HIDDEN ENERGY

My exhibition Prayers For The Planet: We are all the same has its last 4 days this week...today [Wed], Thursday, Friday and Saturday open 10 am - 4 pm. I am really happy with how the exhibition has been received. @ Doggett Street Gallery, 85 Doggett Street, Newstead, Brisbane 61 7 32529292 www.doggett.com.au

Hidden Energy is the title of this painting above. I was thinking about the unseen energy forces which give life to our universe. I have often used these squiggly forms to evoke what I imagine energy to look like. I was so surprised when I watched a program recently on String Theory. Here was a theory that said these unseen forces of energy were shaped like a twisted string or rubber band! I got really excited thinking about how I might have tapped into something which gave a clue to how our world lives.

This has not been the first time I've painted images which have surprised my scientist friends or viewers of my work. A Professor of Medicine asked me once if I had studied Histology...no. I have had academics in science fields ask me if I have studied DNA...no. Many medical people have commented on various paintings over the years talking about human reproduction.

So, I am not sure how it happens, but I am happy that it does. As I have said to people ,I paint what I feel, but part of this feeling is how I think the feeling looks.

Hidden Energy 53 x 63 cm framed Gouache on paper $850 AUD [price subject to change as time goes on-upwards!]

Reunion

I am only half way recovered from my 30 year school reunion over the weekend in Toowoomba. It was a fabulous weekend catching up with some girls I had not seen since the day we left school and others I had seen over the years. I had to make a power point presentation about year 11 and I took a great deal of artistic licence, but everyone laughed...because I told them to!

My talk 'Art, Artists + Conversations= Peace Talks?' at the University of Queensland's Peace and Conflict Centre on Tuesday 16 October went really well too. I spoke for abut 50 minutes and then there was about an hour of questions and discussion. Very positive response and I am thrilled. There are also other things brewing as a result of the talk which is very exciting.

I think I maybe stepping into what might be called quiet activism. I attended a session on art and activism at the ARC conference in Brisbane on the 13/14th October and I came away thinking that there was a place for me in this spectrum called activism. Promoting potential avenues for peace on our planet is my motivation.

My exhibition 'Prayers For The Planet: We are all the same' at Doggett Street Gallery continues and is attracting attention which is great. You can see it online @
http://www.doggett.com.au/ExhibitionFrame.aspx?ExhibitionId=864 The exhibition closes 4 pm on the 3rd November and is open Wednesday - Saturday 10 am - 4pm.

It is interesting how stepping up to action attracts more action. I am also thrilled that War Child www.warchild.org.au has benefitted from the exposure my exhibition has attracted. An amazing charity which has the ability to be flexible thus meeting real needs on the ground. It is certainly worthy of support and attention.

Sending Love Gouache on paper 30 x 21 cm

PRAYERS FOR THE PLANET: WE ARE ALL THE SAME

My exhibition Prayers For The Planet: We are all the same opened on Friday night and it was fabulous. The photo [taken by me so please excuse!] shows one wall. I am delighted that people really seem to be understanding the depth of my work. Whilst they are colourful etc etc there is something else 'beyond' which people are connecting with.

I think art which is explicit sometimes falls into the didactic. Neither are sustainably interesting. I also believe that art which merely reflects destruction, mutilation or whatever disempowers by dispelling hope. It is also exhausting. Although I think some artists and commentators believe otherwise or maybe they are stuck in theory which needs rethinking? Maybe because we are so bombarded in the media with scenes of war, brutality and death we are now more vulnerable than ever to the disempowering qualities of simple reminder?

I hope that my work quietly takes the viewer to places which I may never have thought of. In this sense I relinquish the creation of a painting's next stage to the viewer [and this could be different for each viewer]. That by invoking memory [either of this life time of at some cellular level] I hope my work propels the viewer beyond just simple reminder. The brutal and destructive will always be present in absentia. Like a pendulum the opposite is always in potential. However, by creating work which causes people to be touched by spirit I hope that energy is reinstated in the investigation for alternatives and positive ways of being on this planet.

On Tuesday the 16 th October 1-3 pm I am presenting at the University of Queensland's 'Australian Centre For Peace and Conflict Studies'. My topic is Art, Artists + Conversations = Peace Talks? You can access all details @ http://www.uq.edu.au/acpacs/index.html?page=69874&pid=25918

UNIVERSAL SYMPHONY

Today week is the opening of my exhibition Prayers For The Planet:We are all the same @ Doggett Street Gallery, Brisbane Friday 8 October 6-9 pm. http://www.doggett.com.au/ This painting Universal Symphony will be in the exhibition.

On the 16th October I am giving a presentation for the Australian Centre For Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland. I have called the presentation Art, Artists + Conversations = Peace Talks? DETAILS 1:00 – 3:00 pm Sustainable Mining Institute Seminar Room, Level 4, Sir James Foots Building (no.47A) (Corner of Staff House Road and College Road, St Lucia, http://www.uq.edu.au/maps/pdf/StLuciaMap.pdf at J11 co-ordinates

My talk will be based around my experiences exhibiting overseas and the conversations I have had with people from all over the world. My exhibition in Abu Dhabi brought me so many wonderful conversations with people from all over the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. I say the exhibition brought the conversations to me because without the paintings these intimate interludes which occurred a number of times a day every day for 10 days would not have happened. It made me think about the potential for understanding and respect which could be stimulated by talking about art with artists. These conversations take both parties to places of memory and intimacy which I believe does not happen over the boardroom or diplomatic table.

This is not meant to become some sort of therapy or preconceived method. After all there are artists exhibiting all the time. There is no need to invent something...just noticing it would be great.

My experience is that the 'feel good' and entertainment aspect of art is understood but deeper aspects are not. This is particularly so with those government agencies who could really support artists. I have been to a number of Embassy/Hig Commission type arts events. The potential for deeper understanding and communication by opening up [metaphorically speaking] our collective soul is often lost in the 'show and tell' type atmosphere.

My experience has been that people in foreign countries want to 'see' who we really are. It is also intruguing because there seems to be a keener sense that culture is a way to achieve this. I don't feel that Australians [and other Western nations] really grasp that culture is seen this way. There seems to be a 'show off' mentality rather than a 'conversation' ie: involving two or more parties communicating by bouncing off each other and enjoying ideas and insights. In this process you do get to 'know' someone. Art and culture and the creators are the stimulants.

I have had a thought about the practice of conscripting celebrities to speak on behalf of major humanitarian agencies. The celebrity status is definitely a reason for these people to be chosen because it draws attention to the cause. But is there something else? These celebrities are mainly actors, actresses, singers etc. They are artists. Is there something about the way they communicate which differs? Do they 'see', 'feel', 'hear' things' differently? Does the creative pulse which runs through them give a different perspective which then produces different problem solving patterns and different conversations with people? I don't know really because I have never met one of these celebrities, but I think it is a worthwhile consideration. Let's not get

blinded by the notion of celebrity or the notion of value culture and art my have in $ terms. If we do get blinded we won't 'see' the real potential...which could be peace on earth.

Universal Symphony 120 x 160 cm Oil on linen