SMALL PAINTINGS

Together Oil on canvas 30 x 30 cm $480 AUD


A Suggestion Of Duality Oil on canvas 30 x 30 cm $480 AUD

Each of these small paintings continue my interest in the tree-of-life. I like these opportunities to paint intense small pieces because I can focus my thoughts. The top painting is called 'Together' and I wanted to create a work which showed a togetherness but also a separateness. I wanted this togetherness to not necessarily be about being together with someone else, but also about being with oneself or on the other extreme a suggestion that togetherness is a relationship of the earthly and the divine. I like the concept of maintaining a kind of separateness, albeit a healthy one, because this gives room for self reflection and growth especially in this earthy dimension we all share. However, there is also that rather sad phenomena where two people can be together but the emotional distance between them is really about separation. How far can a distance be before it heralds the demise of a relationship?

The next painting is called 'A Suggestion of Duality' and I think readers can 'get' it by just looking at it. The tree seems to be mirrored... but not really because the colour variation is not an exact mirror and whilst the shape of the tree is mirrored, the individual branches have no chance of being exactly mirrored, hence the word 'suggestion' in the title and the inherant proposal of questions. I love questions which don't necessarily have answers but trigger more questions, thoughts and ponderings.

Collective Memory Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm $4000 AUD

I have written about Collective Memory previously. Here is the link http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/03/collective-memory.html This is a quote from this previous BLOG post. 'In this painting I have placed the trans-cultural/religious tree-of-life at the centre of an emanation of thoughts which are represented by the small dots. These thoughts change colour as they move through time to become memories. Yet, everything is connected and a vibration is maintained. The tree-of-life represents everyone...past-present-future.'

UPDATES

1. Tonight in Melbourne an exhibition and prize opens at the Chapman and Bailey Art Award-350 Johnston St, Abbotsford http://www.chapmanbailey.com.au/ The exhibition continues until 28 November. I have a painting in this exhibition and here is the link to my post about 'Majesty and Order' http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/10/majesty-and-order.html

2. This is a link to my Twitpic image gallery http://www.twitpic.com/photos/brimblecombe

3. And my website http://www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com/

HALO

Halo Oil on linen 80 x 180 cm 2009

I have finally finished 'Halo', the painting I have mentioned over the last few weeks. My last post gave readers some insight into my inspirations for this painting. These inspirations come from many impulses and readers of my BLOG will recognise my much-loved tree-of-life motif as central to this new painting. The 'tree' becomes the earth and surrounding the earth is a pale circle of light or a halo.
In my last post http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/10/climbing-mountains-seeing-earths-halo.html I wrote about the 25th anniversiary of my cousin, Dr. Bill [aka Fred] From's death on Mt Everest. I have been thinking of him much more since around July last year when I was asked to give the graduation speech at the July graduation ceremony for University of Queensland's Faculties of Arts, and Behavoural and Social Sciences. I chose the theme of perspective for my speech and had hoped to mention Bill , but during my preparations I realised I did not have the right amount of time to contextualise his experiences with my thoughts on perspective. Here is the link to my BLOG post at the time of the graduation ceremony http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/07/in-my-last-blog-i-wrote-about-my-guest.html

My thoughts about Bill had been based on wondering what kind of perspective one would get when standing at the top of the world. This perspective, I imagine, would be physical and spatial with distance being the awesome overwhelming experience. But, in this humbling experience would there be a shift in one's own perspective of self and others? Would there be a rethinking of time ie: temporal perspective? I imagine that standing on the top of the world's tallest mountain would be different to being in an airoplane or rocket, because you are still firmly and literally connected to the earth, yet your head is literally in the clouds. I imagine your body would become like a conduit between heaven and earth. But, of course I may be romaticising all of this, because when I think about being cold, wet, hungry for food and air my romantic notions depart with a flurry!

My cousin Bill had just received his Doctorate in Physics from the University of Queensland when he ventured to Mt Everest. His particular area of research was the ionoshphere [please read my previous post for more details and links to info on the ionosphere]. The ionoshere is the outer layer of our atmoshpere which I have painted as a halo in my new painting.

Detail of Halo

When I was an undergrad at UQ I competed a year long subject called 'History of Science' with Professor Mac Hamilton. I have to say this subject was the most stimulating subject I ever studied. It succeeded in untethering my brain from the mundaneness of lock step, sequential learning. It freed me from the learned conformity that primary and secondary schooling cloaks students with, like a blanket that quells a fire. I struggled though because whilst I 'got' it in lectures I had difficulty expressing it in assignments and exams. But, to my next point...my cousin Bill who was completing his PhD sat in on these lectures. As the numbers were not large the lectures were more like conversations. Bill was a star. He engaged the lecturer in the most amazing discussions and I basked in Bill's shadow. And, thank you to Prof Mac Hamilton...I often think of you with gratitude.

The word 'halo' conjures thoughts of goodness, spirit, blessedness and saintliness. If we imagine our atmosphere as a 'halo' then we indeed are very lucky, for this goodness cacoons and protects us. This certainly makes one more determined to look after our atmosphere, yet it may have capacities to rejuvinate and nurture itself. I believe that anything which seems complex must therefore have inate capacities that ensures its continued existence. In paintings of saints by the old masters, halos are a rim, circle or sphere of ligth which is a symbol of love and spirit.

This new painting has taken a long time to paint. I hope viewers take a long time to really look at it...and revisit it. I hope they get a sense of being on the top of the world and that they are enticed to tell their own story.

NOTE ADDED 7-11-10
I was invited to participate in the 2010 $20,000 Tattersall's Landscape Art Award [invitation only]. Halo was my entry.

Halo Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

CLIMBING MOUNTAINS-SEEING EARTH'S HALO

Detail from Halo oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

In my last couple of posts I have mentioned that I am working on a large painting which I am going to call 'Halo'. I am still working on it and just to whet your appetites I have uploaded a detail from my work in progress.

But, I will go into a little about my inspiration. In October 1984 my cousin Bill [Fred] From died trying to conquer Mt Everest. I have often thought about Bill who was a true mountain man. He was strong, big, capable and incredibly intelligent. The kind of man you imagine conquering mountains with his little finger. Bill was 4 years older than me and I have childhood memories of him holding my arms and twirling me around in circles. I loved it and was thrilled because he was strong enough to do this to a rather large 8-12 year old gangly girl. After 12 I just got too tall and self conscious!

