2 MORE DAYS @ FRISSON

Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/11/beyond-dark-night-of-soul.html
Only 2 more days to go and my solo exhibition FRISSON comes down. It will be open Saturday and Sunday from 10 am - 6 pm. It is always a bit sad when a show comes to an end. I have had a great time chatting to all the people who have visited. In between visitors I have been reading 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'... and what a perfect book for reading between visitors! I can put it down and then pick it up again and become totally absorbed by it until the next visitor arrives.

The Presence Of Angels oil on linen 60 x 100 cm http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/02/presence.html

Today, Friday 26 March, has been quite busy with a number of visitors to the exhibition...so a few long chats. 'The Brisbane News' published an image of one of my paintings this week. Yes...very happy about this! You can check it out @ http://www.brisbanenews.com.au/issues/776/index.html pages 26-27 [you can 'flick' through the pages online]. This has brought a few people through the gallery doors, plus a number of phone calls.

So far, I have sold nearly a third of the exhibition! Now, this is very exciting!

Many people have asked me about what I am going to do next. Well...I will plan another exhibition for next year, enter a few competitions, keep writing my BLOG plus a couple of other things which, if they 'come off', I will reveal at that right time.

Yesterday, I had an elderly woman come to the door of the gallery. As she poked her head in I gave her my normal cheery, 'Hello! How are you?' She remained at the door and asked me, 'What kind of art it this?' I replied, 'I am the artist. It is contemporary art and I use the Tree-of-life as my guiding motif.' She then said, 'Oh. I don't think it is for me. I won't come in.' She then turned around and walked down the stairs and onto the foot path. As she left I did say, ' That's fine. Have a nice day.' Now, this was a rather strange interlude, but there was someone else in the gallery and this person was astonished and asked me if I was upset. I said I wasn't because 99.9% of the people who had seen the exhibition seemed genuinely moved by it and had articulated this to me. I was not going to let one person's comments derail me! And, I have to say this elderly lady was honest and I had to admire that. Each to their own is actually quite a wise old saying!

But, when an artist exhibits it actually is an emotional experience. We are showing the world our expression and all that it reveals. By publicly displaying our art, we are automatically open to comment, criticism and...praise. In fact, we do have to develop quite thick hides and a filtration system that is alert to constructive comments and criticism...and praise.

Seeping Into The Intmate Vastness Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/06/seeping-into-intimate-vastness.html

DETAILS OF FRISSON

Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr, New Farm, Brisbane. Until Sunday 28, 10 am - 6pm daily

BEAUTY

LIFEBLOOD Oil on linen 90 x 200 cm

FRISSON, my solo exhibition, continues all of this week, until Sunday 28 March. AND, I am very happy to report that it is attracting a steady stream of visitors and sales. The opening night was fantastic, with around 100 people through the exhibition and a number of sales, plus very ego-building comments! I did say in a previous post that I would upload photos of the opeing night, but guess what? Even though my camera was in my hand bag, I forgot to even think about it.

LIFEBLOOD, is attracting quite a lot of attention. I watch people as they look at it from a distance and then they move closer. Once up close you can see the smile....even though I am looking at the back of their heads, I can see the smile in their bodies. The reason for the smiling bodies is that up close they see the small $ signs which I have used to create the strips of rain, and the foreground. I love the fact that people move back and forth from this painting examining it from close and far distance, because this is the movement we need as we live locally in an increasingly globalised world. I have written about LIFEBLOOD before. here's the link http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/lifeblood.html

AH HAs! Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm SOLD

I sold this painting on opening night! Here's the link to my previous post where I 'talk' about those instants where insights cause Ah Ha reactions. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/02/ah-ahs.html

LOVE oil on linen 100 x 100 cm SOLD

LOVE also sold on opening night and could have sold a few times more since then...from the comments I have received. Here's my previous post about LOVE http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/love.html

DISAPPEARING PERSPECTIVE Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm
This painting was the last one finished for the exhibition. I wrote a post about my thoughts, but did not upload an image, because the painting was not finished. My thoughts revolved around ideas that we may need rethink how traditional and western concepts of perspective influence our perception of a world which has changed to the point where new ideas of perspective or even a collaspe of perspective is required. Here's the previous post http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/03/alternative-to-perspective-inside.html

NOW TO BEAUTY

One of the recurrent comments about my exhibition FRISSON is that it is beautiful. Also, Dr. Christine Dauber in her remarks when she opened the show, referred to concepts of beauty. She commented that in art theory there are statements about the death of beauty with contingent arguments, or suggestions that beauty cannot hold the potential for political agency. She then said that my work refuted this suggestion, because inherent in my work is a conscious compulsion to find connections between people, races, cultures and religions to make the world a better place.

