How do you choose your own adventure? Combine art and travel and that’s the grand adventure to me. Which is what I’m planning for 2023. This is the big reveal. I’m off to Devon, England to undertake my Masters at Dartington Arts School.
All in art
Pause for Effect
I have many artworks which are in a state of pause. Projects that lie dormant in my “waiting” drawers, unresolved, needing some special spark to activate them. Waiting for me to ask the right questions to reveal a deeper narrative.
The World is Watching
Is great art political? From Eurovision to the Archibald Art prize winner, this week has seen great art making strong political statements with the eyes of the world watching.
Courageous Creating
How do you challenge ageism, live an adventurous life and inspire other women to live their dream? Creating a passion filled life is an act of courage. As an artist travel is one way to create passion and inspiration.
Pulling Weeds
Anxiety can stop you from being excited at starting a new art project, big or small. This can threaten to overwhelm your self-confidence. What to do? It’s like pulling weeds. There are two choices: strategic retreat or tackling the problem sideways.
What if?
When you’re feeling dissatisfied with the unresolved pieces lying around, look at the work with new eyes. ‘What if’ is always a good place to start as it gets the creative juices flowing.
Messages and Portents
A message arrived this week in the form of a non human messenger. It was a message about growth and transformation, the shedding of old ways of doing things. An indication that life was changing and I was changing with it.
Abstracted
What happens when you make a quantum leap? Your artwork conceptually ‘jumps’ and you move into a whole new method of creating. Making these leaps means you draw deep from the hidden parts of your imagination which are waiting to be released.
Love Songs
There’s so much been written about love in poems, songs, letters and books. Classic romances and cheap romantic paperbacks, they all have a place in fiction. And why not? It’s a day for silly love songs and picking flowers.
Returning to where you've been
Backyard beekeeping and bee hives featured as a recurring motif in my early art works. Taking possession of new bee hives is a circuitous route back to exploring what home means in the light of the year 2020.
Small Circles, Big Dreams
As the world outside my window goes round in circles of chaos, I have been creating circles of connection, a theme which I have taken into my larger works including making a huge world of paper last week in the Imagine Peace Activation.
Inspirational Exhibitions
What lies beyond the frame of a photograph or painting? Visual artists are also storytellers, they reveal and conceal, hinting at the back story, the why of their creations. As artists it is our job to dig deep within ourselves to find out our why, as this leads us also on the path to self discovery.
The reward of patience is…..
How a collection of rocks became a 5 year arts project and a painter found her way to write her family’s immigrant story by exploring the rock, Granite. Sometimes stories and artworks need a long time to ferment before they are ready to emerge into the world.
Take Heart
As artists and creatives, it is very easy to get dis-couraged.. We need courage to tackle the big (and small) issues which face us daily and the heart to keep going despite the obstacles we encounter.
The Marigold Antidote
The Marigold Antidote, it’s medicine for the soul when it feels weary and is suffering from general malaise. Finding joy in the day is the active ingredient. Like marigolds in flower, that sunny splash or orange inspires painting and writing. Creative antidotes to pandemic days.
When flowers pick themselves...
Flowers are a big part of my life. Picking them connects me to my matrilineal lineage. There is a story in all my favourite activities. Such creative play like doodling helps unlock the stories buried deep within and form part of a series of powerful exercises I use in my online creativity courses.
Keeping Accountable
What can you do to reignite your inspiration? Being accountable to yourself will help pull you through those inevitable flat times when you are uninspired. Showing up to your creative practice, no matter what, is the main thing.
The Daily Practice
What is the secret to having a daily art practice? It is a commitment to something you think is worthwhile, that brings you joy and fulfilment.
Of radishes, potatoes and travel
How carved radishes in Mexico can inspire a potato peeling art event in Australia is one of the memories I have unpacked as I prepare to run my free 5 day Armchair Art and Travel mini course. Now, when we can't travel anywhere, these travel memories give rise to new artworks made from maps, tickets and other paper ephemera collections.
Turn Stories into Art
Make art with repurposed materials. This art exhibition at the NGV Australia reinforces community values and shared methods of creating. It is a reminder that art can be made from anything and can be used to retell stories to keep them alive for a new generation .