Public Art and Fairy Penguins

Been working on a public art project with the divine Victoria Nelson, my art teacher, and a very special friend....

the sculpture will consist of 3 large bronze panels, on a peice of granite, to be placed just outside Grantville, Victoria Australia.
I felt proud to be part of this process, ...

(my job was to smooth the lumps out!)

Miss Vic has been a dedicated islander on Phillip Island for over 30 years, not only in the Arts and teaching, but everywhere... from shearing sheep, and working at the tip to nurturing wildlife, and saving shearwater birds, to protecting our most precious treasure here on the island... the fairy penguins. ....

Vic has now relocated to another coastal town, and i will miss her dearly.

Bye Vic, thankyou for EVERYTHING you taught me.

Rebel Rebel

Rebel Rebel 1mx 1.5m canvas in oils

unfinshed in pics...waiting for some good light...will post asap...
A painting would usually take me a few weeks to a few months,

this one took a day.
i needed to get all these emotions out of me, so i threw them on a canvas, melted into it, getting totally lost in my painting...

its raw, and its probably my best work yet.
now i understand, that it doesnt have to be about painting a symbol, or a flower, or a nude....

its about how the painting feels, how it vibrates out to the veiwer, the energy that enimates. i knew this... now i TOTALLY GET IT!
This is my experience, its my emotions smeared around in colour, its

my hurt, my pain, my release, my love.

it was never meant to be about him ... yet its all about him

on my easel...

with an exhibition in september, id better get on with it....

Been painting spirals all year, dont know why...

must look into that a bit more...

going with the flo...

just a little secret between you and me...

i paint with my fingers, dont like using a brush, love getting mukky, love feeling the paint blend and move under my fingers...

the sensation takes me away into that special place, where my spirit likes to journey, where its all quiet and still, i can hear my heart beat...

The Living Canvas

On a trip up to Tanjil Bren near Mt BawBaw, i was given a copy of "The Living Canvas" by John Yule, by a 'crazy monk artist'...

...i was fascinated by the stories he shared, by the fire, over a cup of sweet tea with manuka honey... about life, and living in The Czech Republic during the Russian occupation, his accent easily transported me into his tales.... we are truly blessed to live in a land where art, literature, music and thought can be enjoyed so freely.

Reading the book, i found this.... and felt it should be shared....

Art is essentially something which happens to the artist,

not something the artist makes happen.

to quote Jung again:

The creative urge lives and grows in him

like a tree in the earth from which it draws its nourishment.

We would do well therefore,

to think of the creative process as a living thing

implanted in the human psyche.

Inspiration came...

Painting was high on my agenda today, as only a week of school holidays remain. My aim over the holidays was to paint and paint and paint and catch up with my art journal for tafe, my intentions have been good but it just hasn't happened as planned.

I did a bit more work on the dancing soul painting, and i just got so frustrated, i have the look of it in my head, and getting out thru the brush and on to the board is proving to be very challenging.

So... i went for a walk along the beach to shake off that self doubt stuff and think about the what, why and hows to do with the my painting.

I asked the great spirit for a bit of inspiration...

I came home, fed the ducks, and turned around to see the most beautiful clouds!

My heart raced, i was so excited, ran in to grab the camera to snap this shot.

Now, i just have to work out how to illuminate my painting like that!

Sure is pretty!

I Thank the Great Spirit for the beauty i see around me, and my inspiration.