This compulsion is not driven naively, but based in experience and thought with a salute, which is deliberately elided, to the existence of ugliness and all its attendant characteristics. I have often thought about beauty, and when I studied Art History at University, I literally felt at a loss when I read about theories relating to the death of beauty and the implied suggestion that anything beautiful could not contain the kind of agency that presumably something which was not beautiful could.

 

So, all I can say is that visitors to my exhibition seem to be engaged by the beauty. This engagement seems to infiltrate at an emotional level and induces a desire to engage with me. I know that when I see something which I think is beautiful it is not just about seeing it. It is also about feeling it, and this is where vacuous   prettiness collapses when positioned beside beauty. The distinction is felt in a truly sentient manner. Beauty, to me, is the kind of thing a person will remember, and when the memory surfaces they feel something delightful and reassuring in their bodies. The fact that it can feel reassuring tells me that beauty is something which possibly has a human race kind of memory imbedded in our DNA...in that huge part of DNA which has not yet been explained.

So, whilst my eyes might tell me something looks beautiful, it is my emotional response and memory of that feeling that is truly an experience of beauty. To me, this is a state of being which has far more potential to act as an agent of change than a state which is driven soley or more predominantly by ugliness. Both beauty and ugliness are identifiable because duality provides us with an opportunity to know what something is, by knowing what it is not.

I will be thinking more about beauty!

FRISSON

GRAYDON GALLERY 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm , Brisbane 61 7 32542325

Open DAILY 10 am - 6 pm [or by appointment] until Sunday 28 March

FRISSON - Ready to go!

'Frisson' is hung! All the paintings are up on the walls of Graydon Gallery and I feel very happy with how it all looks. I did not have to leave out any paintings and I was not wishing I had extra.

The exhibition is not overhung and crowded, but neither is it sparse.



I am delighted that Art Historian Dr. Christine Dauber is opening the exhibition tomorrow night. The opening starts at around 5.30 and the official bit will happen around 6.30-6.45 pm.



Here's a blurb about Christine:



Christine Dauber

PhD, BA, BA Honours (Art History) University of Queensland

Christine Dauber has enjoyed a long involvement with the arts in Queensland. She has chaired a number of committees including that of the Queensland Art Gallery Society. Her formal training in the area includes an Bachelor of Arts Degree with a double major and an Honours Degree in Art History. In 2007 she completed her Doctorate at the University of Queensland, for which she received a Dean’s Honours Commendation. Her thesis, “Highjacked Agenda: The National Museum of Australia and the Gallery of the First Australians” addresses how the inclusion of the Gallery of the First Australians inflects concepts of the national in Australian cultural life. This thesis also considered how the newly established museum became involved within the History Wars debate.

Christine’s articles have been published in a number of peer reviewed journals and books. She has had teaching experience at the University of Queensland, at the Queensland University of Technology and at Griffith University. She has acted as arts critic and editor for the e-journal M/COnline and as convenor of the Queensland Art Gallery’s journal Artlines. She has been involved in public programming and has had extensive fundraising experience.





EXHIBITING

Hanging an exhibition is not as easy as it may look. Firstly, placement of the paintings takes time, because they need to be hung to complement each other in theme, subject matter, colour and even shape. Once the placement is done...and this is after picking one painting up and puttting it somewhere, to then maybe moving it and other paintings numerous times until the whole exhibition makes your heart sing! Once placed, the paintings need to be hung. Now this can be either easy or difficult depending on the hanging system used at the gallery. Graydon Gallery's system is good. But, of course paintings need to be level and hung at a height which gives some unity. So, the tweeking here and there can take time...like lots of time! Once this is done, then labels, didactics, artist's statements etc can be placed around the exhibtion, but not in a way that visually intrudes. Then once that is all done, you can print off the catalogue, which can be a simple list of the paintings with medium, date and price or it can be more elaborate with images also included. I opt for the former.


