my collage competition entry

This.
This is it.
This is the most original piece I've ever done.
This is embarrassing to admit frankly.

Not sure what else to say.
Sure we all get inspiration from all sorts of places and I was inspired by things I've read, radio shows I've listened to, articles I've read.

Still - this is it.
This is it so much that I'm a little scared to have another go - as much as I want to.

Maintaining Equilibrium

Inspired by a friend’s post about what she does to maintain equilibrium here are mine. Her very insightful words can be found here

1.       Walk a little each day. I’m not going to make false resolutions about triathlons or joining a gym but I know I can achieve some walking each day (even if it is only to the coffee shop..)

2.       Keep a bottle of water with me in the car, on my desk, on my bedside table so that there’s no excuse not to have a drink of water. Again I’m signing on to any green smoothie regime cause I know it ain’t going to happen and I’d rather not lie to anyone else – or more importantly myself. If someone wants to deliver them fresh to me every day, then the story may change.

3.       Take lysine on a semi-regular basis to keep coldsores away. Coldsores not only feel crap but they seriously negatively affect my self-confidence.

4.       Body scrub in the shower usually once a week. I can’t decide what I like best - the process of applying it or how soft my skin is afterwards.

5.       Eat a rainbow of foods. Food can be so visually appealing and I’m always more inspired by a range of natural colours in my food. Beige on brown doesn’t tend to do it for me.

6.       Ensure there is something green in each meal I eat. I’ve been known to add parsley or chives that grow in the window box out the front to enliven a dish. It’s a small thing but it makes me feel better and it is easily achievable so why not.

7.       Get some alone time. Wrestle it from the world. Fight for it and defend it viciously. Okay, so I don’t need to always be so violent about getting some solo time but sometimes I do.

8.       Play, experiment, try a new artistic medium.

9.       Fresh air. Open a window. Sit outside. Even when it’s cool out, I’ll rug up but I like fresh air.

10.   “ I am just really nice to myself. I stop comparing, I sleep, I do what I love, I stop listening to rubbish and just hang and talk with the good folk and if I cannot get out of bed, the world won't end as I know it.” I’ve liberated her words as they say it so well. 

Thanks Ange for your wisdom and friendship over the many years.

(edited  after my walk and I thought of a couple more and because 10 is too arbitrary a number in a list) 

11. I try to have a monthly massage for more than it just feels good,  which it usually doesn't cause my masseur is a sadist I'm sure.  She says it's for my benefit but I'm unconvinced. 

So not a farmer

I could never be a farmer

I've just burst into tears because my Coco cat won't come inside and I fear she won't ever come back. 

The backstory - a week ago we took in a second cat (Lafayette) cause its owners are allergic and she has been an outside cat but they're moving so that has to change. 

So as you'd expect,  the two cats don't get along.  It's been a week since I've had any decent sleep due to their fighting. I've not idea what to do to facilitate the situation more smoothly. This is the thing that bothers me most.  I have no idea what to do!

It's almost midnight on a night of full moon and my Coco cat has just appeared and I'm hugging her so firmly she bites me.

I could never be a farmer.

unique-ness

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the threads that pull seemingly disparate pieces of my work together. Whilst I may have an idea going into something the sheer nature of arting/playing means that the result isn't always an intended one. I see value in and enjoy the process of exploring an idea, a theme, a medium. a technique. It just doesn't always got to plan.

Just like now with this post, I'm already off on a tangent diverting from my initial thrust.  (I'm actually thinking of getting someone to interview me about my art and recording the session to see where my brain takes me that usually my fingers are too slow to capture. This, I see, is a parallel idea to the Hemingway "Write Drunk. Edit Sober" quote/misquote,)

Anyways...

I'm thinking about the ideas of uniqueness. Fingerprints, how they relate to contours, landscapes, landscapes of the female body. Also our eyes, doorway to our soul(?) their unique colours and patterns. Surely we don't refer to them as eyescapes. Looking at leaves, they all have a 'scape'. 


There's actually not too much to write about this cause mostly it's still trapped inside my head, tangled, arse over tit.

Just so you know, I really like it when people comment here rather than just a FB like. To me, it feels like you've actually read it.
I'm guilty of this behaviour also. I'm trying to change. Unless, I'm stalking you - then I read but not comment.

pulling threads together

topography
contour lines
conventions
legends
caves
mountains
hills
maps
landscapes
internal landscapes
female body as landscape























seaweed
ozone
fresh ocean
salty air
water
waves

dunes
shifting forms










































mussels
oysters
flesh - soft pliable
saline
cooling
refreshing
























botanical

plants
flowers
flowering
blooms
blooming
growth
unfurling unfolding
many layered
multi dimensional
messy
complex













fruit 
vegetables
ripeness
seeds
flesh

lush
verdant


earth goddess
mother earth





myth
archetypes




weaving 
woven
intersecting
interlinked
connected

watercolours
water
serene
feel it in my waters
aqua
aquifer
aquatic

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...

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