prepping backgrounds for lino printing using tissue and gloss medium over watercolour on board

Collages using torn paper, ribbon, tissue, pastel, oil, acrylic and watercolour as mixed media on board.

If you are coming in to Yanco, the gateway to the town of Leeton, NSW, cast your gaze to the left and maybe pull over to inspect the lovely lyrical coloured pipes erected around a proud old style metal compass standing tall to represent the early beginnings of irrigation and town planning here by renown Wagga artist John Wood. Then when passing by Rotary Park opposite the Visitors Information Centre near the skatepark in Leeton proper, have a look at the equisite sculpture by Melbourne artist Carla Gottgens as a tribute to the history of our town, the Wetlands and the Wiradjuri people. They are part of the Government Heritage Near Me Project I was privilaged to help manage from August 2017 to May 2018, in which Leeton Shire Council commissoned three artists to erect five Public Art installations celebrating the town's heritage. The stories behind the works will be made available by signage once the project is completed. The bird surrounded by local native Wetland plant life in Rotary Park is a bittern, which is a messenger bird and is in the story of Wiradjuri culture. There is another sculpture by Gottgens telling the story of Whitton situated in their park near the Public Toilets and is worth the drive to walk through and read the text with its homage to henry Lawson and others. One work celebrating town planner and designer, Walter Burley Griffin is near the fountain across the road from the Historic Hydro. We owe the circular format of much of our town plan to his role in designing Leeton and this contemporary artwork is by Dave Jones and Greg Pritchard from a country town in Victoria. Very exciting for Leeton and our art students. 😊

the channel out the front

I love painting my surroundings and this one is a lovely spot in front of my house.

my driveway

Almost at the half-way point. This is the last of my acrylic paintings in this style where I have captured the textures, colours and open spaces of my rural existence. In took a photo on my phone of the lovely trees silhouetted against the sky one afternoon as I drove off the main road and a painting was born.

Fivebough Canal, Leeton.

tie dye samples

my fun loving students did these textile samples using Rit dye RED, and Procion dyes in Turquoise, dark blue and yellow.

beginning to refine the painted image

making progress.... this is the bogged down point....must refine the underpainting now

fresh canvas

I couldn't wait to work this canvas inspired by the perspective of the image of a road through regional new South Wales.

Art Coaching my way

Some have discussed the progress of their kids’ artworks with me. We have addressed the issue of how close to reality their images can get and I have said that the aim of their art should not be limited to them being able to reproduce what they and we see. Deciding that we like art is often about our willingness to be free from expecting everything to look familiar. (If that were a rule there would be no singing, buildings or fireworks.)

 I do not believe that art is only about recreating what the eye can see. We call that Realism and it is the basis of many beautiful artworks. But it is a learned skill with many visual tricks and devices to satisfy a goal and entertain the viewer. It requires a lot of practice and takes years to perfect. Drawing is the foundation of all art. For realistic works, an artist must train their mind to use drawing skills to create the illusion of reality where it is not. The realistic qualities of a work are on a spectrum from that which mimics the actual subject to that which only hints at some characteristic of it. It can be as simple as shape and colour e.g. a red circle means a bowl of strawberries. I attend to my students’ drawing skills with devotion and teach them the tricks required to make things look as they do, but I will not judge them against it being just another way to use materials.

I do believe that art is to show what the artist has discovered about the world or themselves. Sometimes that is about what things look like, what they feel like or how they stimulate the imagination. Then using the elements of point, line, shape, tone, colour, form and texture an artwork is born. Skills such as colour competency, an understanding of materials like plaster, paper-mache, watercolour, pastel, charcoal, printing inks and modelling materials are what is appropriate for the middle school aged art students.

Down by the Murrumbidgee River ....

A true 'artist date' with yourself.

By the Murrumbidgee today near Narrandera, these lovely works are waiting for the crowds to come.
The river provides a sense of the scale and
grace of these works.

The light was filtered through the clouds but there was a strong shadowing that lent intensity and drama to the setting.

What's not to love here? My congratulations and thanks to everyone involved.

Do yourself a favour people, and look this up.
Promise yourself to spend more time viewing such events.

A wonderful art event

This morning I drove the half hour to Narrandera Common to experience the delightful site specific works that were produced for On Common Ground. The link  CADFACTORY.COM.AU will give you more information. cadfactory.com.au
A sparkling spring morning and the unobtrusive river could only enhance the positive effect of time spent with these people and their work.
An informative guided tour and introductions by my friend of many years, conceptual (and other creative disciplines) artist Natalie, enabled me to indulge my passion for talking about the dyes, textiles and patterns on display.
Several weeks ago, Natalie had invited me to observe the work of a group of women at Narrandera Railway Station who were dying, stitching and assembling a range of materials for the exhibition.

'Rabbits' by John Marsden and Shaun Tan. A clever visual text about rabbits as an introduced species. It brings up the question of what dominating that which is uncomplicated and innocent can lead to. I am today thinking of this in relation to powerplay and energy ping-pong games.
My question is; who is the predator and who is the victim in the classroom?