Then you wait for the invited visitors, passers by, return collectors to come! But, not before you've followed up on PR, sent gentle reminder emails to people, updated Facebook... and the list goes on!


An exhibition, particularly a solo show, is extremely important for an artist for many reasons. The primary one is that it showcases many months [sometimes years] of work, where the artist has buried him or herself in the studio immersed in creation, teasing out concepts and thoughts which are meaningful or engaging to them. Exhibiting is actually quite emotional, because it is a baring of your soul to the world with all that baring entails, but it is also an opportunity to sell! Artists' materials, PR, exhibition costs, photographic documentation, website maintenance and fees, insurances, freight, competition fees, framing, accountancy fees, commissions etc need to be paid! Like any business artists juggle all sorts of costs, but unlike many businesses there can be months between sales/income.

I will try to remember to take photos tomorrow night or get someone else to. I am really looking forward to the opening!

Unfortunately my opening clashes with the opening of the Brisbane Senses: Roatry Art Spectacular Art Award and Exhibition which is being held at the Riverside Centre here in Brisbane until March 27. I have three paintings which have been selected for inclusion. Here's a link to the post I wrote about the three paintings http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/archetypal.html

And, I think I'll finish this post with a quote by Dr. Christine Dauber about my paintings.

It must first be understood that Brimblecombe–Fox is not so much concerned with landscape painting per se, but in a Warburgian sense, searches for the universal connections, or common ground between people, races and religions. Thus, she uses the “tree of life” or “tree of knowledge” as a repetitive motif and in so doing, deploys its spiritual associations as a global referent. Christine Dauber

Over the period of the exhibition I will write every few days about happenings, thoughts, reactions etc.

Cheers,

Kathryn

AN ALTERNATIVE TO PERSPECTIVE-Inside the FRISSON

Frisson Oil on linen 85 x 147 cm


As I think about perspective [and regular readers will know I think about this a lot] I am beginning to 'see' something which both excites and frightens me. This sounds like a frisson feeling! Anyway, I am beginning to 'see' in my mind's eye the collapse of perspective as we have come to know it ie: as a linear and a point of reference to gauge space and distance, in both the literal and metaphoric contexts.
Our globalised world forces us to dance on a stage which exists between the multiple wings of the global and local. Before exploration of the globe, humankind's world view was physically limited to the immediate locale. The development of perspective from utilising simple size reduction on a spatial plane, to 1 point perspective in the 14 th and 15 th centuries, to 3 point perspective with the arrival of photography, mirrors the expanded knowledge and experience of the physical world via exploration and science.
However, is perspective, as we understand it, limiting our ability to negotiate the contemporary stage? As we live locally in an increasingly globalised world, we actually need to harness and embrace multiple perspectives simultaneously. It is in this experience that I 'see' the disappearance, the collapse, the annihilation of perspective. At the very least perspective, as we know it, becomes impotent when confronted with the need to immerse ourselves in the experience of simultaneous distances ie: from pico to universal.

As I wonder about this, I cannot but help to think about the global financial crisis. This experience very clearly illustrated, and continues to illustrate, that we are all connected. In November 2008 I wrote a post about the looming GFC. Here's the link http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/11/after-implosion.html In this post I commented on the insidiousness of post-modernsim's distortion into a propensity to slip and slide between creating seductive fantasy and playgrounds where rules are made to be broken.
The slippery slope into narcisistic tendencies helped create the 'house of cards' which collapsed when sub prime loans defaulted enmass and credit rating agencies scurried for cover.


However, I 'see' all of this as part of an evolutionary process. Post modernism had to happen, because, in a sense, it has allowed us to experience moving perspectives, fantasy perspectives, simulated perspectives and I am sure you can think of a whole lot more! Was post modernism's agenda to loosen our hold on perspective? But, is the experiment over? Do we now need to annihilate perspective and come up with an alternative, that allows us to experience simultaneous distances?


