So it finally here.

My first holiday in 2 years...

I dont often talk personally about my other life... My life with a chronic illness. Lately in my day to day rituals and routines, my illness has occupied a central role - from talking about it with concerned friends and family, from the weekly appointments with doctors and then all visits to hospitals and holistic centres for procedures and treatments. 

 

My life outside all of that can get alittle lost. So on my blogs I try and rectify the balance by immercing myself in what truly inspires and excites me.

 

But it is time now to fess up and give you more of a complete picture of who I am and where my artwork sits within the context of my life.....

 

Crohns disease is a chronic illness that I was diagnosed with 17 years ago... It has played a minor and a staring role in my life - depending on how serious the symptoms have been on any given day. Weaving its way through many stories and events through these years - ive had to learn and grow as a person, as a daughter, and as a friend.... and understand and finally except my life with how things are and could be...

 

And through all of this my studio practice has miraculously remained. Willing and able to help me through whatever the disease has dealt me.

 

Sometimes my work is directly about my health and sometimes it is as far removed from it all as possible. If I was to try and describe the one constant in all my work however, is would be the colour..whether it is in paint, in pencil, in clay, or captured in a photo .... it is all about colour! And that is why i love writing and posting up images on these two blogs... to remind myself of how far ive come but also to show me where I am now and how lucky and blessed I truly am in this moment...

 

Anyway I guess that explains the last two challenging years and how Ive made it through them... by surrounding myself with creativity and colour, whether it be by someone elses hand or my own.

 

But now... its time to take a break! Im off to the beach and I could not be more happy or excited...

Have a great month....

Enjoy the warming and rejuvenating weather..

and all the amazing colours that surround us at the moment!  x

Sydney at the moment feels raw, earthy + dry.... With barely any rain to speak of, alot of strong winds AND a 70 year duststorm, the city feels totally exposed to the elements...

 

Its an eerie sensation that makes me feel like we have now skipped Spring and are heading straight into a dry hot summer! Which would be fine for a lizard like me, but the animals and plantlife are truly suffering...

 

I am an environmentalist at heart but I usually keep my thoughts quiet and contemplative rather than demonstrative and revolutionary. But now Im feeling alittle different, and as such, my artwork is starting to refect the change...

 

The new installation/photography works that Im working on are about Spirtuality and my personal questioning of what I believe in. However - I could go further and say they are about the Land and the fragility of Nature.

 

In this vein, I thought it was time to introduce some 'natural' materials to my work, and so I went out to one of my favourite art stores and bought some beautiful red oxide pigment. And it was love at first sight! It has provided me with a totally new way of working... and im experimenting, playing + learning with a material that has its own language to teach me.

 

For the first time in a long time-

Im excited!

for colour, inspiration, floral accents + warmth in the air and longer, lazier evenings....

Its been a funny few weeks as Ive found alittle more hip in my hop - producing more artworks, more drawings and more photos.... Winter is usually a true hibernation time for me as the inner lizard looks longingly for the rejuvenating sunrays!! But with a milder August and no rain Ive really been out from underneath the blanket and into the studio...!

So maybe this will be a great studio year for me??? I hope so and with the success of one of my artworks making the finals of a painting prize, Ive found alittle more confidence in my brushstroking abilities - which is always a bonus!! Oh the fickle nature of the creative spirit within!...It's like a little scared mouse that you have to bribe out of a hidey hole with cheese ....

I dont ask for much though - just the 'perfect' conditions with which to have the ultimate studio day...

And what does that mean for me?

A healthy body, mind+spirit, lovely weather, good music and no phones!!

Happy September everyone.... and if you're away on holidays.....enjoy the recharge...

I feel like I have to slowly look over my shoulder every once and a while to just see what I have been up to... and where the time has gone!!

It is just one of those years... where August has come round way too soon... and Christmas is just around the corner!

And I still havent been on a proper holiday...

'Poor you!' I hear you say!!

Its true there is not enough time to be down about something like that..especially when too many nice things surround me...... beautiful licks of warm sunshine, the smell on jasmine in the air, beautiful sunsets on the horizon line - that are getting later and later... and some nice little surprises!!

Such as a place in the finals of a painting prize, being at a lovely opening of crafty peoples last week at Gaffa gallery, receiving some lovely compliments about my series of works+a sale to boot!

