When you’re feeling unhinged and not quite in touch with your inner self, look around for the tools you have to hand to put some structure back into your life. This helps turn experience into beauty, transforming the chaos into poetic metre, a daily ode to life told line by line, word by word, image by image.
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.
Artists residencies can propel you forward in your art practice. This month I finished my fourth artist residency in four years and reflect on the top #10 lessons I’ve learned from all four.
It takes a community of like minded, inclusive thinking creatives to nourish an artist’s talent and confidence so they can breakthrough to success. An artist residency gives you the time, space and support to enable those breakthroughs.
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.
Lots of experimenting in the rain and mud with paper in this first week of my artist residency at BigCi in Bilpin. Pouring paper pulp and getting ideas together in readiness for our public Open Day on Sunday 4th April where I will be demonstrating my pulp pouring techniques.
To occupy is to name, make claim, live in and inhabit a space, temporarily or permanently. This is a tale of two artist residencies two years apart. One I am in now at Bilpin, NSW and one I was at in Central Australia in 2019 and the artworks I created there are now on exhibition at Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina.
When it’s time for exhibition, how do you show up? I’ve learnt over time to make an occasion of it, dress in my best, put on red lipstick, show up for others, but more importantly, show up for myself. My joint exhibition Occupy is all about occupying space and time. As an artist and a woman it’s about staking your claim. I am here. I am worthy!
Art has the capacity to heal and connect people on a heart to heart level. The colour blue from lapis lazuli has led me on a circular journey through art and inspiring artist collaborations into the war torn country of Afghanistan.
How do we inhabit a space, occupying it with traces of our own existence in place and time? It’s an interesting question to ponder as I consider occupancy with my upcoming exhibition Occupy and resuming an artist residency in the Blue mountains. What traces of my own life and occupancy will I leave behind?
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.
We’ve all got the same 24 hours in a day, it’s what we choose to do with those hours that defines our day. Being productive and creative when there are so many other demands on our time is a an ever vigilant process. How to do this? Segmentation is my key to make sure prioritised tasks get done and others don’t suffer as a consequence.
Performing, whether it is to a group of small children, or on stage under the lights - I think it’s always been in my blood. Storytelling in whatever form is about connecting with people on a heart level. Now I run my online courses and workshops and connect with women from all over the world.
I’m a great believer in intuition. That “sixth sense” when you know someone is watching you, or you know that a friend needs you to ring them. Activating your intuition when making art means you are connecting your hands to your heart which guides your inner knowing so you trust in the process of creation.
These days home has become both an origin and destination. All my travelling is now through art. Knots and fishing nets, text in collages and making maps all feature in the mini courses I have been creating this month to share.
I started my daily art works for the year painting vegetables. It wasn’t making me happy. That was when I remembered advice I had read from my mentor and business coach Sigrun who shared a process called start, stop, continue.
My word for 2021 is BALANCE. I remember my dad working every day of the week. So I’ve decided to take Sundays off and am stepping away from my computer. Time for some Sunday adventures - it’s the new balance in my life.
When the world went into lockdown and my travel plans were cancelled, I brought the world to me. The view outside my window became a portal into the chaotic world outside and my daily lives on social media helped inspire others to keep creating through crisis. I learnt that home can be the best source of inspiration.
Tomorrow in Australia we celebrate the longest day and shortest night with a rare solstice event. Jupiter and Saturn, our two biggest planets in our solar system, will be in conjunction, appearing as a single bright star in the night sky, close enough together to “kiss” each other . What a great time to make a wish!
Travel is a “virus of restlessness” writes American author John Steinbeck. This year I have started making artist books again as a way to relive my travels when we can’t travel anymore. Reading Steinbeck reminds me that the urge to be somewhere else can be found by reading a book - or making one.