Bill had just received a Doctorate in Physics from the University of Queensland. He thesis was on his research into the Ionoshere. Here is a link that gives a brief description of this layer surrounding the Earth. http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Atmosphere/ionosphere.html&edu=high He had also just received a scholarship to one of the prestigious Max Planck Institutes in Germany to further his research. I gather his research was cutting edge and very important.

Bill and one of his fellow climbers, a young doctor Craig Nottle, both slipped on an icy patch as they were descending Mt Everest. Their bodies fell into the great depths of ice and have never been recovered. They had been a short tantalising distance from the summit, but a blizzard forced them to turn away. They were climbing without oxygen so every step was arduous and slow. Bill was a seasoned climber and knew very well the risks of undertaking such an incredible quest. The team was lead by Peter Hillary, son of Sir Edmund.

I googled Bill's name just now and found an article which appeared in Brisbane's Courier Mail only last month. It is 25 years since Bill and Craig perished. Here is a link to the article http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26085462-5018552,00.html

But, back to my painting. It seems incredible to me that I have been thinking about Bill much more just recently and that it is 25 years since he died. I had not really been aware of the anniversiary until I read the Courier Mail article.

My thoughts have been about desire...a desire to reach the top of the world...a desire so strong that a person is prepared to put their life at risk. I wonder what it is like to be near the top of the world and have to turn back. I wonder what kind of views [if any through a blizzard] are possible at that height. Bill, studied the atmosphere, and one particluar part of it in great detail ie: the ionoshpere. Was he trying to reach it, to get closer to it? Regular readers of my BLOG know of my intense interest in perspective and distance...WOW what a perspective of the world from the top of its tallest mountain! Would an experience of this majestic perspective make a person feel humble as well as awed? Would this kind of perspective reveal not only the materiality of the Earth, but also reveal the substance of the atmospheric layers which cacoon and sustain us and our environment? My wonder is...did Bill see and feel the Earth's halo?

So, I am not and have never been interested in literally climbing moutains. But, all of us climb metaphoric mountains as we progress through life! Indeed, I have painted many moutain images over the years...landscape elements are important metaphors for me.

My new painting is inspired by my thoughts about Bill. And, since these ponderings seem to be serendipitously at this time of the 25th anniversiary of his death, I wonder if I am being 'spoken' to by some force from beyond? The painting will be finished soon and I hope it will be as beautiful as I imagine standing on the top of the world would be.

Cheers,
Kathryn
PS. Since writing this BLOG my next one also discusses 'Halo' http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/11/halo.html

WATER

Some of the images below have been posted to my BLOG previously, but a few conversations over the last couple of weeks have prompted me to reload them as a group. These conversations have been about that age-old and very important topic of water. When weather conditions are perfect water is not necessarily a topic of conversation, but when there is not enough or too much water, then anxieties, hopes and frustrations are expressed in conversation. Currently , in my part of the world ie: SE Queensland we are experiencing a severe lack of rain. Whilst there were good falls earlier in the year they have not continued. Gardens are dry, farmers look imploringly at the sky, bush fires are raging in the dry conditions, dust storms have recently enveloped us and so on. Not surprisingly people are talking about water and rain.

Seeping Into The Intimate Vastness Oil on linen 80 x 100 cm 2008 http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/seeping-into-intimate-vastness.html

As readers of my BLOG know I grew up on a grain farm outside Dalby on the Darling Downs, Queensland. My parents farm was in what is known as 'God's own country' as the black soil was rich and deep. In fact, on the Pirrinuan Plain, where my parent's farm sat centre stage, the top soil is the deepest in the Southern Hemisphere. My grandfather farmed on this land for over 40 years and my father took over in the early 60s when weather patterns changed and he [unlike my grandfather] could not rely on rain arriving at the right and same times every year. I've seen my parents and other farmers despair over the lack of rain, as they watch newly sprouted seedling crops strain under parched conditions. Yet, I have also seen the horror of severe flooding where top soil is wripped away, and beautiful crops are flattened by heavy rain and often hail. From a very young age I knew that rain and water meant many things, but I also knew it meant money, prosperity and more relaxed parents!


Lifeblood Oil on linen 90 x 200 cm 2008/9

Lifeblood above, is a large painting where I have painted the strips of rain in small $ signs. The underground water and surrounding soil are also painted with $ signs. The red ribbon like vein in the sky is painted with $ signs. From a distance the viewer does not recognise that this painting contans any $ signs, but when up close they are revealed. Readers of my BLOG know that I am intensely interested in the viewer's experience of close and far distance and the impact this may have on developing flexible skills in perspective. The viewer's experience is a metaphor for how we need to 'see' the globalised world in which we live locally. We need to be able to see another person's point of view, understand another's culture, put ourselves in another person's shoes in order to have compassion for ourselves and others.

Here is the link to my previous post about "Lifeblood' http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/lifeblood.html

Thank Goodness [It's Raining]! Oil on linen 92 x 207 cm 2007 This painting above was inspired by those exclamations farmers make when it does rain. 'Thank God', 'Thank Goodness' and 'About bloody time!' These sorts of exclamations are really expressions of gratitude with all the emotions gratitude contains. I have used my much loved, tree-of-life motif as a visual conduit which could represent underground systems, mountains, a strata of the earth as if cut in cross section. The 'rain' falls from a dark blue sky, but the rain is red. I often paint rain in red because this colour represents fertility and a sense of vascular life forces. Rain and water are like the blood of the earth.

Here is the link to my previous post for 'Thank Goodness [It's Raining]!http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2007/07/thank-goodness.html

It Looks Hopeful Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2009

The sense of hope which farmers must have is like a faith. I wrote about faith in my last BLOG post and I have to say that as a farmer's daughter I have witnessed incredible expressions of faith from my father and other farmers. I also saw this when I lived in the small rural Queensland but highly diversified town of Goondiwindi for 18 years. Faith is a kind of 'knowing' which seems inexplicable but is felt at deep core levels of our being. Faith and hope are two of the most important characteristics farmers or anyone living in rural communities must have.

