Quote of the day

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where's my Art?

You may wonder why there isn't much artwork on here of late - I am currently working on two larger pieces, which I will post when finished. In the meantime, here is someone else's work I love, and of course this blog is not purely about art, it is also my creative journey, and there are many more thoughts in a day than finished paintings!!



This is just one example of the incredible work of Zhaoming Wu - for more, go here.

Quote(s) of the day

In life, as in art, the beautiful moves in curves.- Bulwer-Lytton

Anything in any way beautiful derives its beauty from itself and asks nothing beyond itself. - Marcus Aurelius

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. - Aristotle

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious, the source of all art and science.- Albert Einstein

WHat makes Beauty?

What makes something beautiful? If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it is perception. Someone said that the job of the artist is to find beauty. Artists will tell you that when they are seeing through artists eyes, everything becomes beautiful. What makes it so? I think it's because the artists eye is one that sees without judgement, that sees what is there, and which takes notice. When we are drawing from life, we see not a fat or thin or ugly person - we see curves, shadows, light, form, edges - to make a successful drawing, we must forget what we know, and see what is there in front of us. We must really see what is there. We need to leave out what is unnecessary, and focus on the essence, the gesture, what is truly the heart of the sitter. Leaving out the "baggage" and focusing on the heart is what gives us a likeness, and a drawing with life, with beauty. You know what else makes a drawing beautiful? It's interest. The most beautiful drawings are interesting. A perfect face is beautiful on it's own, but what makes it interesting, and an extraordinary portrait, is expression, soul, life. Simply rendering perfect bone structure is usually less satisfying, and much less interesting. What makes it beautiful is often life itself - the light on a curve in a given moment; the colours of her dress reflected in her face; her expression as she looks out to the world; the pose - what is she doing in this precious moment? A "plain" face captured in a moment by an artist who has observed and captured these things becomes beautiful and is often more so than a conventionally beautiful face. A face that is what would normally be described diplomatically as "interesting" becomes extraordinarily beautiful seen with the artists eye, this face with all it's folds and curves and shadows and light becomes (as it always was) a work of art, breathtaking in it's beauty. Perfection is neither interesting nor beautiful. What makes something beautiful is it's essence, it's very imperfections, it's uniqueness, and the more "imperfections", the more interesting, the more potential for the play of light and Shadow, the more places for the colours of the world to rest, the more room there is for the portrait to stand by itself, breathtaking in simply being itself.

All this is kind of like life. What makes a life beautiful? Not perfection, that's for sure, and yet so many of us feel the need to be that way. An interesting life is a beautiful life, and what makes life interesting is being in each precious moment - noticing what is around us, seeing without judgement, embracing the folds and curves and shadows and light of life, and of ourselves. If we see with an artists eye, life becomes beautiful. Everyone and everything becomes interesting, breathtaking and exciting. There is no room for judgement, only possibility, acceptance and love. We can see what is really there and leave out the details that do not serve the essence. We can create our own beautiful portrait, of ourselves, and of our lives.

I have been working with Marie Forleo, an extraordinary woman who sees through artists eyes. She transforms people's lives not by fixing what is wrong, but by helping people embrace what is, to live in each moment, and to look at the world with interest. Change happens miraculously and in an instant when we live in each moment, as artists creating our lives. In her book, she shows how by seeing life with artists eyes (becoming interested in what is, living in each moment, seeing ourselves and others kindly) , we become irresistible, and life becomes magical. She's right. When we are absorbed in each moment, seeing what is, and leaving judgements behind, life simply drips with the juice of colour, of form, of precious moments, of this wonderful world and the beautiful life that surrounds us, and most importantly, we forget ourselves and merge into this lusciousness, and see the beauty and possibility and magnificence within ourselves.

Love and Devotion - Mother's Day

What makes a Mother?

What I am most grateful to my Mum for, is that she is always, always there for me. No matter how much of a pain I'm being, how irrational, how wrong, how lazy, how inconsiderate, how selfish, how sad, or how in trouble I am, she's there for me just the same as when I'm being brilliant. She's there giving me a helping hand, encouragement, support, a shoulder to cry on and a loving hug - she reminds me who I am and she sees the good in me when all I can see is the bad. She is constant. She just loves me no matter what. She tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, and she picks me up, kisses me better and sets me on my feet again, just as she did when I was little. I know she'll still be doing that for me when I am old. She is my foundation, my rock, my joy and my inspiration. She is love and devotion. She is my best friend, and the joy I have in sharing my own mother's journey with her is as bright and warm as the sun. What I am most grtaeful for, is that my Mum is all this for me, taht she is a Mother, and gives me a Mother's love. I love you Mum, you fill my heart, my mind, my soul, and your love overflows into my children too. Thank you for being my Mum, for being a Mother.

