I do try to look at a picture before explaination to see what levels I can read from it. How many layers are there and what meaning is within each layer. The artists explaination at the end always gives it more richness at the end, for me anyway. Here is some of my layering. I need to get out again into the world and out of my mind if this picture is anything to go by. Oh well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it.
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Easter weekend guilty pleasure. Spent most of it watching the American T.V. series 'Community' written by Dan Harmon. We have had a free month of Stan T.V. and we are making the most of it. Our kids think all their Christmas' have come at once. This show is absolute gold. I went to TAFE which is probably the equivalent to community college in America. I have laughed and laughed. I swear some of the people with the greatest insight to humanity goes through TAFE...to produce something like this and nail the personalities and the world around us... TAFE in Australia has had the fees hiked right up over the last year so for all of us 'who might not fit in elsewhere' this sucks. The TAFE I went to at Red Hill has been half taken over (to be utilised by the Bronco's league club of all things. Here is a newspaper link of the take over with a quote from Tony Abbott "What we are doing is trying to help people, who are helping themselves" ). Re-open this form of education for minority groups that they might possibly afford and it will probably help save the government in a lot of other areas in the long run. We did not realise how good we had it at Red Hill until it was gone. This show sums up the benefits. I may be the last person on the planet to have watched this series, but I don't think too much has been lost on me. I am up to season three.
So just pointing out the obvious...just because...saturating the places in the world that need it most with the talent you have or some dollars you can spare has got to make a difference to the space we are in. Googling charities, the first one I take seriously that pops up is 'The Salvation Army - helps provide hope, opportunity and freedom to all Australians without discrimination'. I remember my Nana would always go to her salvation army mid week meetings without fail (even though she was in another church) and if there was a memory that lives in the hope of a better place, an acceptance of all and belly laughter, it is that of my Nana. I remember a woman being at the Downing Centre Court in Sydney on the odd times I had to go there and seeing Joyce Harmer (Salvation Army Officer) attending to any persons in a highly emotional state. She was incredible. I have just found a link here and it seems her husband also was doing the same work with offenders and Joyce with the victims. The link is a interview with George Negus (ABC) in 2004. Then I log onto the Salvation Army website this morning and up pops an old friend's face I went to school with in Lawrence with her family, Cynthia Bacon, who has lived on and off in Timor-Leste in south east Asia to help bring basic needs like clean water to villiages. I know that Cynthia was also teaching the women to sew for themselves and develop an income to sell their goods back here in Australia (I need to find a link for that??) There are people all over the place helping where help is needed and the least I can do is throw a few dollars regularly their way in support. They don't ram religion down people's throat but help where it is needed - as humble as they come just getting on with it. There are hundreds of charities out there doing good things. We all become a bit blind to the seemingly invisible and vital work people do when there always seems to be a hand out asking for money. Charity for lots of us does not begin at home, perspective is required just a little bit, we just have to look at the news. I have not been to Salvation Army things but I know the caliber of some of the people that are part of that body. Right hearts and right minds. How good would it be to place loads of money into the hands of the people who I know will use it only for the purpose of bringing a little bit of heaven to earth for people who have no means of bringing themselves out of whatever difficult state they are in. I sound positively like a commercial...anyone please make a regular donation (this link is for the good old Salvos). It does make a difference.
I found a website yesterday, skinnyartist.com that has a lot of good article links to it. One article that struck a cord was called Why so many artists are highly sensitive on The Creativity Post, and was promoting a book called Wired to Create by Scott Barry Kaufman and Carolyn Gregoire. It is really good to read articles that place introverts in a positive light. I am no longer willing to fight against my own personality, took me a long time to get to this point. Geez.
Okay so it is a couple of hours since I first posted this and having downloaded the book and started reading Wired to Create, I think every creative should read it or anybody who cares about a creative should read it to understand that person better. I have not finished it but loving it. More self reassurance!! When I went to New York last year somebody said to me that there is no such thing as the lone artist anymore. That all creatives work in collaboration. I must say that I wondered at that point why the hell should I keep doing this study. I wish this book was there 12 months ago. I feel after reading this book that I am a person that enjoys solitude and walking and water and daydreaming and avoiding too much social interaction (especially of the digital variety). I have been grieving. I don't need a psychologist. I might just be abnormally normal like everybody else who decides creativity is their path whatever form this takes. This book has lifted my spirits like you would not believe. That and plenty of prayer. A friend asked me if I wanted to watch a man (preacher?) called Shane Willard speak around the corner from where I live (I had heard of him before via this friend but he is clearly popular going from the amount of you tube videos there are available online). I could only watch half of what he said and had to leave half way through to get to another thing, which is why I then googled his name blah blah. So I have just now watched two you tube videos. They seem to directly relate to my artwork or my mind set (one is the other). The first one using the analogy of water called Prayer #3 Restoring the Soul- moving from anxiety to calm (I am such an ordered person I don't know why I started at #3, goes against the grain). Then I watched "Living the Blessed Life" about an approach in giving to those who need it effectively (I skipped over the singing at the beginning....). Since my mother dying in November last year I have started exploring more the things that were important to her (she had spiritual contentment and always wished that for us as well). So we started going to church on Sundays at the end of last year. It is a whole lot cheaper than a psychologists appointment (not discounting the value of a good psychologist by the way). There are a lot of varying belief systems out there. I feel like I know a little about a few......this church has good people and what feels like good messages. Its a good start for me. I understand it is not for everybody. I have tried to use positive affirmations in the past, but he did say at the end of one of the videos something similar to "Give me the courage to see things differently and the urge to respond to what I see [more positively]". I will give it a good go anyway.
I had a car accident at the beginning of the week. Nothing bad but I think our car might be done and dusted. It made some lovely shapes and lines on the side of the car.
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