the X facta: June 2011

Getting unstuck

Weird things in life #267

In an attempt to get unstuck,

you try to 'go with the flow' in the studio,

but the piece doesn't look right

until you turn it upside down.

My beachside world

I live a short boat ride across the lake from Ninety Mile Beach.

Its the third longest uninterrupted beach in the world at 151 km/94 miles long.

This stretch of pristine golden sand separates the lake from Bass Strait.

A recent walk on the beach revealed a huge variety of shells.

This hermit crab was quite shy, but he did peer out to say hello.

No-one was home in the paper nautilus shell.

Which allowed us to appreciate its translucent beauty.

Recent storms had washed up soft corals and sea sponges.

Some brightly coloured and some blending in with the sand.

Here's a sight you might not see on the beach very often.

Which animal made these tracks?

[click on image for larger view]

You'd only see these on an Aussie beach.

And only when the animal has quite a bit of speed going.

this post is my contribution to That's My World

I feel like my life has become a bit small. Small town, small job, small-minded people, small amount of opportunity. It's been beating me down a lot lately. I feel squashed.

Apart from the obvious, one reason I loved our White Xmas Trip, was the opportunity to expand horizons, discover a different world, where snow takes over in winter. Suddenly, life felt large again. But since coming back from there, small life syndrome has been crushing me like an aluminium can. I'm sick of being small and grey to try and fit in.

The studio has been a bit quiet. Just started getting back into it in the past week or so, but I'm kinda' sick of working small. Small journal pages, small canvases, small beaded creations. With so much smallness going on, it raises the question:

Is art a reflection of life, or life a reflection of art?

I wanna' paint big and live large. To hang out with creative people. Not arty farty technique kings and queens. But people willing to live large and let it all hang out. Who live life as if its a social and creative experiment. Not many of that tribe around here.

Do you feel like you might belong to that tribe too? The ones who think, "I wonder what would happen if . . ." and actually move beyond the thoughtsphere to the actionsphere and try it out. They are wise enough to let go of their ego and engage mind, body, heart, and soul, into the practice of living large.

When I saw this video, the guy splashing paint around on that mega canvas just grabbed me in the guts.

Are you sick of squashing into small?
Do you wanna paint big : live large?

Is there anybody out there . . .

See through ceiling

Sometimes I wonder

why it is that windows

are on the walls.

How much larger

and more infinite

would our outlook be

if the ceiling was also

see through.

~ photo & quote
by Kel © 2011

my contribution to Skywatch

get your music mojo on

THIS beats air guitar any day. Go play . . . make your own music here

My furry friends world

I know we joke with international tourists about kangaroos hopping down the main street in Sydney or Melbourne . . . but where we live now, we literally have kangaroos and koalas sharing our property.

We have lived here for 6 years, and still think its pretty cool. So the novelty has not yet worn off.

With so many koalas here, the locals created a special 'walk' on which people can view them in their natural environment. In a lot of places in Australia, tourists or locals, visit animal parks to get up close and personal with kangaroos and koalas. They pay a fee to see animals in a zoo.

Here we see them everyday, for free, in their natural environment.

These kangaroos are on our front lawn. Literally metres from the house. There are quite a few mobs in our area. We usually see two distinct ones on our property. One mob has about 25 roos, a mixture of big males accompanied by females with joeys in their pouches. There's another mob of 12 which are smaller and more male roos.

