March 2021
I have only two paintings and one sculpture to show this time.
“Portico for my Darling”
Welded galvanised steel and corrugated iron and polycarbonate.
11 x 4 x 3.7 m.
I have been doing quite a bit of sculpture for a few weeks on an ongoing job…Its out of welded galvanised steel. I like my sculptures to have a function. This one will be used as a portico and to that end I have constructed it on the front (north-facing) end of my darling lady friend’s house.
It will have roofing added in the next week or so.
“Jubilee Creek Swing”
Oils on canvas; two panels
91.5 x 440cm
The first painting “Jubilee Creek Swing” began as a 3ft x 4ft job, (91.5 x 220 cm) but as work proceeded I was wishing I could add a couple of inches (51mm) to the RHS. Finally I got a fresh 3ft x 4ft canvas and attached it to the RHS and proceeded..
You can see the division line down the centre.
With all that extra area I was able to make a humanoid fig tree. And finally the swing.
When my kiddies were quite small we went for a hike with Charlie Roberts up Jubilee Creek at Shipton’s Flat in North Queensland. We did find and swing on quite a few swings.
“Moombooldool Reclaimed”
Oils on canvas 91 x 220cm
The other painting; “Moombooldool Reclaimed” celebrates one of those roadside relics of an ecosystem that once covered all the local countryside, but now is all that was left after the land clearing by our heroic pioneers.
On behalf of the non-human living creatures I like to hope that one day the humans will pack up and depart from this planet for another; bigger and more pristine planet; and the true owners will return.
The mallee will sprawl over the road.
Absent creatures will come out of the woodwork of extinction. And life will resume as in pre-human times, as if after a hiccup.
Well dear blog-readers, I hope you will all be getting your vaccinations so that the human race will overcome the covid menace and continue to dominate and exploit this planet of ours; for the time being anyway…until a more nurturing, compassionate practice prevails.
cheers
love
David
David Schlunke 
Interesting sculpture which is used. And I was puzzled by Moombooldool, but looked it up.
Good painting. The humanoid figure is good. Moombooldool. Yes, I feel that about NZ at times if somehow we could all not be here. And yet we want to be alive or someone will “follow us” and so on. It maybe simply a case that humans, are by an accident, simply too clever. Nevertheless we are in the adventure and on we go. When we think about vaccines we switch to a different mode. For me it will be more or less automatic as I have had vaccines that were new many years ago and I get flu vaccines each year and last year a shingles and so on. See how it goes, one thing is, life is interesting.
Just caught up with this site David and enjoy your work. Also just saying hello.
Hi David
Congratulations on sculptures and new BIG works. Do you have an image of the 1965 Archibald entry portrait that Murch did of you?
Best MM
How fabulous is your work!!
I’m astonished to have only just found you. Brilliant.
And your thoughts likewise.
Thank you
Wendy
My surname Becher missed the C!