It is Spring. I am going to renew my blog. It is going to reflect the ideas that I pass on to my young art students and my creative tribe. It will be a treasure for us.

mindfulness and creativity

I have not posted for some time because I have been trying to rewire my thinking.
Mindful living is a buzzword from the very heart of Buddism. It is a beautiful way to exist if you can master it. In our world it is very difficult. It speaks to the very meaning of holistic attachment theories., however. That is, nothing is left unresolved.
For people with a career and family it is almost impossible.
The world demands multi-tasking of sorts and rewards those who can maintain it. This is detrimental however, to creativity, optimum health and a nourishing relationship with the self.
To be mindful a person must reduce themselves to a sensation of only noticing a small detail of the moment at hand. It is very difficult to be mindful if you are a multi-tasker for your mind is chasing the next thought. It is taking your body - and soul - away from what you are actually trying to do, as you call in every idea that attaches to the activity. There is a paradox to being creative, in that a mind that darts about is gathering all the ingredients for a beautiful work, collection of elements and composition, but thus can fail to complete each stage of the process finely. 'More haste less speed' is a wonderful adage for an artist, but can be near impossible for some creative types, whose very essence is to respond to the tumbling ideas that cause a frenzy of activity in their painting, drawing, stitching, carving or writing practice.
The idea of writing from your gut - letting an avalanche of words pour forth onto a page is wonderful, for you can edit. You can rewrite, self-correct and build on the original framework.
However for an artist, it can mean that the materials are flung together before the brain can make its decisions resulting in an unsatisfactory mess that requires hours of rearranging.
Abstract Expressionism of the 1950's allowed this to be the outcome as well as the process.
I spent a year of my Arts Degree making paintings where I poured, dribbled, spilled, hosed, sprayed and squirted an assortment of colours onto canvas, before sanding, scraping and scratching it off until I was happy with the visual result. It was fun, freeing and exciting. I was unaware at the time that I was being mindful.
 To teach mindful art practice is to teach that each part of the process deserves its own complete focus.
We have taught the present emerging generation to create art like a child at an Easter egg hunt. The result is emotional emptiness, lack of engagement, boredom and no joy in creating. The plan is to end the process only. To tick the box. To have tried and exited. They have little memory of doing it.
Or it is done to please an audience with a product, rather than savouring the personal act.
Thus mindfulness is sacrificed.
How to address this?
Enjoy every tiny act. Focus on your senses. Breathe evenly, engage your tactile senses and the effect of colour, texture and shape. Watch it grow. Just try complete each step of the task with reverence.
Each physical act in creating, each line drawn, each paint dribble dribbled, each collage element glued and colour applied must have its own glrious second, moment or hour of attention.
Then the work is secure - a relationship network that will resonate with joy for its creator.

Happy New Year

Ok, so it's February.... I was away in Sydney for three weeks over Christmas and New Year so had no access to the internet. Then... it has been hot ....then I had messages that turned out to be nothing about infected links from blogs I follow. So I dumped the blogging!
We are back together again.
I have been doing more gel medium transfers, after buying some Golden Gel Medium in King Street in Newtown.
Love it.
Can't stop playing with gel mediums.
I am addicted to collage anyway, so it is just a step up.

feeling fine means....

If life is a series of connected experiences we are perhaps guilty of being arrogantly judgemental of it. I can consider everything that I have experienced this last year. I thus ponder the value judgements I put on those periods of time and how to categorise them.
There is time....a week....a month...a school term a whole year, a decade or a weekend.
'How was your week?' I will ask my offspring electronically. They will reply briefly and almost always that is was fine, enjoyable, busy and perhaps exhausting. But fine. I have been guilty of being unsociable, rude, angry and hard to like around my peers when my recent or daily experiences did not match my expectations of what I am worth. The week then was not fine enough for me.
What experiences make us 'fine' then?
For some it is the delight of feeling useful, valuable and relevent.
For others it is being hugged, touched, smiled at, patted or romanced.
Yet another may only be experiencing their 'fine' when they were aknowledged for their physical beauty often enough over that period of time.
For the grieving it is some relief from the pain and heartache.
For many it is having sufficient food.
For whole communities it is surviving the night uninjured.
For too many human beings it is feeling safe.
But feeling fine wears off.
What makes a child feel fine?
What makes a mother feel fine?
What makes a society feel fine?
What makes an addict feel fine?
What makes you feel fine?
Do other people influence your degree of feeling fine?

Fashion, aging and how to get it right...

Fashion, aging and how to get it right....A lot has been written on style...I love Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel...also Debbie Harry aka Blondie, Innes and many more. I adore the 1930's, hats, scarves and bangles particularly if I have made them myself or 'redesigned' existing ones.
Op shopping is a buzz and out comes the box of stuff to make them my own...not erasing their history, but carrying it into my arena. At the centre of any fashion arena is ....the Body One Has. Back to aging and style ...check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4znrNtLKDE4

 ...it will truly make you smile!

I recently wrote in musing...

'Style has many characteristics. Of course, some are obvious such as an understanding of what is appropriate for occasion, personality and the aesthetics of 'making it all work' visually....colour, texture, proportion, flow etc. But it is the innate relationship we have with our body on any given day that dictates our clothes' message to the onlooker. Age, experience, money, education or beauty won't cut it alone. If you take that body and dress it like a precious and sacred object every day, regardless of how the world has been treating you, your own honest, uncontrived and instinctive style will be enough. Begin lovingly with the personal in all its flesh and form and just drape it until it feels done without trying too hard. Then leave the house with confidence that it is the one thing you absolutely own.'

Pelicans in south west New South Wales Australia..

hello?...were they flying south for the summer?

a lot more rocks....