And now...? A little commission that has been in the back ground has taken centre stage ... and its meant that Ive been doing alot of drawing in the last week that has been so so much fun!! Ive missed it without noticing... and the subject matter has been .... birds in flight! One of my favourite subjects...

Very much fun and Ill post up the images next month!

But for now I hope you like the images from the Le Fil exhibition which is about to close...

Thank you lovely Kathy for a great show and asking me to be part of it...

Enjoy the sun and last nights of snuggly weather!

and the smell of oil paint is intoxicating in a lovely, homely way!!

After letting my work just speak for itself - it was calling me to get back to painting...oil painting..on canvas!!

So big change of direction after all the drawing, sewing, and wood work that Ive been focusing on for such a long time! Its funny how for no rhyme or reason your inspiration and creative mind suddenly changes tac and you realise that you want to go in another direction...for fun..for a challenge..or for a new way of expression.

I do love it when you have the freedom to try something different and I have been enjoying these detailed oil paintings that require alot of patience...and a steady hand!

It also helps when you have a nice warm room and confortable space to work in..and I have just relocated my easel into another part of the house that now feels like a stroke of genius... or luck!

Hope you all are enjoying the true depths of winter and that there is a nice warm chair in your space with which to read, write, watch, eat or sip!! Maybe a beautiful hot cup of tea....

Also if you are at all bored Ive started a new blog that is alittle more chatty! Follow this little link....

Winter is here and right on cue!

When it gets to June you know that your hibernation skills will start to kick in!

Well - Mine do!

After such a great few weeks of travel, reading, gallery viewing and catch ups with old mates I really have no complaints....

May was such a great month for me as I started to truly feel like my old self again after such a long period of being in the throws of illness...

I think the Make_Over exhibition was a true turning point and what a turning point...it was such a fun show and really goes to show that the mates that you can make at work can become true kindred spirits... well...maybe in the arts where there are many sensitve souls?? I cant imagine it happening with many chefs...from my experience what you meet in a kitchen is alot of drinking buddies!

But i hope you have a good book to keep you company and a nice hot drink as the rain come down....

it is truly the best time of year - well -  I always seem to have a brilliant time!

Great weather, the galleries are showing fantastic shows, the sunsets are beautiful and people are opening themselves up to going out more...

Plus and its a big plus... the gaffa Object group exhibition is always on... and this year was no exception!

At the beginning of May it opened with a big bang as a huge group of friendly faces came to support and have fun...

all the artists were happy to catch up with each other and show their creative wares....

And I was so happy that I was able to do some new work too that was alittle different  - which always keeps it interesting!

Enjoy the sun before the cold truly hits....

I hope you like them....

Getting ready for another group show and these images herald a new direction for my work this year...

In a way they are a good signifer for all the changes that Ive gone through lately...

And in the end....

if you cant be excited about your studio work no one else can....

 

although I have enjoyed the last of this Indian summer weather with a few mornings at the beach ...!

The studio has been calling me though and asking me to get serious...

And as combed through some drawings and old research material I found these images of Morocco... Remembering the sensory aspects of such an amazing country I thought about the colours and the pigments that surround you as you wonder the back alleys of Fez, Marrakesh + Chefchaouen...

How much I want to embrace colour in every aspect of my life... some people would say I cant go much further!

But seeing a friends exhibition last week that was very white...I realised how colour is so important in creating a warm astmosphere and a space that you to want to stay and play in...

just a thought...

<Rediscovering Viktor Duplaix and London Electricity on my ipod again too... love it!>

 

and for me this was definitely the case as i realised how many ways a person can put a mark onto a piece of paper, or wood, or video!

The world of drawing is a big one with many ways of seeing, feeling, understanding and touching. But what I cannot get used to is people being false and not true to themselves and producing works that fit into some sort of contemporary artworld construct. Unfortunately that was in evidence last night at the MCA and it made me alittle sad, as drawing in all its forms is quite natural and intuitive. Or so I thought...

Oh well at least my mate Maria Kontis' work reflected a quiet and personal quality that made me smile...

And i guess ill just keep playing...!

Enjoy the autumnal smell in the air....

I love my new sim ring....I just picked it up and it is such a treat

I love my new white bookcase...its big and its made me rediscover some long lost books!

I love having time to think, to write and to play

I despise chronic pain...it is not fun

I love the kindness of strangers...especially when they offer you chocolate cake!

