Friends, Foes and Fetishes

I usually shy away from the sun, or become slightly angered by it when it hits my skin whilst driving – however today I sat in it purposefully for a good hour… it was the morning sun, not at all harsh. There was an energy there that felt good

Whilst I don’t necessarily succumb to any sort of character labelling, I’ve often been told if a hippy merged with a goth you’d get me. However, and I laugh - I am not sure where my recent shoe fetish fits in…

Perhaps I could say – tongue in cheek- that I was more in touch with the hippy than the goth today as I even found myself stepping outside, once home, several times to mindlessly throw the ball for the dogs and soak up some vitamin D. Maybe it was due to the conversation I’d overheard earlier whilst out in the sun sipping on my – wait for it – soy chai.

It was impossible to not hear the conversation of a plutonic man and woman who sat across from me. We were the only three people at the table.

They discussed mostly her intimate relationship troubles and triumphs, and the questions and concerns relating to them, also new beginnings and spiritual journeys, self-discovery and growth, ashrams and, of course, the recent Super moon.

She was younger and more frenetic, attractive, and obviously in need of a coffee date with her older, calmer and perhaps wiser friend. He had a bit of a ‘been there, done that and now I am in a better place’ thing going on. He listened far more than he spoke, and when he did speak he spoke with clarity and compassion.

The conversation seemed to flow freely with me sitting in earshot but at times I felt somewhat awkward, the sun, however, felt comfortable, warm and non intrusive.

I grew quite fond of both of them whilst sitting there and when I did leave, with them still chatting away, I could see that she already felt more at ease than she did when they first sat down.

It stressed, in my mind, the importance of good friends and good listeners, and also that the only person that can really solve one’s own problems – is oneself. Although it does often help hearing yourself say things out loud to another person - to watch their reaction and listen to their response and thoughts on a particular matter.

Perhaps if I really did possess strong hippy-esque qualities I might link the recent natural disasters to something like the Super moon… then again, I might also be of the opinion that Mother Nature is just extremely pissed off with the way we humans are treating planet Earth… But, alas! I am neither a hippy nor a goth…. I am simply a girl in the world.

I like tags on my character as much as I like tags on my art, which is really not very much at all…. I like to think that just like my artwork, my character is open to interpretation…. I do not expect everyone to like it, or even to give it a chance or second thought but for those who do, I appreciate the fact that they look beyond the surface and find something they can engage in or relate to… in some cases things that also allow them to look inside themselves and ask their own questions…

Everything I write and or paint is in a sense a self-portrait… for it is always a form of self-expression.

Studio Day

Some random images from the studio today...

Thinking about my home away from home...

I don't really pray, but I am wishing and hoping incredibly hard that Japan 's crisis does not worsen and... without sounding insensitive towards the thousands upon thousands of lives that have been lost and deeply affected, that the people of Japan, in particular those in it's most devastated areas, can recover from this awful tragedy without having to fear things like simply drinking water!

In regards to radiation, I truly hope that a lot of what we are hearing through the media has been sensationalized.

A short post, yes... Simple, perhaps... but possibly one of the most heartfelt.

Homage after Hiatus

Well, it has been a mad start to 2011.

I am finding it hard to comprehend where the first two months of the year disappeared to. It's almost like they somehow bypassed me, but I know I was there for them, during which time I turned 37 - (sometimes I feel I could say the same thing about the last 20 years)... but I have been present for them all.

I'm not as fearful of forty as I was a couple of years ago, though I would like to unpack my suitcase of dreams and ambitions that were packed away somewhere in my late twenties and have been sitting in storage for most of my thirties. If anything, with 40 being within smelling range, it has made me determined to pursue and achieve as many of those things as I can between now and the beginning a new (age) decade.

To commence, or perhaps continue, on this journey, I need to first find the road that leads to my studio. It's path has been somewhat obscured of late but I am slowly tidying things up in order to be able to see it more clearly.

My car wouldn't start today. At first I was a little irate about it, but that feeling dispersed rather quickly as I remembered what I had said to an eye-rolling, heavy sighing, nasty-muttering elderly lady yesterday as she was losing her patience with a checkout queue in Target... "at least we are not in Japan."

Of course, I love Japan, it is my second home, but my comment was a subtle yet direct reference to the recent earthquake and tsunami that has devastated far too large an area and population of a most beautiful country. I didn't feel any explanation was necessary, nor did anyone else around me say anything - but I know they all heard... and I can only hope that for a brief moment, the people in the queue, along with myself, stopped to consider perhaps how fortunate we really are and of course, how insignificant a slow service line really is!

I used the same thought principle in relation to my idle vehicle. Sure, I had a lot I wanted to get done today, but in hindsight, if I had done all these things, I may not have found myself back in my studio today enjoying the feeling of pens and brushes in my hand and paint on my feet!


It felt great. I felt happy. And before too long, I'd totally forgotten about my car and how I was going to fix it.

I have been asked to participate in a group exhibition titled, Homage to Frida (Kahlo) in June this year at 19 Karen on the Gold Coast. As she is one of my major influences I didn't hesitate to agree. I spent today browsing images of her and her works, scanning through her diary pages and reading a number of her better known quotes. It felt nice to be involved again!

And nice to, once again, be making marks.