The pendulum of experience can take us to extremes. At the extreme end of each arc of the pendulum there exists an unhealthy point that compels and propels the pendulum to take the opposite move. One could say this movement back and forth creates energy, but I think we also need to imagine the pendulum on a 3D plane rather than a 2D plane, because the latter can very easily get stuck in a groove. Maybe postmodernism has tried to push us off the known groove by falling and imploding into an unhealthy state? Maybe it was, and is, imploring us to think more holistically and multi-dimensionally? Now isn't all of this both exciting and scarey? But, its worth it because I think compassion may well be the big winner!



Pendulum Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2007
Anyway, I have fun thinking about all these things. I have even more fun letting them errupt onto canvas and paper.

FRISSON Oil on linen 84 x 145 cm
The painting above registers the almost meeting of perspectives. There is a small space or gap between the two colours and the branches of the trees-of-life, but its size is no clue to its enormous capacity. It is like the moment before a romantic kiss...especially the first with someone new! The colliding of senses makes time seem to stand still, yet both excitement and fear couple in majestic anticipation. This is how I 'see' the the world today. This painting will be in my solo exhibition FRISSON opening next week. The DETAILS are:
FRISSON @ Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane
EXHIBITION DATES Tues 16- Sun 28 March Open Daily 10 am -6 pm [Tues 16 from 1 pm -6 pm]
OPENING Thurs 18 March 5.30-8pm
Cheers,
Kathryn

HOPE IN THE DISTANCE

                                            Hope In The Distance Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2010 SOLD



This painting is the one I wrote about in a recent post. I was still working on the painting at the time, but I shared my inspiration, which travelled from rain in the distance, to hope, to literal and metaphoric horizons. Here's what I wrote:

I am working on a painting at the moment and my ideas have revolved around issues of water and rain, plus what they represent at emotional and even spiritual levels. Regular readers will know that water is of great interest to me and that it has been a sub theme within my broader interests in perspective, distance and the space between the micro/local and macro/global. Overarching all of this is my compulsion to explore the potential of archetypes to perhaps reveal universal connections that mean something to us in the 21st century.This new painting which I am currently working on, is essentially about hope. I am calling it 'Hope In The Distance' because it is, at first glance, a painting of strips of rain on the horizon.

When I lived in Western Queensland, strips of rain would appear on distant horizons, often cruelly tantalising us with the potential for much needed rain. But, horizons, as metaphors for our lives cascade into so much possibility, because as I have written before, horizons can be both close and far. Our eyes, of eye ball and pupil, see horizons as existing in the far distance, but our eyes trick us, because we are essentially always present upon horizons which exist at all universal and nano distances around us. Our mind's eye can 'see' these multitudinous horizons so much clearer than our eye of eye ball and pupil, especially if we discard one dimensional and simple notions of distance and perspective.

I am reminded of a quote I used in my artist's statement for my show 'Distance' in London in 2002. The quote is from Walter Benjamin's Illuminations where he describes aura as, the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. The word 'aura' has new age connotations, but I think, whether we know it or not, we are all searching for an experience and an understanding of aura. Maybe this is the unviversal search and that at each era, the agelessness of archetypal symbols offer clues to a discovery or a depended understanding of aura. We just have to keep investigating their potential. I think the investigation may require us to rely more on our mind's eye rather than always relying on our eye of eye ball and pupil...the two need to work together questioning everything.

My thoughts about multitudinous horizons have given me glimpses of the phenomenon of aura! These glimpses slip away as I try to grasp an understanding, but my hope is that as I discard old ways of 'seeing' I might come to a fuller experience of aura. Indeed, as we live locally in an increasingly globalised world, we are all actually forced to collapse notions of distant horizons, as we experience contemporary life. I suppose the hope is that the experience is understood as being potentially transforming in a positive way for all humanity.
MORE
'Hope In The Distance' Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm
The tree-of-life creates a land formation which seems like a mountain or a hill in the foreground. The branches of the tree suggest underground systems of water, minerals, roots, animal burrows etc. The five strips of rain fall from a potent sky of red and blue. These strips of rain represent hope, hope of sustenance. As an aside, the current floods 'out west' will provide deep subsoil sustenance and replenishment of underground aquifers for some time, but the devastation of homes, infrastucture and livestock is brutal.

