Jane Davenport Blog

Welcome to the first post of my new Column ‘Sects in the City. Where I divulge the details of a delightful little creature I have photographed.

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Some would say Australians have big heads (anyone who watched Flight of the Conchords has been taught this ‘ fact’). And some Australians have big everything else to match – I am referring of course to our insect’s tendency  towards gigantism. The world’s heaviest moth and cockroach reside here (yay?).  We have the Titan stick insects, Golith stick insect,  King cricket, Colossus earwig and,  drum roll please, the Giant water bug!

In 2006 I picked up an issue of Australian Geographic in the Sydney airport that featured and fantastic article on GIANT Insects. I was glued to the article during my flight. Most insects I was familiar with, or had least heard of, but one stood out…the Giant water bug. But as it is a mud-dweller and I am not, I thought it was unlikely we would meet each other in this lifetime. But I was very wrong…

As I dragged by suitcase up the drive way from the taxi, I noticed a big ‘thing’ just lying there. Yes, it was a Giant water bug – weird huh? It wasn’t alive, but it was giant. Not as big as the 7cm quoted in the magazine, but plenty big enough. I guessed  that a bird must have caught it, the bug put up a heck of a fight, and was dropped. Although its wings are clearly visible, I just could not believe that it could fly, but fly they can… anyway the word must be out for my bug portraits, because I found another one on my driveway today!

I found this fellow (or fellow-ette? I can’t tell…) on its back, waving its legs in the air and from a distance, I though it was an emaciated mouse. So I went over to rescue the poor thing and -woah!- that ‘aint no mouse – HUGE bug-beast! I should have recognised the creature much sooner, but really it is just so unusual looking. So  I relished my chance to at last  photograph one of these relatively unknown critters.

It is a fearsome predator when it is lurking at home in the water or rivers, pools and lagoons. It likes a bit of mud and debris to hide amongst as it stalks tadpoles, small fish, crustaceans and other aquatic insects. A similar creature in the USA is called a ‘toe biter’ because of the painful but non-poisonous bite they can give. So you can imagine, I was very careful when handling it!

As far as making it look beautiful…well let’s be realistic… there just isn’t a chance of that happening! But to get the amazing details, I decided to photograph the Giant water bug in its element and to make it really stand out, I placed it in a white bowl with spring water. It happily swum around, but watching it throw its beefy arms over the side and hoist itself up and out when it had enough of a paddle, was a little alarming.

I also took the bug’s photo with a pen, so you could see just how big it was. My grandfather was a keen nature photographer and I have 1000′s of Kodachrome slides with tiny rare wildflowers and a coin or matchstick placed carefully alongside for scale. It is not aesthetically pleasing, but as a reference shot amongst your images, is a wonderful habit to acquire. (Update: I expanded on this handy tip here)

I wanted to get a shot of it in its natural habitat, but it virtually disappeared into the creek bank as soon as I let it go, and as I find my fingers quite handy, I decided not to poke around in the mud for it.

Next week I will choose a creature to feature that is just as fascinating, but a little better looking!

Well I have had some superduper-garycooper feedback from some inspiration fairies and I am now organising two regular features for this blog…

1. ‘Sects in the City!

It gives me great pleasure to start writing about bugs in a regular way again! I started ‘Sects in the City as a column published in Burke’s Backyard Magazine and had a lovely page there in every issue for 5 years.  It was a very popular regular feature. Look out for it on Mondays! I am writing about an exciting creature I found and photographed yesterday for the first column!

2. ArtoMology : Shutterbug tips with Jane Davenport

Just in time for the weekend, I will share a few of my photography tricks with you!

And! I just sorted Feedburner out – so if you would like these posts delivered straight in to your email box, why not subscribe to the blog (go on…you know you want to…!).

Leave a few comments on what kind of things you would like to learn…

…modern photography is just so neat and clean…well it can be! I certainly like my studio nice and organised so I can find the right lenses …but painting…oooh the delightful mess! these images show the fun I had painting a  tree a few weeks ago…I painted my hands and leaves and then pressed them onto my canvas in different shapes on my canvas to create texture – yes like a child! Such mess and fun.

When I walked past my photography studio covered in colour,  i saw my cameras shudder and shrink to the back of their shelves….I had to calm them down…”  it’s alright my little pets, Mama would never touch you with the nasty paint…”…

i am just feeling a bit nudie with my painting exposed in the last Post… so I need to run under the skirts of the familiar for a moment! I created some still-life vignettes (love that word)…for my DevOcean series. It was the first major shoot working with my new Studio Block (see post below – i don’t know how to link to my own posts – cripes!)…and with the AM.AaaaY. ZING weather in Byron Bay the last few whiles…well, being inspired in a beachified manner came as no surprise…

I was tinkering and shooting for hours and hours and hours a day. I will use the images for signed prints, and I shot them off to some of my art licensing partners and they fainted all over the place and demanded hi-res versions..so excitingness on many levels!

I love taking a workshop that leads me in a new direction. I acquire new skills, explore and experiment. I have never painted using acrylic paint before and I am really enjoying using it. Last week in class, we started  by creating a collage to use as inspiration for the underpainting. I didn’t finish it and don’t like it really. It isn’t resonating with me..yet…maybe it never will! Bit rather than turn my back on it and get on with something else, I am going to perservere!

My Acrylic painting class is with Bernadette Curtin (Bernie!),

It is still a work in progress….And I worked a little more on the ‘Collage’ painting today, and don’t really want to post it …but as this is in the spirit of expanding my boundaries…Courage my Love! Here goes…

The plan for this painting is to add text across it, so that the colours, bubbles and textures form an underpainting. So that will be the next step. eeeeeeeek!

