There are so many reasons to feel despondent, especially if you are staying in a place which has a violent history. Yet after two days of drawing murky black ink shapes, I knew I had to find a way through to the other side of despair. Enter Dr Bob Brown and his rallying call to action and keeping hope alive.
Stones, nails, lines of history. The past lives on in the buildings in colonial settler towns like Oatlands where I am an artist in residence. I think of the way we had to write out lines for misdemeanours at school. Now I am thinking of the lines responding to this place that I will make and write while I am in residence here.
Collages are for me a kind of Memento Mori, a reminder of mortality and that what we do with our lives defines us. Much of our activities can be traced to the objects with which we surround ourselves. Unearthing these early collages from my own archives reveals a biographical portrait of my family ancestry.
Whether you are making art or appreciating it in its myriad of forms; immersion in art can be exactly the therapy you need on a grey and dismal day or when life itself feels a little overwhelming. Artists supporting each other gives truth to the saying, when one rises, we all rise together.
What exactly is it that a buyer is looking for when they make the decision to purchase an artwork? Are they looking for an artwork which is the right colour, size or subject to fit into their home decor? Or are they looking for something else entirely? A fissure of pleasure experienced over and over again each time they look at the artwork in their own home?
How important is it to archive your creative offerings? As I have been cleaning out the garage I’ve found storage tubs filled with advertisements for past projects as well as old daily journals from the past twenty years. Making decisions about what to archive and what to throw out can become quite a dilemma.
Some themes become our ‘signature’. We may not know it at the time, yet they are the ideas, themes, motifs, colours and forms which repeatedly appear in our artworks, evolving through the years. Mine have been circles, networks of connection that encircle my thinking.
Collage has always been my default artistic practice. Yet last year I abandoned it as if I had ‘grown out of it’. I had quite forgotten the joy of tearing up paper and collaging pieces together. Now I have discovered a new inspiration: collaging collages.
There are so many things you could make, it can be hard to know where to start. I’ve been making blank notebooks using up old prints that I folded to become the little book covers. Creating these notebooks has put me back into ‘maker mode’. What will go inside them? The possibilities are endless.
No inspiration, lots of procrastination. Endless scrolling on social media. It can feel like the black cloud of creative depression will never lift. Waiting for that day to come is an act of faith.
Writing for divine guidance is what author Julia Cameron describes as the fourth essential artists’ tool. Yet I needed to travel to Japan to fully appreciate why going on an Artist Date (the third essential artists’ tool) is so important and why I’ll also be scheduling in dates with angels as part of my artistic practice.
How do you pull yourself out of artistic depression? I knew I had to take myself away. To burn off all resistance and confront my fear. Two weeks in Japan. Yet every morning I’d wake up and wonder why I was putting myself through this test. Was it worth it?
How do you make visible the invisible? On the ‘art island’ of Naoshima in Japan, artists have found inspiring ways to reframe the way you perceive time and its passing. It inspires me to slow down as well.
What happens when you bury paper in the snow? It’s probably going to fall apart. But an ancient practice of burying the raw material fibres of washi paper in the snow renders the paper it makes beautifully white. It’s called snow bleaching.
Your artistic children do not belong to you. They are life’s longing for self expression. Letting go of your art creations is important if they are to find new homes. Yet you can be full of anxiety - will they be loved by others as you love them yourself?
I have a collection of sewing and knitting patterns inherited from my mother, grandmother and great aunts. Their stories needed to be told. using the tools and materials of their time, I chose to stitch a narrative of resilience and adaption, pulling the threads of the past into our present time of climate upheaval.
What makes a successful art exhibition? Gallerists can provide a special bridge between an artist’s work and its audience, advocating for the artwork on the artist’s behalf. They handle the installation, marketing and selling of the art, leaving the artist free to talk to their audience and enjoy the ‘buzz’ of the exhibition opening.
Small children find magic all around them. When does that enchantment with the world dissipate? As adults its easy to become busy and disconnected from nature. I have been searching for ways to reignite my enchantment with the world through small daily acts which start a flow of gratitude.
In Julia Cameron’s new book Living the Artist’s Way, she talks about Guidance as the fourth tool in living a creative life. Trusting your intuition is an intangible yet powerful way to journey through life. Trusting the process of creating allows me to feel confident when I am trying new techniques like this free form ink drawing.
As an artist, I am a collector. My garage and studio are crammed to the roof with THINGS! I don’t want to leave these as my legacy so it is time to declutter. I told a friend what I was doing and she suggested I watch “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” which totally resonated with me. Don’t leave your mess for someone else to have to clean up.