Yet, this painting got me thinking about things beyond rain, drought and floods. It got me thinking about connections. The strips of rain are like conduits connecting earth and sky, body and soul, mind and God. The tree-of-life transcends the material, by imposing its true potential, which is the fullness of life...of humanity. In this way the immediate suggested horizon vanishes, because humanity encompasses past, present and future. All three of these time phases are horizons in a sense, but when experienced simultaneously horizons disappear, perspective evaporates and distance has no meaning.

TO REMEMBER
FRISSON Solo exhibition
Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthry Rd, New Farm, Brisbane
EXHIBITION DATES: 16-28 March [***From 1pm-6pm Tuesday 16]
OPENING NIGHT: Thursday 18 March 5.30-8 pm
Gallery is open daily 10 am -6pm ***

SOME NEWS
I went to the inaugural TEDx Brisbane on Saturday 6 March http://www.tedxbrisbane.com/ It was really great and certainly generated some ideas worth spreading.

FRISSON - Works on paper

Together Gouache on paper 30 x 21 cm


Sharing The Spaces Gouache on paper 21 x 30 cm

Frisson Gouache on paper 21 x 30 cm

The above three works on paper will be in my exhibition FRISSON opening 18 March. I will have more works on paper including others of this 21 x 30 cm size and larger works 30 x 42 cm.

The larger works on paper will be from my series on water, which I have written about before on my BLOG. I will have some framed and some unframed works on paper. The above three will be framed with a very nice pale coloured square cut timber frame.

The bottom painting is called 'Frisson' and, whilst it is a small painting, it is an important one for me. It's important because it was one of the first paintings I did where I was fully conscious of wanting to paint something that 'spoke' of a frisson. I wanted to create something which purposefully expressed an instant...a nanosecond... akin to that instant just before a romantic kiss or just as an insight shifts your world view or just as an Ah Ha ripples through your body. All these examples of what I would call a frisson, are intimate and full of feeling. They are bigger than the actual instant, because time seems to stand still and when time stands still, distance collapses. I imagine travelling in a vortex where perspective is supended because the movement of the vortex's energy is in none and all possible directions at once. Isn't imagination wonderful!

As you can see, the three paintings above all depict my much loved transcultural/religious tree of life. So, what is the tree's history with me and my art.

TREE OF LIFE

I started using the tree-of-life in the early 1990s when I was having my babies. At that stage the tree-of-life was a very personal and understandable expression of the experience of creating and giving new life. My maternal grandmother died aged 92 only 6 weeks before my first daughter was born. These events get you thinking about life in all its glory. As time went on the tree-of-life expanded into expressions of extended familial links over time. This was still a personal reflection though. However, my experience exhibiting in Abu Dhabi in 2005 was an Ah Ha! The conversations I had with people from all over the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe revealed to me that my expression of the tree-of-life resonated across cultures and religions. The archetypal symbol had revealed its potency to transcend time and 'speak' to us in the twenty first century. I have come to believe that the agelessness of the archetype is the core of this potency.

EXHIBITION DETAILS

FRISSON

noun: a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill.

GRAYDON GALLERY 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane, Australia

Ph: 61 7 32542325 [druing exhibition]

EXHIBITION DATES Tuesday 16- Sunday 28 March

OPEN DAILY 10 am - 6 pm [Tuesday 16 from 1-6 pm]

OPENING Thursday March 18 5.30-8pm

To be opened by Art Historian Dr. Christine Dauber.

