay. Solution; reclassify flooding of honeyeater habitat as a temporary impact

•Offsets are deals done to allow for Destruction of the environment

As of 10th July 2023 the species credit price for Regent Honeyeater is $4,308.00.

Hand carved & printed on Japanese washi

USA et

Forestry offsets described at http://www.fsc.org

Double Dagger †† Art

† The dagger is a typographical symbol denoting a secondary footnote or extinction of a species

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Green Island Ono Tadashige tribute

Ume – Sea by Ono Tadashige 1959

36 Views of Green Island No. 29 RED Green Island

Tadashige Ono was born in 1909 near the end of the Meiji era; four decades of industrialisation and military expansion under the imperial eye of the emperor. Japanese military victory over China on the Korean Peninsula led to the Chinese revolution of 1911, overturning 2000 years of monarchy with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Other revolutions in Russia and Germany saw the rise of more REDS.

Communist posters and pamphlets were illustrated with proletarian art, seemingly carved from wood with a pen knife. Woodblock art, historically dismissed as plebeian, was now authentically primitive. The young Ono entering art school was energetically criticising industrial development and capitalism, while leading fellow artists to mount group exhibitions and publish magazines. His early black and white work was crowded with figures; at work, on strike, partying. He produced a 50-page graphic novel illustrating “the death of three generations”, a pregnant mother is seen pushing a coal cart, then dying while giving birth in the mine. As his work became more colourful Ono depicted landscapes and village life; cats and birds predominate as silent witnesses while the people go about their daily lives. Scenic views of Japan and abroad combine with comments on pollution, wreckage and warfare. Ono was a respected scholar of prints and a bold innovator. He developed a technique enabling multicoloured prints to be made from a single block.

Champion of the Japanese print tradition, which had always produced affordable art for the masses, he worked in universities teaching the history of prints and passing on printmaking skills. Always producing prints at incredible speed, Qno encouraged others to join his print revolution. He mentored many important artists, including Kiyoshi Saito. Although a museum opened after his death in 1990, that museum has now sadly been deaccessioned, perhaps an indication of a lack of respect for a RED rabble rouser.

These 36 views are presented in the Sosaku Hanga tradition: self-carved and hand printed. This print was made from a Linoleum floor tile, Japanese gampi washi, and Royal Talens water-washable oils, and backed with Thai kozo chiri. The seal indicates the Double Dagger project; prints from collaborating artists on environmental themes: Australia is an island continent producing rivers of RED iron ore and black coal.

This print in answer to Ono’s Ume (fT:) – Sea 1959

Tom Kristensen

2024

IMG_2401

Red Green Island by Tom Kristensen

Made in the style of Ono Tadashige on a single lino block. 25.5 x 20cm Number 29 in Tom’s Green Island series, this print is about how increasing global temperature is changing to once very stable climates and locations.

A$150.00

Print by Tom Kristensen
Backing
Verso of Red Green Island

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Horseshoe Crab blood harvest

Horseshoe crab: Family: Limulidae Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Merostomata (legs attached to mouth) Species: Limulus polyphemus. Status: Four very similar species endemic to Eastern Americas and the Indo-pacific. Two species vulnerable to extinction in 2016.

450 million years ago horseshoe crabs were almost identical to horseshoe crabs living today. They pre-date the emergence of the woody plants that formed coal beds. Their closest modern relatives are spiders and scorpions. They have 10 legs, blue copper-based blood and 10 sets of eyes – including 2 photoreceptors in their tail.

Harvested for fertiliser, fishing bait, and for biomedical bleeding.

For years, HC were unprotected, shovelled up by the dump-truck load, crushed, and spread to fertilise fields in Delaware US. They are now protected in New Jersey, so after 10-year maturation in the Atlantic off Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs return to the beaches to mate.

Their only defence is their strong shell. The stingless tail is used for navigation and balance, their eggs and hatchlings are essential food for migrating Red knots, another endangered species.

Horseshoe crab blood contains proteins that react to the presence of bacteria forming a protective gel. Most people will have benefited from horseshoe crabs because their blood is used by the biomedical industry to detect positive gram bacterial contamination in vaccines and IV drugs. One litre of blue blood was worth about $16000 USD in 2020, “one of the most expensive resources in the world”

A synthetic alternative has been available for many years but it is even more expensive than the crab blood because of the high profits available and a patent protecting intellectual property.

This Double Dagger lino and woodblock print was made by Joanna Bradley in collaboration with Tom Kristensen who carved the coloured background wood blocks and helped research.

This print is about how human greed and disregard can drive the most resilient and biologically perfect creatures to the brink.

Horseshoe crab blood harvest

By Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley 4 shina woodblocks hand carved and 1 lino block hand carved. Hand printed on Japanese washi paper using a baren

A$100.00

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Double Dagger Art

For the purpose of conservation.

The Adélie penguin is a the smallest of the Antarctic penguins and the most numerous, being widely distributed around the fringe of the Antarctic continent, its conservation status is of least concern. However, life on the frozen continent depends on food produced in the Southern Ocean and climate change and fishing for krill are key threats to penguin survival. Australia is responsible for managing 42% of the Antarctic continent and the adjacent waters. Penguin conservation is a concern of the Australian government.

Dotting the eyes (click here for info in koala offsets)
3 Adélie penguins heading off the ice

This woodblock print made in an edition of 100 on Awagami kozo using Holbein gauche colours. It’s traditional Chuban-sized; 25 x 19 cm. Signed and sealed with the double dagger. Available through Saru Gallery

Click link to Saru Gallery

Adelie penguins woodblock print

Japanese woodblock print hand carved on 4 cherry block. Hand printed with baren onto hand made Japanese/Thai washi paper. 25.5 x 20cm

A$150.00

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