RichGardenBountyHarvest

Spring
the other evening I walked into the garden
and, using a knife, I cut a bunch of silverbeet stalks
took them inside, cut them up and washed them
leaving them in the water for a while
I returned to find this beautiful
and intense colour experience

I am grateful for all I receive,
especially small mercies
and visual surprises

'The Poet and the cook, both nourish the world'

ArtFromRecycledMaterials

Ian Jowett: 'Fly', metal

Ian Holton: 'Cedar Trunk', Recycled wood

Lynn Ashton: 'The Ark', Found wood

Images from the Art from Recycled Materials Exhibition
plus, below, opening remarks delivered by me 24 - 10 - 2009
exhibition runs from 25th Oct. - 1st Nov. 2009
Creswick Victoria, at various venues

Each work in this exhibition is like a book, written in two chapters. The first chapter is the story of what the work used to be and the second chapter the story of what it has become.

You can start to read these works by realizing that the beauty of this kind of art-making lies in the magic act of transforming the material. An act of love, involving both the artists’ hands and heart.

You can start to read these works by realizing that the beauty of this kind of art- making lies in the fact that we can enter and enjoy the process on any level. That recyclable material, as we can see all around us, is capable of true magic.

Each of the works in this exhibition started from what most makers would call a disadvantage, the artists brief, asked to use recyclable materials and useless stuff, fit mostly for landfill. In all cases, this turned out to be the defining feature of the work.

Thanks to the nature of art there are no rules, and thus it was easy to start from the premise of ‘anything is possible’.

In addition, the works in this exhibition also explore the makers’ skills. Wonderful skills. Most works seemed to have arrived at the understanding that the magic of the artist’s work does not lie in the expense of the tools and materials, but in the knowledge of the hands. And that, in the main, it is the limitations of the materials that have created the art.

Recycled materials, as we can see, do not necessarily mean less sophisticated work. Most of the true magic, of that on display, came from working with that which was available, and finding that inspiring and invigorating. This gives the work its potency, while at the same time, allowing the audience a whole new point of view into the process of art making.

This exhibition contains many stories but, besides the story of re-cycling, it is basically just the one story. The story about the true wonder of everything.

LookingAtSpring

a view of spring

With the blue grey greens of the winter forest, for a background,

Spring's palette is emerging with wonderful brilliance in the garden.

As bright as the colours squeezed straight from the artist's tube:

Dobs of Yellow in the cups of the daffodils,

Splashes of Red around the tulips,

A hush of Blue of reflected sky in the bird bath

Shades of Purple in the Dutch Irish,

A Flush of Orange in the wall flower display

While a fresh sea of Green fills in the remaining space.

Spring's rainbow springing about.

'Trust The Day You Get Into'

WingedPotters

beak made bowl, clay/earth and bird spittle

The nest filled with down feathers

Detail of nest, coloured feather enhanced

Each September the swallows return to the safety of the veranda
they fly around and find a place for their annual nest building
this year they rebuilt an old nest
which a few days later, fell onto my day bed.
They started all over again
as if nothing happened
their aim, a nest, whatever the cirumstance

"To be made visible by the sight of another" anne michaels

SpringSpringingIntoAction

this image greeted us at the car park of
'the Garden of St. Erth'
where we viewed a garden about to explode
into spring extravagance
Everything was restrained,
held back,
but ready to bloom into a myriad of colours
mid October should be a good time to visit

thought: they are great gardeners, but lousy coffee makers

"every flower is a watercolour" anne michaels

TheReceiver

On the way home from a journey to the coast
the evening before the Spring Equinox
I noted the moon in the sky
a golden bowl drifting slowly down to the horizon
while contemplating the absolute beauty of that
I remembered my time with the Pueblo Indians
who called this manifestation of the moon
'The Receiver'
(which set me off on the path to making bowls)

The next morning I noted the evidence
of the bowl spilling its gold into the landscape

"The Best Is Yet To Come........"

softPencilDrawing

Yesterday, on a different way home,
from elsewhere and otherness,
I came across this wonderful, and surprisingly poetic, image.
A copse of willow trees.
It inspired the artist in me
with its soft pencil drawing like quality.
A minor moment of beauty awe

"Get outside everyday. Miracles are waiting everywhere"

SacredGeometry

when nature's summer garments
have been removed
one by one
by autumn
and autumn herself
stripped bare
by winter
I find
in the early exposures
the inner drawings
of tree life

patterns and structures

explorations
into the domain
of
sacred geometry

"Without vision, people perish"

Spring'sHeralds

this is a small daffodils garden bouquet
around here it heralds spring
then, in many places in the forest
similar bouquets spring up
showing us where houses used to be
(around hundred years ago during the gold rush)
and if you investigate you usually find evidence of a fireplace
the hearth, the last remaining remnants of previous occupiers

"The Best Is Yet To Come"

ItStartedInnocently

It started innocently last week
I had in mind to start my vegetable garden
but an hour into the project it started to rain
I came in and decided to make a cup of tea
and noticed how grubby the enamel pot was
when I washed it I also noticed all my enamel collection
on the top shelf had years of dirt accumulated
I washed each item
which led to cleaning each item in the whole of the kitchen
I then washed down the shelves, that done
went to the hardware shop and bought a tin of warm ochre paint
and painted the whole of the kitchen

"when a good idea gets out, things begin to happen"

PatternMakingChooks

This morning I fed 'the Supremes', my three black chooks,
some left over food in a white bowl.
When, some time later I came in the collect the bowl
I was rewarded with an intriguing, and very beautiful, pattern
left in the bowl after picking it empty

'Getting lost and finding your way again'

KineticArt/LenLye

This is an image of the entrance, plus the first sign which greets you,
to an exhibition by Len Lye

An inspirational exhibition at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne,
featuring two aspects of Len Lye's creative career.

Part one: many examples of his work with film
where he manipulates the actual film
draws on it with colour
scratches it with various tools
all accompanied by jazz music of the era (the thirties)

Part two: Kinetic sculptures which with their strong lighting
and precise movements
created not only the most astounding shapes as a result of the movements
but also a joy in the audience which was palpable

The exhibition is on till 11th October
it is free and well worth a visit

"you must give birth to your images, they are the future waiting to be born"

WetWinterWonders

Fungi, Lichen and moss
delights of a winter forest
discoveries on my daily walks
same walk, different scenery
today it was wet, dripping, misty
which made for an introspective kind of walk
walking from and to the warmth of a wood fire
simple pleasures

"If you observe well, your own heart will answer"

ImageDownUnder

"Mirror on the forest floor
what's revealed behind this door"

After last week's winter showers,
every where I walk I find rain-mirrors
scattered in the forest,
pulling clouds from the sky
and light into dark forest places.

'The Man who never in his mind traveled to heaven is no artist'

SharingShinyStuff

The other day I found myself parked in front of a Freedom store.
Liking the name, I wandered in.
Inside I found a wonderful metal salad/mixing/storing bowl
I took it from the shelf and held it. It felt good.
then I looked inside.
Behold, the world as a 'bend' entity

I took home the bowl plus its ever changing contents

"watch what you are doing you maybe making a memory"