Now I am going to write something which may seem odd, but artists are like farmers! We must have faith in processes which we may or may not understand. We must get to a point where needing to understand is not paramount, because we recognise that creative forces are never ending. We must have faith that we can tap into these forces, and that when we have impasses where things do not seem to flow, we 'know' to walk away to 'let' the congestion unravel. We 'plant' after we have made all the necessary and technical preparations and then as we work we 'manage' complex creative and technical processes simultaneously. Our medium becomes an extension of ourselves, just as a good farmer after making all the necessary technical applicatons and seeking appropriate informaton can 'know' at his/her core if something resonates as the right thing to do.

Water Harvesting Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2009

I have written previously about this painting 'Water Harvesting'
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/water-harvesting.html

Answer To A Prayer Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2009

Being grateful for rain!

Cyclical Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2009

Here is the previous post I wrote about 'Cyclical' . Quite interesting if I say so myself!

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/cyclical.html

Fertile Sky Gouache on linen 30 x 42 cm unframed 2009


Some other 'Water' posts:

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/02/water.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/currency-of-water.html

I am still working on my latest large painting which I am going to call 'Halo'. It is 90 x 200 cm and I am spending hours working away and going through the inevitable ups and downs of the creative process.

Cheers,

Kathryn

FAITH IN IMAGINATION

Into The Symphony Oil on Linen 120 x 160 cm 2008

I have not posted for 10 days and those 10 days have passed so quickly. I am working on a large rectangular painting which I will be calling 'Halo'. The world's halo is revealed! I will discuss more on my BLOG when I have finished and photographed the painting.

IMAGINATION

I was thinking about something I said in my last post which was, 'The largest system is the one which gives pulse to the Universe and whilst we may not completely understand this system we know it exists. Now this got me thinking...if we have evidence of a system it does not mean we know how it works, yet we have faith that it does.' I have continued to think about faith, the kind of faith we have which may seem blind, but somehow resonates at a core level. Maybe this resonation occurs in what has been labelled our 'junk DNA' ie: the over 95% of DNA scientists do not understand!

I have been particularly thinking about faith in imagination, faith in our own imagination, faith in the collective imagination. It seems to me that it is imperative to have faith in imagination, because without imagination we cease to wonder, question... and really live. But, as I wonder about faith in imagination I also 'see' that imagination has been hijacked by written and unwritten rules and regulations, fashion, education!...all causing a lack of faith. I have seen this slow erosion in my own children and as I travel back in time [in my head and imagination] I feel the erosive events in my own life again. I have learnt to repel and irradicate some of the unhelpful influences, but first one has to identify them. This can be difficult because over time they have often entered the subconscious insidiously weaving networks of belief about oneself and others. It actually requires some imagination to irradicate! I see it like some sort of pest control!

IMAGES

All the images posted have my tree-of-life motif. Regular readers of my BLOG will identify all that these trees 'say'.

I have written previously about this painting http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/09/into-symphony-again.html

The Brush Of Angels' Wings Oil on linen 52 x 92 cm 2008

I have written about this painting on my BLOG previously
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/angels-wings.html


Into My Galaxy Oil on linen 85 x 147 cm 2008

Generations Oil on linen 80 x 120 2008

Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

MAJESTY AND ORDER

Majesty and Oder Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm 2009

While I was painting this image above I was thinking about 'order'...and not house tidy type of order [although I know my family thinks I should think about this more!]. I was thinking about 'order' as in destiny and fate or another name could be 'divine order'. Coupled with my thoughts about 'order' were ponderings on systems, all kinds of systems from natural ones to man-made ones. The largest system is the one which gives pulse to the Universe and whilst we may not conpletely understand this system we know it exists. Now this got me thinking...if we have evidence of a system it does not mean we know how it works, yet we have faith that it does.

Sometimes, a system is not evident until something happens which gives rise to questions about how, why and when the event happened. Sometimes people achieve things without an apparent system, yet once the achievement is made a 'walk' back through the experience will reveal a 'system', which may or may not demonstrate traditional lock step sequential patterning.

For sequential thinkers a system is possibly a different thing to a divergent thinking person. This latter type person will not necessarily think sequentially as in 1,2,3. Their sequence may be 3, 1, 2. This person is often a BIG picture thinker, who will demonstrate hyperactivity and boredom if confronted initially with sequential 'bits' without a BIG picture promise. I think primary school is a devastating place for tangential BIG picture thinking children, because there is so much emphasis on 'bits' of information. These children wonder why they need to learn the 'bits' and tune out when there seems to be no or little relevance...I have seen this with my own children.

So, these are some of the thoughts I had when I was painting this new image. I have just finished it and my thoughts are still spilling over... as they do...which is a kind of system isn't it? Indeed, I have faith that this will happen after finishing a painting, thus leading to the inspiration for my next painting.

I wanted to paint an image which 'spoke' of systems, faith and majesty. My tree-of-life motif represents all of life, but I have formed it to appear like the Earth in orbit. In this sense, the painting is a landscape, indeed a vast one. The size of the painting is small ie: 36 cm x 36 cm, but I like the way vastness still exudes with majesty. It fits in with my ideas about distance being close and/or far. Readers of my BLOG would know of my fascination with the permeability of distance and perspective. The tree-of-life and its branches suggest a system, a natural one akin to those of river systems, mountain ranges, cloud patterns, ants trails, vine tendrals, blood vessels, lymph systems, finger prints and the markings on the palms of your hands....and so on. Each dot represents another world of systems pulsing with life and having faith that it will continue.

I have painted the dots amongst the tree-of-life branches in various pale shades of the complementary colour of the surrounding branches. So, the purple branches have pale yellow dots, the red/pink branches have pale green dots and so on. I did this deliberately for a few reasons: 1. The colour wheel provides a system which artists can use to augment the visual impact of their work 2. I like the concept of seemingly oppositional forces creating a tension which can stimulate 'happenings' 3. I like how seeming randomness, as in the placement of the dots, can be questioned by the subtlety of complementary associations...and how this gives clues to 'hidden' systems at work in our lives and psyche [both idividually and collectively].

Anyway, I could go on and on! But, I won't because maybe you have your own thoughts and as I have said before I love viewers taking my work to places I have not thought of. I do not complete my work, because each conversation either within a person or with others, provides another completion, thus the possibility of multiple completions. Now, is that a system? Systems are everywhere. There is an 'order' in their very existence giving majesty and awe to our lives.

WHERE IS YOUR PARADISE?

