31/10/2009

A FANTASTIC new bag!!

I AM OVER THE MOON AND SO EXCITED !

This is arrived in the post today and I just LOVE it!! It is of course for my travels!!

MY

EARTH EXPLORER MEDIUM SHOULDER BAG
When I left my part time job at the beginning of September the lovely people there gave me a gift token to spend on Amazon. I have been researching the perfect bag for my travels!! The perfect bag had to not just be a padded camera bag but take art materials too! And I didn't want a bag that was an obvious camera bag. So I eventually found this range of Earth Explorer bags - made by Boden for National Geographic it has lots of great features - it will carry my camera safely in a detachable padded pocket, sketchbook, pencils and pens and a water bottle and even has a back pocket for documents/passport etc. You can see reviews and further details HERE - it's made of hemp so is also environmentally friendly too - what more could I ask for? It feels really strong which is good because it will be lugged around Thailand and Australia for a few months - I can't wait to pack it with my gear and go off exploring - maybe I will take a short day trip somewhere very soon!! If my Aussie blogging friends have any advice on what else to bring please let me know!

28/10/2009

Rambling and forthcoming adventures!

I've been so busy sorting and packing during the last few weeks - my studio is in boxes - actually most of my life seems to be in boxes as I wait the last few weeks to set off on my adventures! My stuff is going into store for several months while I am in Thailand and Australia and then I will be renting for a few months when I come back so I have been trying to sort things into long term (I really don't need this stuff to survive!!!) and the stuff I will need - basic living stuff and of course all the studio stuff!!! No need to explain this further I feel....... !!!! The word FRAGILE seems to be cropping up quite a lot I've noticed!!

Yes - I'm certainly filling the space up!!!


I was visiting some favorite blogs and was reminded of this quote by India at 'not all those that wander are lost' - It was apt timing " A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving" Lao Tzu.

I have been a bit hung up with plans lately and forgotten this wise advice!
I wonder where I'll end up then !

22/10/2009

Hughie O'Donoghue

Prompted by Blue Sky Dreaming I did a further search on the internet and found some images - most of his paintings are very big and photographs don't do them justice - which is why not many are published on the web no doult!! They have many layers of paint, photographic imagery and glazes so have a real translucent quality to them - he talks very eloquently about his working processes and the source material from his research - he has a keen interest in history particularly the first and second world war periods - if you find yourself in Ireland he has work in the Irish Museum of Modern Art. I was interested in how he incorporated photographic images and the transfer to the canvas - he was generous in sharing some of this process - he enlarges the photographs into tiles which are transfered to gossamer fine Japanese paper and then applied to the canvas - that was as much as he was willing to divulge!! I am fascinated by the process so if any of you reading this know more I would love to hear about it!
More information about his work from HERE where I found the image below

21/10/2009

Wonderful exhibition

I was passing Leeds Art Gallery and popped in on the advice of my daughter to see the current exhibition - I was completely knocked out by this painter's work (which is rare for me with painting) and just by chance noticed that he was giving a talk on his work that evening - so I went to it - last night. I am fascinated by the processes of other artists and this was not a disappointment. I bought the catalogue and even had it signed by the artist - Hughie O'Donoghue - I have struggled to find anything about this painter's work on the internet - the best I could come up with is HERE - he works in Southern Ireland and has been painting for 30 years! Although I am not a painter I felt such a connection between what we were both trying to say in our work. I can't understand why his work is not more recognized in the world! I wish I could share more of his beautiful paintings which incorporate photography.
It is rare indeed to find someone who has been working for so long and is a Royal Academy artist with virtually no information or images on the internet!
It has started me wondering...............wandering.............. !!!
THIS IS THE FIRST POST WITHOUT AN IMAGE.

14/10/2009

VIDEO: have fun... take the stairs

I wished I lived in Stockholm! click on the link below to see why!

VIDEO: have fun... taking the stairs ?

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08/10/2009

Back from exporing!