Mother's love is like a thread than runs throughout our lives, binding the generations together, entangling us all in love, like life lines connecting us as we drift away, ready always to pull us back and wrap us tight when we need it, and setting us free again, and again. It is the Mothers of the world who keep us all fed, clothed, loved and cared for, whatever the cost of doing so. They are the quilt that warms the world.

This tale of love and devotion, and family, is worth checking out this Mother's Day.

Birthday Resolutions...

Well, today is the beginning of another year of my life! Lindt chocolates and massages from the kids was a very lovely start to the day!!

I have been inspired today by Bill Wadman. Check out his incredible 365 projects, #1 and #2, and his 52 project. I clicked on the 11th of May from the first 365 project, and found a piece that resonates perfectly with many of my own thoughts lately - he talks about our desire for happy endings, and how we are conditioned by the media to expect happy endings, and how hard this kind of thinking can make real life. Bill says it much better than I do, but this quote in particular was inspiring to me, on my birthday, as I turn another page of the book of my life:
Life is organic, life is complex, threads overlap. This is the way is should be. Each of our lives weaves in and out of others every minute of every day. And it’s beautiful that way. Very few things have a distinct beginning and a distinct end, but that’s what let’s things sneak up on you and leads to the next chapter of the book of your life that you’re writing right now. Read More...


Bill has inspired me to copy his 52 project -I'm off for a birthday afternoon tea now, but will have formulated the first weeks project, as per the rules, by the time I go to bed tonight.

Quote of the day

“Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life"
Epictetus (Greek philosopher associated with the Stoics, AD 55-c.135)

Resistance is useless

Life has a way of throwing up obstacles right at the most inconvenient times, right when you are counting on everything going according to plan. One thing I have learned over the last few days is not to rely on technology in executing my best laid plans. My computer, at a crucial moment, decided to die, with no consideration for the fact that I placed my life pretty much in its hands. I lost my calendar, my recent work, and several important things which should never have been entrusted to a machine with the capability to die. Anyway, eventually I replaced the traitorous beast with a new and improved version, which just like in the ads http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuqZ8AqmLPY, spends most of it's time asking me if I'm happy to allow what it is that I'm trying to do.

I have learned also that resistance really is useless - getting stuck in how things should have worked, or why they won't work, or hard things are, just simply doesn't help, and just makes things worse. It's a bit like riding a young horse who is stuck and is resisting your direction - the easiest way to overcome that resistance and have the horse going where and how you want him to, is to let him go his own way for a little. To accept his direction, and go with the flow so that he becomes unstuck. Once he has some momentum, he is a lot easier to redirect. The trick is to redirect before he takes his own direction further than you want. After all, it's the destination that counts, not the track taken to get there, and the longest route often turns out to be quicker, easier and more scenic. When things go wrong, by relaxing and accepting a new approach, we often find unexpected gifts and, just like the young horse, every time we are redirected by what life throws at us, we learn something. It's much more fun from the back of a horse than in front of a computer though.

Quote of the day:

If you judge people you have no time to love them
MOTHER TERESA

Judgement and Perfection....

I have recently discovered the revolutionary and astonishing idea that things don't have to be perfect, that the fact that things aren't perfect is not a good enough reason to not do whatever it is that needs to be perfect - this sentence being a good example of an imperfect but nevertheless OK thing.
Usually when I do a drawing or painting, I'm quick to judge it as worthy or not, usually the latter. This is a very unhelpful and limiting way to go about being an artist (or anything, for that matter). So I have decided that as an exercise, Each day in May, I will do a small drawing / painting, that is allowed not to be perfect, and that I will make no judgements on. I will just love them as they are, and accept that every mark and brushstroke is part of my journey as an artist. Letting go of perfection means that things can be perfect just as they are, which takes away the need for judgement, the fear of failure, and leaves room for things to improve effortlessly. Here are my first two small sketches ...they are my creations, and like children, I will love them exactly as they are, and take from them the lessons I need to in order to grow myself. This is the only way I can actually make them "better", and like children on their first day of school, now that creating them is done, I need to be able to let them go...a scary and terrifying thing, as any mother will know!