………………UPDATE – I finished this painting! Look for Courage my Love part 2!

Angus gave me a huge H frame easel and giant canvas for Christmas. It is a lovely object, even before it gets beautified with paint splatters and creative juices! I have been saying for a while now how I would love to paint again, and now there are no excuses!

But it has been so long since I picked up a paintbrush, that I felt I needed a bit of  refreshment at a workshop or two, or three….I discovered that the wonderful  Still at The Centre, which is an Art Gallery just down the road from my studio ( that I had a solo exhibition at), had created a plethora of art classes. So I am attending just about all of them!

I have been re-familiarising myself with acrylics, gouache and ink; life drawing, still life drawing and creative drawing. I have discovered Art Journalling (love.).

I adore my teachers, all of them are successful local artists with so much to share. I respond well to the time pressure of the three hour classes. I really, really enjoy creating works in the company of my classmates. And working in a different studio is fun (I don’t have to worry about paint spilling on my divine new carpet!). And then there is the art supplies store in the gallery…delicious den of delights…how I love to browse through all the pastels, pencils, papers and paints.

I am at a different class nearly every day. I load up my gear, and ride my bicycle there,  carrying my canvas like a shield! And you would think that I would be burning up creative energy and not have space left for my photography and projects…but no! I have never been so prolific. I am  art-ing everyday. Oh bliss, bliss, bliss!

If you are in Byron Bay, you must, must, must come and participate in an art class. You can just join in for individual classes, come to a few, or attend the whole term. They are challenging and relaxing in equal measure, and always fun. And if you are not in Byron, well, go and find an art class near you, and do life drawing, or painting or whatever takes your fancy. (do it!, do it! do it!  ; )  )

Last night I did a quick little count of  how many classes I have done since leaving school…I have listed over 70 so far. Yes. SEV.EN.TY.  Most of them are art or creativity based. From international workshops : fashion illustration in Paris, fashion photography in London, Children’s book illustration in Bologna, PhotoShop in Sante Fe, Fine Art printing in Maine, and nature photography in San Francisco.  To my time in Sydney where I studied at the Australian Centre of Photography (and still do go from time to time), The National Art School, UNSW and COFA and the ESE College. I even did a year at the School of Colour and Design (wonderful!). In Byron Bay I have done a few computer courses – Illustrator and DreamWeaver, plus screen printing, ink press. I have taken French classes all over ( I keep on trying!!), stand-up comedy, acting and singing! Then there are the online courses…

You know what? I am a workshop wizard. Permanently curious. Too busy to commit to full-time study. I just love discovering a new class, planning for it and anticipating what will happen. The light social interaction. The mentorship from the teacher. Of course, I love some more than others. Sometimes I discover that I am just not ‘into’ whatever it is I signed up for, and even that is a valuable lesson. Sometimes the class leads me to discover something entirely new about myself!

I will be in Sydney over Easter, and have been scouring the internet to find an interesting class I can go to while I am down there! Nothing has leaped up yet

What about you? Are you a ‘continued education’ junkie? What are your recommendations for me!

Yesterday Angus and I set off to the delight that is BrisneyLand… sorry BrisVegas..oops… Brisbane! We headed straight (after a short deviation to Trade Tools for Angus – drill and other assorted rufty-tufty buildery things) for the Cultural Precinct with 2 missions firmly in mind.

1. ‘The Butterfly Man of Kuranda’ on display at the Queensland Museum – which was beautifully presented, but very small!

Woven alongside the 28 showcases of fascinating insects is the story of Frederick Parkhurst Dodd, a Gentleman Collector. Back when being a ‘Naturalist’ was a legitimate, scientifically respected  past time (well, just quietly, I think being a Naturalist is slowly regaining its clout.). His original bug collecting box and butterfly net is on display and some lovely stories of how he used his adventurous sons to do the difficult up-to-the-tree-tops collecting for him!

My favourite case was where he had written out a  poem  in hundreds of cream coloured moths, and signed the authors name in small beetles.

details from 'The Butterfly Man of Kuranda'

and

2. The 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art aka the mercifully shorter APT6 at the Queensland Art Gallery

- which was…hmmmm… the highlight for me,  aside from the artwork below, was the bookshop. I got  some GREAT books: A Mark Ryden Micro-portfolio and  ‘The Upset ‘( and immediately did the wrong thing when I got home by looking them up on Amazon where they are a third of the price. Note to self: don’t do that.).

My favourite piece was a glass bauble encrusted elk created by Kohei Nawa. PixCell-Elk#2 was placed in a white room with even lighting from all sides and the ceiling. What made this artwork so extraordinary, was that it looked fascinating and mysterious from a distance, and it just became more and more interesting as I got closer. The reflections through the elks glass skin made for some interesting photos. Really and truly fascinating. I stood in awe of it for quite some time.

The Macro Workshop in my Byron Bay studio was a cram-packed day! I set-up all the shots, but I did not get a chance to take any photos on the day….and when I saw the images my students had made…well!..I was just so inspired to get my own take on each ‘set’. So I recreated them all again the next day and then I let my beautiful subjects bugjects go.

Of course, I couldn’t re-magic the shots we found outside, but I did have a few lovely hours outside with the dragonflies. Which was lucky as it turned out, because the next day the council came and did some major works on dredging the waterway…and wrecked my dragonfly hunting grounds! : (““