FRISSON & STANTHORPE

Elemental Oil on linen 50 x 95 cm 2009

STANTHORPE

I have just spent the weekend in Stanthorpe and have had a really great time. On Friday night the opening of the Stanthorpe Art Festival and Award was the gig to be at! It was a fabulous night, but alas I cannot report that I won. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to be a finalist in the Award, because the exhibition is fantastic with a very strong selection of paintings and ceramic works. Apparently over 1000 entries from 400 artists were submitted for preselection by judge John McDonald, [Art Critic for the Sydney Monring Herald, and author of Art Of Australia Vol 1] and 145 paintings were chosen to be in the exhibiton/award. So, you can see why I am very pleased to have been one of the chosen 145. Here's the link to the Stanthorpe Regional Gallery where you can see the prizes plus download a copy of the catalogue http://www.srag.org.au/

The painting above is the one selected for the Stanthorpe Art festival and Award. It is called 'Elemental'. I have previously written about this paintings...here's the link http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/07/elemental.html The price of this painting is $2400.00 AUD. Regular readers will identify the tree-of-life motif which seems to create a landform. The strips of 'rain' falling from the 'clouds' are painted both red and blue. This painting reminds us of the important visceral qualities of water, not only within our individual bodies, but also in the 'body' of our planet Earth. The tree-of-life is not just a landform, but it is also an expression of the internal life forces within us all. This painting moves between the intimate and personal to the vast and universal.

STANTHORPE WINERY
Whilst I was in Stanthorpe I visited a winery owned by a friend of a friend. For readers from overseas, Stanthorpe is a 2 1/2 drive south west of Brisbane. It is in an area called the Granite Belt...and there is a huge amount of granite! Stanthorpe is a fruit growing area and has a flourishing wine industry. It is also becoming a favourite weekend holiday destination with a large selection of various kinds of accommodation. The winery I visited was KOMINOS WINES http://www.kominoswines.com/ where I enjoyed the company of the very convivial owners Tony and Mary, as well as a selection of their fabulous, and award winning, red and white wines, including a delicious Nouvelle rose. And, yes, I bought some wine too!

FRISSON

Things are still continuing to move along really well with my solo exhibition FRISSON which opens on Thursday March 18 at Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane. The exhibition dates are 16-28 March, open daily 10 am -6 pm [Tues 16 from 1 pm -6pm].

I had a radio interview on Sunday with Richard Lancaster, and it was a great chatty interview where he asked me some interesting questions, ranging from a question about why I paint on linen to questions about my exhibition in Abu Dhabi in 2005. And, of course some discussion about FRISSON.

The question about what I paint on is actually a very good one to ask, because people often do not understand the significance. I paint on Belgian Linen because it is the best. This means it is expensive, but my brush glides over linen, whereas cotton canvases seems to grab at the brush interrupting the flow of my hand. Linen will last longer and respond to changes in climate better. I paint on linen because I enjoy it more and because I want collectors of my work to know they have purchased something where the material quality will be assured.

Cheers,
Kathryn

FRISSON - a thrill!

Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm 2009

Love Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm 2009

FRISSON UPDATE

Everything is falling into place just so well. It's like it was all just meant to happen! I am being interviewed this Sunday 28 Feb @ 1pm, by Richard Lancaster on 99.7 FM. So, if you're at home, driving in the car, gardening with the radio on...please tune in! Apologies to all my BLOG visitors from overseas...you won't be able to listen in.

The two paintings above will be in FRISSON and regular readers will have seen them before. However, I thought I would upload them again. Beyond The Dark Night Of The Soul http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/11/beyond-dark-night-of-soul.html and Love http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/love.html

FRISSON @ Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane.

Opening Thursday 18 March 5.30-8pm

Exhibition Dates 16-28 March

PAINTING UPDATE

I am still working on the painting I wrote about in my last BLOG. The one exploring horizons, strips of rain, hope, distance, perspective and aura. It is nearly finished. Once it is finished I will attempt to take an excellent photo and upload it on my BLOG.

I already know at least one person who likes this new work ...a delivery man who dropped off the cases of wine I had ordered for FRISSON'S opening. As he was leaving and passed by my easel, he stopped and said quite emphatically, 'Oh, I like this!'. He then had a close look at it and then stepped a few steps backwards to have another look.

Well, I was thrilled, not only because he liked the painting, but he did exactly what I hope viewers will do when viewing my paintings. Regular readers will know what this is. And...that is...looking at my work at both close and far distances, in a manner which almost mimics the steps I take as I paint up close and then step back to view my progress. Whether it is up close or at a distance I am engaging two main sources to critically analyse my work. These two sources or faculties, are my eyes of eye balls and pupils, and my mind's eye. The two work simultaneously, but differently depending on whether I am close or far from my work.