Quote of the day:

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. Eleanor Roosevelt

The sport of life

I'm not that much into sports as a rule, but I do really enjoy watching the highlights (the only part of cricket I can handle), and the triumph of the underdog, and a mighty feat of strength, endurance or athleticism moves me frequently to tears. As I wrestled today with a mountain of urgent things to do and an even bigger pile of 'stuff that I'd like to do but will have to wait for now', and contemplating my choice to pursue a creative and unrestrained by 9 to 5 life, I felt like the Sri Lankans facing the Aussies in the dark must have felt - having trouble being focussed, and just a little bit overwhelmed/scared.

I like watching sport when it's a struggle - when both teams are evenly matched or it's a close race, requiring superhuman effort to triumph against all odds. When there is no competition, or when the goals comes easily, it's no fun to watch. We need the struggle, the adversity, the challenge, to feel alive. At least that's the only reason I can come up with why anyone would sign up for being a rugby hooker, for example. The struggles are what makes a life worth living, and taking the easy road makes for a boring match and a slow attrition of the heart and soul. When you're on the bottom of the scrum, and losing with 1/2 a minute to go (or you feel like your life is over), is precisely when we have the opportunity to fill our hearts and lungs, cry the battle cry that rouses our team, and pull ourselves up and over the line. These are the moments that are talked about for years, and which continue to lift us long after the moment of struggle has passed. Facing the fast bowler of life and giving it our best shot despite the gathering darkness, whether we win or lose the match, is what makes the game of life worth living.

So I'll continue with my creative life despite the fear, and try to keep my eye on the ball - or at least a paintbrush in my hand.

The Essence

I was going to call this blog The Essence (let me know if you think I should re-name it!!), because a) the essence, as defined by dictionary and thesaurus (see below) is what I want to capture in my art - I don't want a perfect representation so much as a gesture or a moment that reflects the nature, the life, the essence, of the subject; and b) the blog is also part of my journey to finding the essence of me, and to learning to let my essence show...

Thesauraus

Entry Word: essence
Function: noun
Text: the quality or qualities that make a thing what it is
Synonyms essentiality, nature, quintessence, soul, stuff, substance
Related Words heart, spirit; center, core, keynote, marrow, pith, seat; embodiment, epitome, incarnation, manifestation, personification; aspect, attribute, feature, property; gist, kernel, nub

Dictionary

Main Entry: es·sence
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English essencia, from Latin essentia, from esse to be
1 a : the permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being b : the individual, real, or ultimate nature of a thing especially as opposed to its existence (the painting captured the essence of the land) c : the properties or attributes by means of which something can be placed in its proper class or identified as being what it is
2 : something that exists
3 a (1) : a volatile substance or constituent (as of perfume) (2) : a constituent or derivative possessing the special qualities (as of a plant or drug) in concentrated form; also : a preparation of such an essence or a synthetic substitute b : odour, perfume
4 : one that possesses or exhibits a quality in abundance as if in concentrated form (she was the essence of punctuality)
5 : the most significant element, quality, or aspect of a thing or person (the essence of the issue)
- in essence : in or by its very nature : essentially, basically (was in essence an honest person>
- of the essence : of the utmost importance (time is of the essence)

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. ~Confucius

The world is full of beauty - stop right now and look around - wherever you are, whatever circumstance you find yourself in, there is beauty around and within you. Is it the sunlight shining delicately through a bright green leaf, is it the sound of laughter in the distance, is it the sky above or the love that lives in your heart? The world of living things has always soothed my soul, and is what moves me to want to be an artist - to be able to capture a moment of beauty, to share my joy at having seen and felt it - and I hope that in sharing what I saw as beautiful, that you will feel it too.

You may notice a strong bias towards beauty as personified by horses in my blog. This is because they have been intertwined in my life for as long as I can remember, and because I owe them so much - they have given me more than I can say (although I will attempt to tell what they have shown me along the way...) - and of course because they are so magnificent! Where would mankind be without the noble horse? Along with horses, you will also find cattle and glimpses of life on the land, from which I have also learned so much, and which has fed my body and soul for so long.

What I want to capture in my art is the essence of things - whatever it is that creates a recognition, a feeling, a knowing... Please let me know what you think, and I hope that my art and my journey bring a little bit of pleasure in some way to your day...