This is my latest painting which I have called 'Paradise'. Readers of my BLOG would recognise that it flows from my previous work inspired by the tree-of-life and tree-of-knowledge. My last few paintings have introduced Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden into my visual explorations of the symbolic and metaphysical potential in stories and iconic motifs.

My interest is not in literal interpretations or illustrating history. My interest is in the possibility of gaining emotional, spiritual and conceptual sustenance that is meaningful in this contemporary world in which we all live. I am not interested in prescribing what this meaningfulness is because I believe each person has the capacity and urge to search for their own meaning. Age-old iconic motifs and stories provide a gateway for each person to open and proceed to explore at their own pace and in their own direction. Readers of my BLOG know of my aversion to the didacticism I see and read in some contemporary cultural offerings, particularly children's literature. Didacticism does not provide a gateway with endless pathways. It is more like a cattle crush. [the yards designed to feed cattle or sheep through to be branded, loaded onto trucks etc.]

I have called my new painting 'Paradise' because the Garden of Eden is described as a paradise. It is also described as a temple, thus indicating that it was a place of worship where a personal relationship with God could take place. Many years ago when people asked me where I lived I would often say, 'In my head.' It sounded a lot more interesting than saying Dalby or Goondiwindi! As a child I daydreamt all the time, much to the dismay of my teachers. However, daydreams are an escape to a paradise, a place where everything is possible. I believe that our Garden of Eden [our temple] lives inside us, in our imaginations and dreams. I also believe that some art is the perfect catalyst for imagination and dreaming, especially if it causes a person to ask questions, to wonder and to reflect. As people do these things their abilities to understand metaphor and symbols becomes more attuned. I have previously written about my observation that contemporary society has lost its ability to 'read' symbols and then to extrapolate meaning from them. Visual literacy skills are not just about knowing what a symbol might represent, but also understanding them at a metacognitive level where meaning can be responded to in both an emotional and intellectual [even spiritual] sense.

A painting, by providing just one nano second of a story, does not attempt to complete it, thus the viewer can provide their own pre and post narratives. My new painting could be said to be based on a narrative ie: the story of Adam and Eve, but what I like about stories which are mythic and symbolic, is that the viewer can place themselves into the story. Thus, the narrative becomes a constantly new one, never before written or seen, yet the core of humanity exists as a spine or trunk of a tree. A person returning to a painting which has provided them with an internal emotional/intellectual or spiritual journey can find themselves taken even further on their subsequent viewings. A number of people who have bought my paintings have told me they see something new in the painting they bought each day. I love hearing this, because it means my painting lives rather than decorates.

A visitor to my house this week spent about 3 hours looking at and talking to me about my work. He made a comment which really blew me away. He said, 'You know you'd return from the dead to look at your paintings Kathryn.' WOW! Now this got my imagination going for sure. Lots of ghosts wandering through my house to get their 'fix'. We discussed what he meant, which was that each painting seemed to have endless possibilities for thought and contemplation, and that one idea lead to another and another, thus making it seem unlikely that one lifetime would provide enough time to fully explore. I took this as a great compliment.

Readers of my BLOG also know of my interest in distance and perspective. Stories/myths and a iconic motifs represented in paintings are like single points with endless trajectories for story and meaning in all directions. Horizons exist behind, in front, beside and under, with each horizon once reached revealing another. Indeed, sometimes returning to a previously visited horizon is important. These horizons may be close or far in temporal or spatial distance.

'Paradise' depicts the moment Eve is created from sleeping Adam's rib. Trees grow from Eve's outstretched arms creating a multitude of colour and pattern. Please read my last two or three posts where I have written more extensively about Adam and Eve, a story which is shared by the three Abrahamaic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. My interest with 'Paradise' was to create a sense of the universe, awe, movement, beauty and extra-ordinariness. Surely these are all elements which the temple aspires to achieve. My other interest is the fact that shared stories connect us forever.

I love painting because each work exists as a point/gateway with endless possibilities. The viewer creates these possibilities and in this way quietly and privately extends my work into the collective memory and consciousness.

Paradise Oil on linen 62 x 82 cm 2009

Generations

It has been 10 days since I wrote on my BLOG. The reason I have been slack is because I have been completely distracted with preparations for my daughter's eighteenth birthday party, which was fantastic too. In between doing the things one does to organise a big party, I have been painting, but the work is not at a stage where I can provide an interesting photo.

So, an email this morning provided me with an opportunity to reload 'Generations' above. The email informed me that this painting has been selected for the 'I Am' exhibition which is aid of the Women's Legal Service here in Brisbane. The exhibition is on 16-18 October. Here is the website http://www.wlsartshow.com.au/

My previous post which 'talks' about 'Generations' is http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/04/can-one-persons-epiphany-change.html

I was quite chuffed by a few of my daughter's young friends and their comments about my paintings. I had planned that my daughter's party would be completely outside, but when my daughter and I created the largest birthday cake possible we did not think about how to get it out of the house! And, this problem was not alerted to us until one of her male freinds, who had arrived early, decided to measure the cake. No problems I thought...it will fit through the front door and down the steps. So, whilst the party revellers were revelling, a friend and my sister-in-law [who is also a friend] tried to get the cake firstly out the front door and down the stairs to take it into the back garden and the party. But, no, we got stuck half way through the doorway nearly killing ourselves in the process. So, we decided to take it down the internal steps and out through the family room. But, we got stuck again. This time on the steps with the cake slipping sidways off its huge base. Trying to keep this massive cake flat whilst going down stairs required feats of almost gymnastic manipulation which, at slightly! older thean 18, none of us had. I just cannot write descriptively enough to explain just how hilarious our antics were.

So, the only thing to do was to get all the party revellers upstairs to have the Happy Birthday cake cutting, candles and singing thing happening. Well, the big bonus for me was that because these young ones had the opportunity to come inside the house 3 of my daughter's friends made great comments about my paintings and wanted to know more.

So, until my next post...I am in a state of recovery.

Kathryn

ADAM and EVE/LEFT and RIGHT BRAIN

"She was not made out of his head to surpass him, nor from his feet to be trampled on, but from his side to be equal to him, and near his heart to be dear to him." [Jamieson-Fausset Brown Bible Commentary]

The quote above inspired my newest painting. I wanted to create an image which clearly 'spoke' of the story of Adam and Eve but also embraced the sentiment of the quote, which I believe deals fundamentally with the male and female relationship, plus more deeply delves into the question of opposites and duality. There is no indication of either sex being better than the other, yet they are not the same.