When we were building our house, they were quite inquisitive. At night, before the electricals were all wired in, we'd work inside with a big spotlight on a tripod. As we carried the light from one end of the house to the other, the kangaroos would hop along outside the windows until they could see us again up the other end of the house. We were the ones in the zoo, and they were viewing us in our habitat!

this post is my contribution to That's My World

photos by Kel ©

the flying ship

While showing some family around this area we now call home, I managed to capture this silhouette shot. A lakeside sculpture of the historical Charles Edward passenger ship is becoming quite a popular landmark in a nearby village.

my contribution to Skywatch

Paws for thought

May you be blessed with

a furry friend

who eagerly awaits your

return each evening

May you know the warmth

of a tail-wagging

purring or some kind of paws

welcome at the door

Let yourself receive

the blessing of

unconditional love

and a willing playmate

As you raise your arm

to throw the ball

or clip on the lead

count your blessings

My watery world

I live on an island

so water is a big part of my life

from catching a ferry to work

to spotting the local wildlife

this post is my contribution to That's My World

Journal play

creativity prompt

tell me a story

of what would happen

if you were to make music

about what makes your heart sing

which instrument would feature

voice, strings, percussion, drum

would it be a short song

or a long lilting melody

on which your spirit may soar

press play

and see what appears

Big sky panorama

One of the things we love about our island home is the big sky panorama laid out before us each day. We never get sick of the views. So thought it might be time to share them through the Skywatch community. You can join in too over here.

Lessons from my art collection : part 3

You know the mantra "shop local" ? Most people apply it to fresh food, or to support local business. I also extend that to supporting local artists by purchasing their work.

Of course, you probably know by now how much I love textural work. And this piece has it in spades. Symbolically, I see a touch of green for renewal, earthy colours for grounding, blue for fluidity and purple for spirituality.

Because we live on an island in Australia's largest inland lake-system (which is only separated from the ocean by a strip of sand-dunes along Ninety Mile Beach) this artwork sits comfortably in our home. It suits our surroundings. Some days, when the wind is blowing from the south, and there's a big swell, we can hear the waves pounding on the beach 6 kilometres away. It could also depict the lake when the weather is like it has been this week; gale-force winds whipping up waves and raising the level of the lake by half a metre.

Whether this artwork reminds you of the ocean or a lake, it is a visual reminder of the feelgood factor of such places. All those negative ions flying around in the air, inviting us to breathe deeper, take off our shoes and go barefoot for awhile.

This seascape is about to celebrate its first anniversary hanging in our home. We bought it at the regional Rotary Art Show. Rotary is a worldwide organisation which aims to bring business and professional leaders together to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

The annual art show is on again this weekend . . . I wonder if I'll find another local artist to "support" :-)

Lessons from my art collection : part 1

Lessons from my art collection : part 2

Surprise shots

Have you ever snapped a photo and when you uploaded images to the computer, discovered something unexpected?

When we were on the hunt for a boat, I took many photos of possible options.

The seagull in the corner of this shot was a real surprise.

Serendipitous photo moments.

I'd love to see one of yours.

Do show and tell . . .

Creativity is not a commodity

.
Current life and creative coaching theories spout, "do what you love and the money will follow". I believe this unrealistic mantra can cause a world of pain for people. Particularly in an economic climate where so many are out of work, or under-employed after being retrenched from professional roles.

Perhaps it is more healthy to encourage others to do what they love, regardless of what their day job is! In the old days, we used to call them personal interests or hobbies.

These days there is so much pressure to perform, to not only be creative, but to 'create' cashflow from it. Creativity is not a commodity. It cannot be bought or sold.

But if you make space for it in your life, you will be the richer for it.

when you need a soul spa

.blessing

When you've reached a point

where you have nothing left to give

your feet are aching and your arms are heavy

May you be blessed with someone

who offers you their own smiling service

so you can take a break and be on the receiving end

for a change

When your soul seems dry

and your soles are gritty

and you are weary from top to toe

May there be somewhere

you find rest and refreshment

to put your feet up and refill your inner spring

for a recharge

ART : paddling in the shallows or diving in deep

If you've been around here for awhile, you know how much I believe in the power of art to inform and transform our lives. There is something about operating on a visual level that cuts to the core of an emotion, memory or statement.

If you've been around here for awhile, you probably also know I don't have much time for art that is only pretty. An artwork may be technically perfect in everyway, but unless there is some deeper communication happening, it leaves me cold.