I love the quiet...but playing great new music is just as good

I love when things do really happen for a reason....

enjoy the full moon tonight.

at anytime, in any place....

For me last week it came in the form of a beautiful exhibition by jeweller Sim Luttin who tries to make a work everyday for the discipline and as a way of creating 3D diary of her year. I loved the idea and it brought to mind an exercise that poet Ryan Van Winkle once told me about. He used to grab a sentence out of the paper everyday and then continue to write from that line in a stream of consciousness. It warmed him up for the rest of the day's writing and took away the fear.... Fear you say?

I believe that you loose your confidence for your craft if you do not practice for a while....

And so, that is why im back doing quick sketches everyday in a diary that was given to me....

And Im loving it....

No fear...

Good question... one that would take a while to answer...so instead Im just going to tender my apologies to cyberspace for my looooong absence from this space and just say that its good to be HOME!  

2009

new year

new beginning

new dreams

awakening -

Happy beaching...Ill see you in the water!

I cannot believe my entry this week is going to be about finding a new word....

but maybe that is what I need at the moment...a time out from all the heavy stuff that Ive had to talk about and go through... and focus on something I love...

the ritual of 'taking time' for coffee!

Going though one of my favoutrite Swedish blogs the other day I found out that in Sweden they have a word for the ritual of taking time to have coffee and something sweet on the side...'Fika'. To take time out to talk with friends and family over a sweet treat and a small cup of coffee..... that is my life! I love it...

a moment

after the cold

after the wind

the birds sing again

and enjoy the orange light

as it tickles the bare branches

and waves goodbye to the wintery day.

As jazz sweetly plays in

the background

i enjoy the green tea incense

in the air

and stare out the white muslin

curtains

and sit

and reflect

on a space and a day

that is slowly feeling 

quiet -

complete -

and home.

and Im not quite sure what that something is? Is it a beautiful artbook that will inspire my drawings? An album of music that will get me moving?

Is it a moment of time in the studio where I can write and hybernate? Is it..... actually.... im not sure anymore!

After a couple of weeks searching in all my favourite places I havent been able to find that little feeling or thing that will stop my Easter egg hunt and put me at ease!!

Anyway.... a beautiful French word was given to me as a little gift the other day that I have to share...The word is 'sillage' and it means the smell of something as it permeates a space...like a perfume or a cake being baked and the movement of it through the house....

Now that is a beautiful poetic thought to savour for these wintery days.

Images of them intrigue me....

from Mel Young's jewellery bench images on her blog...

to Wendy Sharpe's drawings of her Paris Atelier that feature in her latest exhibition...

alluring

seductive

curious.

Its lovely to see the chaos

the creative unconscious

Laid bare.

 

am I couldnt have been happier with how it went! Make_Do 2008 turned out to be a brilliant group show with many new works in many mediums...thank you to all 23 artists involved!!! And thank you again Gaffa for being such a great space in Sydney...there are not many of you in this city unfortunately....

Someone just recently said that they think Im very brave for being an artist and putting my work out there....Well, I think we all are!

This is a tough town and we all do it for love in the end... A foreign concept for many I feel...x

in a week of deadlines and demands Im feeling alittle fraught!

Oh poor little tiny you might say but it has been 'one of those weeks'!

At the end of it though I am feeling happy and shiny as my series for the Make_Do exhibition has materialised out of the ether....and Im back writing for a publication, which has been scary and fun all at the same time, bringing back memories of hybernating and procastinating with uni notes in hand! Isnt it funny though how life ebbs and flows through chaos and calm, and how in the end, all you need is a good chat and comfy couch to keep you grounded....oh and watching boats rattle and hum on the harbour is always a nice meditation trick too!

in a week that brought much variance, i suddnely found that my 5 days had been bookended with visiting a new born on the monday and then working with a group of ninety year olds on the friday!

LOVE IT....

...as the week prior, in a day-dreaming state, I was lamenting the fact that I do not have regular contact with a varied group of people that would nurture my constant questioning about 'life' and life - experience within it....and then the following week that happened! I kid you not....And I received so so much....and answered at least one question Im sure!

A great quote found me too.... 'the years teach much what the days never knew...' philosophical I know but it is getting to the time where you curl up with a good book, a coffee and look at the leaves changing....

Enjoy the changing Autumnal light....