The uniting of seemingly opposite forces creates an equilibrium which I have tried to capture with the 'meeting' or crossover of the two trees. These trees are [as regular readers of my BLOG will identify] my transcultural/religious tree-of-life. The story of Adam and Eve is one which is shared by the three Abrahamaic religions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. It is through shared stories that a forever connectedness exists between these religions. The tree-of-life is a symbol which is shared more broadly throughout many religions and cultures and does not need any simple explanation. Yet, it can assist in the journey to very complex and deep investigations of meaning and spirituality. This is the power of symbols and myth. Unfortunately, the contemporary world in which we live has lost an ability to understand symbols, preferring to replace deep investigation of meaning with superficial visual literacy skills that merely enable people to decipher logos, advertising ploys, jingles etc. These latter skills are certainly important, but there is another layer where metacognitive skills are essential, but seem arrested.

In my new painting Adam is asleep because in the story he is made to go to sleep so his rib could be extracted in order to form Eve. There is some suggestion that due to no mention of him being awakened [as there was about him going to sleep] that he actually never wakes up, thus leading to the thought that, in essence,'we' are Adam's dream. I won't go into this in detail, but I think it is an interesting thought, as a metaphor, to ponder.

The 'meeting' of the two trees forms a subtle almond shape akin to the sacred yoni. I have written about this in my previous post 'In The Garden Of Eden'. The scared yoni is a salute to the sacred feminine or rather the presence and power of the feminine along side of the masculine. Please read my previous post to see my thoughts about this.

Now to something which might appear to be completely divergent! I am reading 'A Whole New Mind' by Daniel Pink [Thank you Ron for the suggestion!]. I have not finished it, but Pink's observation that the primacy of left brain thinking is being diluted by the acknowledgement of the importance of right brain thinking is very interesting and makes me feel my time has arrived! I can certainly conform to situations where left brain thinking is required...that's why I did well at school, but it almost killed me! However, my natural and most enjoyable thinking certainly comes from my right brain. And, at times or when necessary having both sides work together is very satisfying. As I have been reading this book, my tree-of-life images appear in my head, especially these latest ones where they meet and cross over to create a denser and more complex 'system'. Now, to me, this is the perfect analogy for the mutual workings of the left and right sides of the brain. I know the two sides cannot literally or pysically cross over...mush time if that happens...but thinking can create a crossover with an abundant potential to generate amazing thoughts, imaginations, inspirations plus outcomes, processes and 'stuff'! So how rich, in all ways, is that?!

FLYING

Flying Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2004



Hot Gouache on paper 15 x 21 cm 1995


Following on from my last post, I have uploaded a couple more older paintings. I had hoped to post an image of my very latest painting, but I have only just finished it [like right now!] and will not get around to photographing it until tomorrow. It is 10 pm and I am ready for sleep.

These two paintings are about flying. The first one was painted after I left Goondiwindi [small rural town in western Queensland] and moved to the 'big smoke' of Brisbane. The woman flying is a bride and her shadow on the ground follows her. Readers of my BLOG would know that as a child I dreamt I could fly...and it was not just a night time dream, but an experience I had both at night and during the day. I knew what my parent's farm looked like from above even though I had never been in a plane above it. This experience of 'flying' has obviously influenced my need to experiment with different perspectives in my work.

I was a young bride when I moved to Goondiwindi and my mother was a young bride when she moved to the family farm outside Dalby. In fact, there have been many young brides in my family who have moved to live in rural Australia. The men marked the land literally with their fences, roads, dams, ploughed paddocks etc. But, the women leave markings which are more about the fabric of the community. They leave their spirit in a different way to the men, who also leave their spirit inbedded in the earth with their sweat and in many cases their tears.

The young bride above seems to hover above the land with the horizon enticing in the distance. Over this horizon there maybe other horizons, but she seems wistful about her present place. Readers of my BLOG know that I use landscape elements as metaphors for our emotional landscapes. The horizon can be interpreted literally or be understood as something which is inside us, a place where we search to know who we are.

The second painting 'Hot' is a more playful image, where the two figures placed against a red background seem to be absorbed into the fabric of the image. I played with the word hot to mean both heat and sexy.

OLDIES BUT GOODIES!

I am still working on the painting I wrote about in my last blog post. It is evolving well methinks!
I thought I would show you some of my older works on paper. Some of them have been exhibited once and a couple not at all.

It is an interesting thing being an artist for all sorts of reasons. But, logistics is not something most people would think about an artist needing. By logistics I mean how to give our work a life beyond the studio, before it becomes too old for competitions and exhibitions...unless of course one has reached that stage where curated survey or retrospective exhibitions herald an arrival into the serious realms of art history.

Most competitons require an artist's entry to be no more than a year old. There are a few competitions which allow up to two years. When an artist has a solo exhibition it is expected that the work on show is recent...probably within the 2-3 years. Once an artist has exhibited a work of art in an exhibition, and it has not sold, it really cannot be exhibited again in that geographic area, unless it is a finalist in a competition. So, artists have to look interstate to exhibit their work again in order for it to have a life beyond storage in the studio.

So, it is with delight that I am showing these older works which have not really had an opportunity to strutt their stuff properly.


Spirited Mixed Media On Paper 56 x76 1993 $1600 AUD Unframed

I was thinking about and very interested in the force of atoms and the energy created. My tree-of-life is here! Readers of my blog will know that this motif is a favourite and recurrent motif of mine. In this case i was thinking abut the life force of atoms.

Super Mum Mixed Media on Paper 76 x 56 cm 1994 $1600 AUD Unframed

I painted this image when I had two small children and felt my energies stretched to the limits. This woman seems to have multiple arms! And again my tree-of-life motif is inside the womb-like ball under the woman's arm.