Julia Cameron in her book 'The Artist's Way' recommends artist dates! I so agree with her! It recharges the batteries! So I went exploring - or it felt like it! I visited so many different countries! No this is not the 'Yellow Brick Road' but I did feel like Dorothy in a wonderful world 'somewhere over the rainbow'.............
I rambled down this mosaic path somewhere in the Mediterranean - called 'Liquid Gold' the name Homer (800BC) gave to olive oil - the square of gold in the granite surround symbolises the olive oil press from which a central golden line evoking the long tradition of oil as a symbol of light, life and divinity runs through a pathway of simply conceived images of the dove - one for each Mediterranean nation - the artist is Elaine M Goodwin

From here on it got hotter as I entered the rainforest!
Past the spice boat below..................
Avoiding the ant's nest which was very alive!!
on past the WEEE man!! made from 3 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment - the staggering amount that an average person throws away in their lifetime!
Until I reached the CORE!

70 tonnes of carved Cornish granite from Delank Quarry on Bodmin Moor, lifted in to place through the roof of the building by a giant crane - the film of it happening was quite amazing! You can read more about it HERE. The sculptor is Peter Randall Page and he has a large exhibition of his work at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park until next year - I am saving that for a day in November before going on my travels!
So have you guessed where I went exploring? Yes the Eden Project in Cornwall - it was a great day and I'm back!

06/10/2009


BACK VERY SOON!!!!

01/10/2009

Venice Biennale - Making Worlds

I feel I have neglected my blog again lately - I think the upheaval of the move is causing more disturbance than I thought so I have started up my meditation practice again - thankfully it is paying off and I feel much calmer and more grounded. I came back from a few days in Venice at the Biennale a week ago. I went with an artist friend and we stayed at the Hotel Casa Linger (an apt name!!) Basic and cheap (for Venice) accomodation in the Castello district so within easy walking distance of both the Giardini and Arsenale without having to get vaporetti! On the way we came to our first art work situated on the edge of the Grand Canal - a giant mirrored box which reflected weird images of the water, nearby buildings and the passers by and caused lots of amusement - it was like being in an outside hall of mirrors! This is me with a one thin and one fat leg! Of course before we started we needed a cup of coffee - this is one of the cafes - great fun and not very busy thank goodness! Here I am enjoying the first of several cafe lattes!
I want to share with you a few of my favorite artist's works - I took lots of photos as you can imagine and I have found it difficult to choose just a few - maybe I'll introduce some more of the artists whose work I enjoyed in future posts - meantime - this was in the main exhibition Palazzo in the Giardini - a very beautiful installation of black threads by the Argentinian artist Tomas Saraceno with the wonderful title 'galaxies forming along filments, like droplets along the strands of a spider's web'
Also in the Giardini in the Egyptian Pavilion was the work of the artist Adel El Siwi - tall, straw woven figures bowed us in!
I loved his work and his sense of humor - the exhibition was called 'Lightly Monumental' and it was!!
Some of the best exhibits were projections and artist films and impossible to capture so I am hoping I can find links for you if you are interested in seeing some of the work - below is Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden) who created a 'Garden of Eden' installation of enormous plants and several screens showing her rather disturbing feminist gothic animated films - (she calls them Claymation films) disturbing and brilliant - I saw one of her films at the Frieze Art Festival four years ago and it made an impression on me then!


Very different and equally powerful - Krzysztof Wodiczko projections of windows on the Polish Pavilion walls showed immigrants washing windows and chatting together outside while the viewers watched from the inside - the link HERE gives a lot more information about the work that was created for the Biennale - It had a profound effect on me and will stay with me for a long time
The link for the British Pavilion is HERE - I was inspired by Steve McQueen's film made in the Giardini and depicting it's other life once the Biennale was over and winter arrived. the work from artists in Northern Ireland was also strong - the most disappointing of all was the Welsh artist John Cale - I'm afraid to say it did nothing for me at all!
Well that's all for now!