Kind of like a guy checking out a blonde bimbo who has more plastic parts than lego land. Sure fellas, she might be pretty to look at, and if you were to arrive at a function with her on your arm, it would be an ego boost. But once you remove her trowelled on makeup, false eyelashes, implants and other cosmetic enhancers, there probably won't be much substance worth building a relationship on. Someone who goes to such extremes in the pursuit of looking pretty must be quite shallow underneath.

And that's what a lot of "pretty" art is; shallow.

The population that surrounds the gallery where I work are 98% into pretty shallow stuff. We recently had a couple of exhibitions that displayed a deep and thoughtful process on some issues that matter. Numbers through the door were very low, and many who walked in, took one look and walked straight back out. "Not my cup of tea," they muttered as they escaped out the door. It was not some high-faluting inaccessible body of work. They just chose not to engage with it because it wasn't something they would hang on their loungeroom wall.

The current exhibition has been berserk with double our daily visitor numbers pouring through the door to see the landscapes and nature macros. And hey, they are well executed, many of them are beautiful - and, they are selling. But to me they just feel pretty shallow.

Now don't misunderstand me. Just because an artwork might have some depth, doesn't mean it has to be ugly. An artwork can be beautiful to behold and stir something at a deeper level. It can even depict something that appears stark and bleak on surface value, but still manages to stir depth of feeling. A good example is the image below. It depicts the stark bleakness of trees stripped bare in winter.

(click on image for a closer look, but seeing it live on the wall is better)
- this image is not from the current exhibition I mention above -

But I'll let you in on a little secret. While standing in front of this image in a large gallery, I was moved to tears. From memory, that's the first time I've had a response like that in a public gallery. In the moment, the tears surprised me. I usually associate snow with fun and joy. So where did that supposedly opposite response come from?

When art comes from somewhere deep, the resonating from those who have eyes to see beyond the surface, is always strong. The beauty I 'felt' in this piece had to do with the way the artist depicted the redemptive characteristics of snow. It's ability to make something drab appear beautiful, to cover space in a cloak of silence so one feels like they are standing on holy ground.

In fact, the creative process of people is holy ground. Perhaps when people offer superficial feedback on artwork its because they're aware they are stepping into some kind of sacred space. So they try to tread lightly. Using pretty words like "love" or "beautiful".

I'm only human and appreciate when others appreciate my art, but I don't really want to know if you like it, or not. What I really want to know is, what does it stir in you, or what do you feel in response. And while they might not be aware of it, many other artists are really hungering for that kind of feedback too.

The two recent exhibitions mentioned earlier, that my workplace hosted, gave me an opportunity to practice what I preach. I was liaising with the artists a lot more than usual because the director was away. I shared with each of the artists what my response was to their work. I explained to one of them that my response was strongly visceral and went on to explain. To the other, I shared the thought processes that her 'storytelling' had generated for me. Both are accomplished artists, with Masters or other such high titles in Visual Arts etc. But they gulped down my feedback like it was a jug of water in the middle of a desert.

That can be the case, even if a response to the artwork does not match the original intent of the artist. At first one of the artist's said, "Oh no. What I meant to depict was . . ." But as I continued to dialogue with her, some of my words must have connected at a deeper level. When she allowed her resistance to drop, the resonance rose. She rushed off to get paper and pen to record what had arisen in our conversation.

Next time you want to give an artist, or anyone stretching their creative muscles, some feedback, avoid phrases like "I love that" or "that is beautiful work" etc. While an artist's ego might be fed for a moment with that kind of surface response, try diving deeper and give something of yourself in response. By all means if you think it's beautiful, if you love it, etc, share that too, but also try adding . . .

It reminds me of . . .

When I look at this I feel . . .

Since seeing your work I can't stop thinking about . . .

Chances are you might be serving a cup of cold water to a thirsty soul.

You might be 'seeing' the person behind the artwork, not just the artwork.