Earth's Spirits Gouache and Watercolour on paper 104 x 75 cm $3000 AUD Unframed

This painting was exhibited in an exhibition called Knitting Time at Whitebox Gallery in Brisbane. The paintings in this exhibition had been inspired by a friend's novel. Her name is Lesley Synge http://www.zingstories.com.au/

See The Traces Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2001 $1600 AUD Unframed

I have palyed with perspective in this ambiguous landscape. I had been living in Brisbane for about a year after living in Goondiwindi in western Queensland for 18 years. I moved with my 3 children then aged 2,5 and 8 because I got divorced. Once in Brisbane my landscapes took on a searching within my memory. I was and still am interested in multi perspectives and the power developing skills in perspective gives to humanity. At this point in time, in the early 2000s, I was understandably considering my options, looking at my past and examining myself and my life from new and sometimes frightening perspectives.

Inside The Landscape Gouache on paper 2004 Sold

This painting is a continuation of my interests mentioned for the painting above.

In The Air Gouache on Paper 56 x 76 cm 2005 $1600 AUD Unframed

I have alwys loved the aerial view and this image is surely an aerial view highlightng again my interest in exploring different perspectives. I think of the old saying...The girl can leave the country but the country never leaves the girl!

At Close Distance Gouache on paper 56 x 76 cm 2005 $1600 AUD Unframed

This is a really beautiful painting...if I say so myself! I have delved inside the landscape to reveal its intimate parts. Yet, at the same time the vastness of the landscape is evident. Hence the title 'At Close Distance' which plays with ideas of distance being far and close.


So, this is a brief online exhibition of some of my older paintings. I have chosen ones I really like!

* All prices exclude freight and framing. However, both can be organised. Prices may go up without notice, but these listed here will be maintained for 3 months from the date of this post.

COMING UP

In January 2010 I am having another exhibition at the Upfront Club in Maleny http://www.upfrontclub.org/ My Mum's exhibition 'Invisible Cities' opened there on Thursday night and is up until Septmeber 22. You must go and see it if you can!!!!

In March 2010 I am having a solo exhibition @ Joshua Levi Galleries 4 Ipswich Rd, Woolloongabba http://www.joshualevigalleries.com.au/ I am so looking forward to this as I have not had a solo exhibition of new works for two years.

My entry into the $15000 Manning Art Prize is a finalist! The winner is announced on September 19

Cheers,

Kathryn

DISTANCE-LESS-NESS

Detail of as yet untitled painting I am currently working on.

Detail of as yet untitled painting I am currently working on.

The two images above are close-up details of the painting I am currently working on. This painting is a further investigation of my ideas which I explored in 'In the Garden of Eden' which was the subject of my BLOG post of August 5 . http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/08/garden-of-eden.html Again the tree-of-life and the tree-of-knowledge are pivotal motifs, but like 'In the Garden Of Eden' I have included Adam and Eve ,who for me, simply represent humankind. The crossing over of the two trees creates and reclaims the feminine symbol of the sacred Yoni which meaningfully implies the feminine within all.

In the new painting I have painted Adam asleep. In the bible story he was put into a sleep state to allow for the extraction of his rib to form Eve. Following is a quote from my August 5 BLOG post...."She was not made out of his head to surpass him, nor from his feet to be trampled on, but from his side to be equal to him, and near his heart to be dear to him." [Jamieson-Fausset Brown Bible Commentary] Eve eternally shares a part of Adam just as Adam also experiences the feminine. The absent part of his rib represents Eve's presence within. Absentia does not mean lack of inclusion. With these thoughts in mind culpability for the Temptation ascribed soley to Eve seems rather lame or perhaps opportunistic.

It has been suggested that the Bible story actually does not record Adam ever waking up, thus posing a very interesting proposition. In fact, is life an illusion or a dream? Are we Adam's dream into which we are propelled in order to sort out the big questions posed by the battle between good and evil [error]? This proposition opens up a myriad of questions which go to the core of existence...and not just in this human dimension. This is the power of myth.

This brings me to a very interesting post on the Elightenment Next BLOG http://blog.enlightennext.org/?p=1723 The post includes an article called TRUE JIHAD by Elizabeth Debold. She suggests that the true jihad is, in fact, the battle of the ego with the spiritual potential within us all. I quote, 'The truer, greater meaning of jihad refers to the battle for the utter liberation of the spirit from the tyrannical nafs—the unconscious motivation in the human psyche that insists on separation and division. The nafs—or ego—is the ultimate terrorist, changing disguises with shape-shifting ease, scurrying within the labyrinth of the mind, setting off explosions of fear and rage, never quite visible until war has been declared and a warrant for its capture, dead or alive, has been issued.'

I have previously written on the BLOG about the role of myth. As time goes on I have an even great sense that misplacement of myth ,which I believe is largely a result of post modernism's slippery decline into narcissism and glorified pastiche, is a far greater loss than we may have realised. For me, myth is a conduit to the inner sanctums of the spiritual potential within us all. Myth will take people places that are undreamed or unimagined until they are awakened. And, upon awakening there is the potential for more discovery. Post modernism forces a sense of sitting outside with enticements to enter, but upon entry it slips away. This, of course is its arrogant subtefuge, because it knows that if discovered there is nothing there. Myth, on the other hand, beckons with its depth and confident potency. I have written about post modernism @ http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-implosion.html

Debold, in her article True Jihad admits to the role of post modernism when she says, 'In my postmodern arrogance, I assumed that the great traditions lacked the sophistication of our modern psychological understanding. But, increasingly, I am coming to understand that it is our contemporary view that lacks depth because, so often, it blunts the sharpness of distinctions that give dignity to the human struggle.'

I am particularly interested in Debold's arguments about ego. I won't go into a broad discussion about it, but I will make some comments with reference to art/artists and ego. Readers of my BLOG would know that I have previously written about ego with reference to my experiences exhibiting in the Middle East and the conversations I had with people who came to my exhibitions from all over the region, Africa and Eastern Europe. As a result of these conversations I realised I do not complete my paintings. They are, in fact, completed by every conversation they stimulate. These conversations can be internally with oneself or with others. Thus, my paintings have the potential to have multiple completions. When I realised this I had to consciously let go of my ego, because I recognised that a part of me wanted to hold onto the meaning of my work. Yet, when I thought about it, each person I had had a conversation with drew more from my work than I had initially ascribed. In fact, by holding on I was a limiting factor. By letting go, I feel free and I know my work is free to do whatever its potential is.

What struck me was that the tree-of-life motif was the element which drew people into conversation with me. This transcultural/religious motif needed no explanation, yet I had used it in non-traditional ways. The willingness of people to share their dreams, hopes, ideas and sometimes despair with me was very humbling. Yet, it was really the power of one motif which opened up the commuication. This motif is intrinsic to many stories from across religions and cultures. This motif has helped my understand the importance of myth.

