Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Dreams

The last few months, I've been having some vivid wild dreams. These have provided me fertile fodder for some experimental art pieces.
There's something pretty cool and in equal parts frustrating creating art from the fading memory of a dream. It's like trying to pick she'll out of the egg you've just cracked. Slippery, often elusive, no matter how simple it might seem.
I've had some successes, more failures but lots of learning along the way - hopefully. My dreams provide captivating visuals, emotions and concepts but are very lean on the practicalities.
Occasionally, they even feature a pale redhead with nipples on her upper arms...

Friday, November 21, 2014

Things I love

Cold wine in a beautifully shaped glass in the afternoon
An un-read magazine
Clean crisp sheets
Autumn sunsets
Sleeping naked
Waking naturally - no alarm or other scary noise
A sneaky nap
Slightly over cooked chips dipped into veal jus
Easy conversation
Robin Boyd architecture

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

SLOW DOWN, DISCONNECT


What’s the hurry?

Answers and decisions don’t always have to be instant. Though I will confess to generally knowing straight away which way I’ll go. I don’t believe it’s procrastination (it’s pre-thinking – see previous post dated Nov 18 2013.)

Maybe I’m mulling over the exact wording of my response and that is the reason I haven’t replied to your IM, text message or email.
Maybe I have nothing to say (unlikely).
Maybe I finally heeded my mother’s words – if you’ve nothing nice to say then don’t say anything at all.
Maybe I’m trying to see things from your point of view. This is happening far more as I get older. What’s that expression about the youth knowing everything and as we age we become wise enough to realise how little we truly know.
Maybe I got distracted by something bright and shiny – a distinct possibility.

This is related to the acknowledgement that there is very little virtue in busyness itself. We can be busy being distracted from things as much as we can by things. Multi-tasking is a myth. Some of us are just very capable of rapidly switching between tasks. We can’t actually multi-task. So why try?
Be mindful of the task at hand. Enjoy the singularity of one task, one project, one job.

This ties in to the second part of the title. Disconnect. Granted, I may not actually turn off my phone but I’ve started leaving it in a different room, occasionally leaving it in the car (albeit accidentally at times). Deliberately I have also started leaving it at home sometimes when I go for a walk and then I find myself noticing things. I notice the way the sun glints off the leaves of a particular tree making it appear to sparkle and wonder how I might capture such a thing in a painting.

The amount of times I’ve caught myself not engaging with a movie on TV because I’m distracted by my laptop or phone has even started to annoy me. So I’m trying to wean myself off it. Naturally, if it’s a semi-decent movie to begin with then it’s much easier. I’ve recently starting selling products related to my art but it’s not heart or brain surgery so none of my emails are really THAT important.

In our household, phones are banned from dinnertime (and frankly always have been). That rule is non-negotiable, even for guests. We are all surviving that easily enough so clearly this disconnection thing is possible.


Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Great place to buy art

And yes I've another new stockist. This is a gorgeous place in the Dandenongs that showcases a unique range of furniture, homewares, local art and much more.

http://www.thecourtyard.net.au/

Friday, November 14, 2014

Painting en plein air

I've a great travel set of watercolours and am enjoying discovering the pleasures of painting in the open. I recognise it is quite the established tradition but I'm a newcomer to it.

A little tweaking when I got home but most of the work was captured on site.


Monday, November 10, 2014

New stockist! New stockist! New stockist!

"Once the home of Dame Nellie Melba, Coombe - The Melba Estate is a property with an unrivalled provenance. Seven acres of stunning gardens and beautifully appointed facilities in the restored motor house and clock tower offer a truly unique gourmet and cultural experience."


http://coombeyarravalley.com.au/site/

The providore at Coombe Yarra Valley is the latest stockist of my watercolour artcards, aprons and in the very near future - napkins.


Everybody do a little dance now...