ART AND THE BRAIN

In my recent post about my painting Love, which is above, I wrote about my fascination with Dr. Norman Doidge's book 'The Brain That Changes Itself'. I pondered upon the potential of looking at art to change and /or create new brain maps. Please have a look at my Love post to read more http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/love.html
In this post I mentioned the experience of new ideas tantalisingly appearing only to slip away before I can take grasp. I wondered if this was, in fact, my brain in the process of change.
Today I was trapezing...well actually driving, but it felt like trapezing..around and I was on my own, because I had dropped the children off at their various activities [this included soccer training at 6.30 am...and we do this twice a week, and on 2 different days we have dancing at 7 am...plus the rest, ye gads!] Anyway, I felt a new idea being born in my mind, and I consciously took hold of it!
This idea 'saw' me 'see' the world as a brain, with its many 'maps' in various states of health and dis-ease, activity and inertia, creation and death. It struck me that negativity is re-enforced by the repetitive actions of the mass media. Anything which is repeated becomes habitual, and as we all know, habits then create needs and neediness. The mass media has fed the world's 'brain map' for negativity and negative behaviour, whether it be [mindless!] celebrity silliness, the voyeuristic cruelty of reality tv or the death of war.

Some art mimics mass media presentation and assists in the perpetuation of, an almost, idolatry of pervasive negativity diguised as entertainment. But, maybe the kind of art which is distant from mass media considerations, content and delivery, holds clues to alternative 'habits' which could form new world 'brain maps' or enhance existing more healthy ones. As I have written before, focusing on positive elements and issues, does not mean a lack of understanding of the negative forces within society. It just means that these are consciously ellided. This, in itself indicates balance.
Cheers,
Kathryn

FRISSON @ GRAYDON

One Oil on linen 90 x 200 cm 2009

FRISSON UPDATE

Readers of my BLOG will know I have been working towards my solo show Frisson for quite some time. My last solo exhibition Prayers For The Planet was in October 2007. I just love the word frisson...don't you? I wrote an open ended 'recipe' for a frisson a few posts ago. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/01/feeling-frisson.html

Readers will also know that due to circumstances beyond my control I had to cancel Frisson at the gallery where I had to exhibit. BUT, GOOD NEWS! I am very excited, because FRISSON will now be exhibited at Graydon Gallery, in New Farm, Brisbane from 16-28 March, open daily 10am -6 pm. The opening will be Thursday 18 March from 5.30-8 pm. Everything is falling into place really well, and I have already received some fantastic support and encouragement.

The exhibition will be opened by Dr. Christine Dauber PhD, B.A, B.A Honours [Art History] University of Queensland. I am thrilled about this. She has known of my work for many years and over this time has penetrated its essence. As she says, It must first be understood that Brimblecombe–Fox is not so much concerned with landscape painting per se, but in a Warburgian sense, searches for the universal connections, or common ground between people, races and religions. Thus, she uses the “tree of life” or “tree of knowledge” as a repetitive motif and in so doing, deploys its spiritual associations as a global referent.

The image I am using on the invitation and other promo material is the image above: ONE oil on linen 90 x 200 cm. I have previously written abut this painting on my BLOG. Here's the link
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/07/one.html

HOPE
I am working on a painting at the moment and my ideas have revolved around issues of water and rain plus what they represent at emotional and even spiritual levels. Regular readers will know that water is of great interest to me and that it has been a sub theme within my broader interests in perspective, distance and the space between the micro/local and macro/global. Overarching all of this is my compulsion to explore the potential of archetypes to perhaps reveal universal connections that mean something to us in the 21st century.

This new painting which I am currently working on, is essentially about hope. I am calling it 'Hope In The Distance' because it is at first glance a painting of strips of rain at the horizon. When I lived in Western Queensland, strips of rain would appear on distant horizons, often cruelly tantalising us with the potential for much needed rain. But, horizons, as metaphors for our lives cascade into so much possibility, because as I have written before, horizons can be both close and far. Our eyes, of eye ball and pupil, see horizons as existing in the far distance, but our eyes trick us, because we are essentially always present upon horizons which exist at all universal and nano distances around us. Our mind's eye can 'see' these multitudinous horizons so much clearer than our eye of eye ball and pupil, especially if we discard one dimensional and simple notions of distance and perspective.