So, for me myth is timeless and eternal. Through myth we can find rich pathways to the inner sactums of our spiritual potential. If this is the case, then time seems inconsequential. And, as I have written before, if time does not exist then neither does distance and space. Maybe myth is a way to distance-less-ness where axiomatically there are no limits to Myth's capacity.

Kathryn

PS: I should finish my new painting in the next week.

PPS: This painting has been preselected for the $15,000 Manning Art prize announced 19 Sept http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/angels-wings.html

A Moment

I am intensely interested in the idea that a frisson is a 'distance' which can be close and/or far and that the space between is replete with anticapatory energy. For instance the moment before a romantic kiss, when the distance between two people is physically close but not closed, is full of heightened anticipation and possibility. This brief moment ‘sees’ time and space dancing with each other causing a rich frisson where everything seems to stand still and the world seems distance-less.

This new painting above is called 'A Moment' and I wanted to give the impression that time and space dance intimately in a suspended frisson. I wanted to 'picture' a moment. I have used my much loved tree-of-life motif to represent past and future. I also deliberately used the circle to represent time as cyclical rather than linear. The circle also reminds us of the rungs of a cut tree. These rungs tell us how old a tree might have been, thus are indicators of earthly time passing.

Yet, time may not exist at all beyond this mortal existence. I am reminded of a few lines in a poem called 'Out There' written by my grandmother D.E Ross, [the entire poem is copied below my post]

Time is not negotiated
wasted or lost:
an hour rates high in our accounting here:
yet a thousand years
could be held as a breath on the wind
Out There.

If time does not exist except perhaps 'as a breath of wind', one then has to question the existence of distance and thus perspective, both being some kind of temporal and spatial measurement of perception. I wonder if both distance and perspective are necessary processes and/or processors we need to move towards a 'knowing' which goes beyond human perception. After all we must know who we are not before we can truly know who we really are. With reference to my last post 'In the Garden Of Eden' I am reminded that Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden to experience good and error [I prefer error to evil] in order to know who they are not so they can know who they are. The story is a parable to propel us in mind and soul beyond to 'Out There'.

The tree-of-life in 'A Moment' is like a gossamer creating a veil. This veil is time. Once the veil is lifted I can imagine distance, space and perspective collapsing into a non-existence which paradoxically remembers them. Thus they exist in absentia. In fact, my grandmother's poem in stanza two clearly irradicates boundaries created by compass points or positioning. My grandmother wrote this poem about death, but to my mind she wrote about a 'knowing' of another life...


Out There
By D. E Ross
[copyright]

1.
I do not cringe before the opening door
to Outside,
but brace muscle and mind
to meet
the open horizon
its fresher winds
the brighter light
undreamed of in the chrysalis:
each cloud a carriage
each breeze a wing
each star a stepping stone
beyond Time
-before and after-
toward the secret
of its source
and mine.

11.
There are no boundaries
Out There
but the original laws
that devised
creation.
neither north nor south
or east and west,
above
below
or here and there
No tides,
but streams of power forever flowing.
Time is not negotiated
wasted or lost:
an hour rates high in our accounting here:
yet a thousand years
could be held as a breath on the wind
Out There.

111.
There is no waste in God’s economy.
New solar systems
gather grace in space
[along with waste
from our allotted span of influence].
In God’s eternal meld
of warp and woof,
of foul and fair,
we have each one of us a share
in a new heaven and a new earth
aiming for birth
Out There
somewhere.


http://twitpic.com/photos/brimblecombe

Garden of Eden

In The Garden of Eden Oil on linen 50 x 94 cm

For a while now, I have been wanting to visually delve into the story of Adam and Eve, a story shared by the three Abrahamaic religions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It will not come as a surprise to regular readers of my BLOG that the tree of life and the tree of knowledge are pivotal symbols which have drawn me to the epic tale and all that it might mean. Apart from the details of the story, what intrigues me most are concepts of the sacred feminine, duality and 'The Fall'. The latter may not be a fall from Grace , but a fall to Grace [via a journey through life or maybe lives]. For to know who we are, we also need to know who we are not, hence we need to 'know' good and 'error'. I have previously written about duality on this BLOG
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/03/on-wednesday-18-march-at-6-pm-i-am-co.html

In the painting above Adam and Eve are crowned by the flowing branches of the tree of life representing eternal [divine] life and the tree of knowledge representing the knowledge of good and evil [I prefer error instead of evil]. These trees meet to create a Yoni symbol representing the sacred feminine. Reclaiming the sacredness and equality of the feminine is an age old quest which still persists today in many aspects of contemporary life, culture and religion. The sacred feminine does not exclude the masculine, but encompasses that feminine aspect of the masculine. The masculine can emotionally, physically and spiritually share in the experience. He is reminded of it in mortal life when he physically is one with a woman. The Yoni suggests that the Garden of Eden is to be found within and is not just meant to be some kind of external environment which is subject to the vagaries of mere human care and or manipulation.

In the story Eve is created from Adam's rib. "She was not made out of his head to surpass him, nor from his feet to be trampled on, but from his side to be equal to him, and near his heart to be dear to him." [Jamieson-Fausset Brown Bible Commentary] Eve eternally shares a part of Adam just as Adam also experiences the feminine. The absent part of his rib represents Eve's presence within. Absentia does not mean lack of inclusion. With these thoughts in mind culpability for the Temptation ascribed soley to Eve seems rather lame or perhaps opportunistic.

What also interests me is the conduit to the internal unseen parts of our psyche and spirit this story gifts to us. The imagined [by God] comes to life in Creation. How many unseen elements of our lives need to be explored? This is the potency of all art ie: its ability to bring some kind of perception to the imagined. The distance between what we call reality and the imagined is vast going beyond size, space or time. By this I mean that there can be a vastness within the nano as well as the universal.

I am not a biblical student, but I am intensly interested in stories which gift to us the chance for metaphysical interpretations and thus great insight. I am also interested in stories which are shared by those religions which in many parts of the world sit uncomfortably and often dangerously with each other. A previous post about a painting called 'Forever Connected' discusses this further. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/forever-connected.html

The Garden Of Eden Oil on linen 50 x 95 cm 2009

ELEMENTAL

Elemental Oil on linen 50 x 95 cm 2009

In this new painting above I have tried to capture the essences of earth, air and water. I have used my much loved tree-of-life to suggest a vascular energy within what appears to be an ambiguous landscape. The vibrant red 'clouds' spill red and blue 'rain', both woven into the fabric of the 'sky' in a startling pattern. I like the idea of a sky revealing its elemental energy normally unseen by the naked human eye of eye ball and pupil. My mind's eye always 'sees' the normally unseen. To wonder is the spark which ignites the imagination. Maybe viewers who look at my work will wonder and come up with their own mind's eye 'sights'? As I have written before on this BLOG I do not believe I complete my paintings, because I know every conversation a painting stumulates, whether with others or with oneself, provides a completion. Hence there is the possibility of multiple completions.

In a way I have to distance myself from my work ...and I am comfortable with this. I also believe that by distancing myself from 'owning' a completion, I just might save my work from the perils of didacticism. One of these perils is the blinding of the mind's eye and thus the death of wonder. I have previously writen about wonder @ http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/03/after-couple-of-weeks-not-painting-i-am.html

I chose red for the clouds and the strips of 'rain' to indicate a potency, not just in the obvious benefits of rain and water to the Earth and its inhabitants, but also in the rich metaphor water provides for us. This is where my interest in the vast/intimate-global/local-macro/micro enters the painting. Water has an ability to exist in a vast mass, but also to be reduced to droplets, mist, steam. It can seep into intimate spaces where space does not seem to obviously exist. It flows and its 'currency' is a metaphor for concepts of movement and progression, but also value in all of its conotations. I believe fluidity is an important aspect of perspective in this increasingly globalised world in which we live locally.

I have written about the many meanings of 'currency' before on this BLOG @ http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/03/currency.html and http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/currency-of-water.html

I'd like to direct readers to a few interesting Blogs or websites I have discovered recently

http://www.mandyridley.com/ http://www.spillspace.com/ http://www.ducksmahal.com/ http://www.moneyplusthoughts.blogspot.com/

Cheers, Kathryn

JIGSAW

                                                 Love Puzzle Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2003

                                                        Jigsaw Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2003

TWO PAINTINGS FROM 2003

Jigsaw and Love Puzzle are two works on paper from a larger series of work centred around the bride. These two paintings belong to a subset of about 5-6 paintings each appropriating Titian's famous painting Sacred and Profane Love which is a bridal portrait, but unusual for the time as the husband is not present. Venus, the God of Love, hovers with a distracted Cupid focused not on anyone else but on playing. The young bride gazes out of the painting but not at the viewer who wonders what lies behind her eyes. These three characters are placed against a beautiful pastorale scene. Venus's drapes indicate some kind of action yet the remainder of the painting is measured and contemplative. One wonders about love and its expression in the sixteenth century. And we also wonder about love and its expression in the 21st century!

I am really fond of this series of paintings, so I thought they deserved a posting.

This link will take you to an image of Titian's Sacred and Profane Love
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/eamor.htm


Cheers,
Kathryn
www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

ONE

                              One oil on linen 90 x 200 cm 2009
This is the painting I have been working on for the last couple of months and now it is ready for the conversations which will provide its [possible] multiple completions. I have decided to call the painting 'One'. I wanted to create a work which simultaneously captured vastness and intimacy through revealed patterns. I have used the tree-of-life motife to create a 'map' which illustrates connectivity within difference ie: the connectivity being fundamental similarities which underly life [which includes death].

An article in The Guardian newspaper entitled 'Can Artists Save The World', by Paul Arendt struck me as timely. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/05/can-artists-save-the-world The article discusses the plethora of art, in the broadest sense, which deals with 'issues' such as the environment and climate change. He says, 'Artists' attempts tend to fall into two categories. There is the celebratory work reminding us how nice nature is; and there is the dystopian approach, which paints a stark picture of humanity's future.'


I have thought about this question of 'issue' driven art for awhile. Readers of my BLOG would recognise that at one level I am a quiet activist, but I am very careful to steer well clear of the didacticism I perceive in a lot of contemporary culture. For example I do not see the point in recreating or reminding people of disaster when the popular media does such a great job at it. Some contemporary art is trapped in an unwitting complicity with the popular media which stalls art's potential potency to penetrate the psyche at deep levels. Some of this 'dystopian' imagery falls prey to 'black' decor desires, and thus propels itself to what is considered the unforgivable fate of the 'pretty picture' ie: decoration!

I have written on this BLOG before about my thoughts on 'positive or celebratory' art. All may not be as it seems! Modern aptitudes in deciphering symbols, meaning and context are scarily limited especially as visual literacy skills are determined or honed by mass media and didacticism [especially in a lot of children's literature]. I am aware that there is a 'pretty picture' element in the artworld. However, I choose to paint what could be called utopian images, but with a conscious acknowledgement that disaster, pain, suffering exist or are all immanent. By consciously eliding the negative, it exists in absentia in my work.

'Reminding us how nice nature is...' is not my goal. Simple 'reminder' is not effective or potent because it does not necessarily cause change either within or without. I hope my work engenders, through the conversations it stimulates with oneself or others, a potential for discovery of something new. As readers of my BLOG are aware, I am intensely interested in perspective especially as a metaphor for how we view ourselves and others. The possibility of finding new perspectives and/or experiencing multiple perspectives simultaneously are far more exciting... and scarey than simple 'reminder'. Living locally in an increasingly globalised world is also exciting and scarey....but heightened perspectival abilities will make the dance of distance between the global and local far more fun and productive.

Can artists save the world? No artists alone cannot save the world, but maybe art's agency can contribute to the collective endeavour through stimulating the kind of wonder and imagination that uncovers new ways of doing things. Where does 'reminder' of good or bad fit here?

Now to my MUM, Elsie Brimblecombe who is having a solo exhibition called 'Invisible Cities' inspired by Italo Calvino's book by the same name. The exhibition will be at the Upfront Club, 31 Maple St, Maleny, Queensland, Australia opening August 27 @ 6 pm. The exhibition will continue until September 22. http://www.upfrontclub.org/

Below is one of my Mum's paintings The City of Euphemia. It is acrylic on canvas and about 60 x 40 cm.