I am reminded of a quote I used in my artist's statement for my show 'Distance' in London in 2002. The quote is from Walter Benjamin's Illuminations where he describes aura as, the unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be. The word 'aura' has new age connotations, but I think, whether we know it or not, we are all searching for an experience and an understanding of aura. Maybe this is the unviversal search and that at each era, the agelessness of archetypal symbols offer clues to a discovery or a depended understanding of aura. We just have to keep investigating their potential. I think the investigation may require us to rely more on our mind's eye rather than always relying on our eye of eye ball and pupil...the two need to work together questioning everything.

My thoughts about multitudinous horizons have given me glimpses of the phenomenon of aura! These glimpses slip away as I try to grasp an understanding, but my hope is that as I discard old ways of 'seeing' I might come to a fuller experience of aura. Indeed, as we live locally in an increasingly globalised world, we are all actually forced to collapse notions of distant horizons, as we experience contemporary life. I suppose the hope is that the experience is understood as being potentially transforming in a positive way for all humanity.

Cheers,
Kathryn

PRESENCE

 The Presence Of Angels oil on linen 60 x 100 cm

I spend hours painting and I love it. What I love is that I can work at home, I don't have to dress up [in fact, I dress down *], I can take breaks to check emails or have a coffee and if a new idea pops into my head I can immediately sketch it, think about it and research any aspect of it. I get to imagine and even daydream knowing it is part of my 'job'! I love working alone!

But, my thoughts mean I am never alone. As I remember, fantasize, wonder, hope and imagine I am with others, its just that they're in my head! These 'others' can be people I know, love, would like to know, have read about and so on. I think about them in the context of feelings, what they have said, done and written or what they might say, do or write about. They or their activities are often the catalysts for my ideas. And, when I paint my much loved transcultural/religious tree of life my thoughts embrace the whole world and its humanity.

'The Presence Of Angels' [above] is an image which reveals clues and hints that Angels are present. I wanted to create an image which was suggestive rather than illustrative. I wanted to create an image where people would look for the clues and hints, and perhaps lead them to think about Angels as inspirations, impulses of thought and wonderings. I also like the idea that 'AH HA' instances, which I wrote about in my last post, are Angels knocking on our psyche to wake us up to change or the need for change.

As people look for clues and hints of Angels in this painting I like to think that this searching is done at both close and far distances. Viewers can move back and forth to see what this painting might disclose for them. The macro view may just reveal something which is not discernible when viewed up close and vice versa. Regular readers of my BLOG know that I am very interested in stimulating this kind of back and forth viewing of my paintings. Indeed, it is the way I create the image...I paint up close and then move to a distance to gauge with my eye, of eye ball and pupil, if the painting looks good and also if it has achieved what my mind's eye had envisioned in essence and aura.

This movement back and forth is a movement of perspective. It can be a literal perspective, but at another level the action could evolve into questioning our own perspectives of ourselves and others. As regular readers of my BLOG know, my interest in the macro and micro is really an interest in, and an investigation of, how to negotiate an increasingly globalised world in which we live locally. Maybe how we view art, and the resultant insights we may gain, gives us a way to find the new pathways...the new steps... we need to dance across the contemporary stage which exists between the local and global? If we learn these steps and become more flexibly adept at moving, or should I say sashaying, across the close and far distances of this stage, I'm sure new ideas, wonderings, compassions, understandings are [and give witness to] the presence of Angels.


*DRESSING DOWN
In the first paragraph above I mention I dress down to paint. I do look a sight! Well, on a busy day when I have to pick up children etc, I can change 3-4 times in the day, because venturing out in my painting clothes is not really acceptable. I call my painting clothes my 'eau de turps' clothes. Last week, though, I did decide to pick the children up from the train without changing. And, of course it was the one day when I subsequently did have to get out of the car. And, of course I ran into someone I knew, who did actually comment on the turps aroma. This plus the paint on my face caused my children to pray for the earth to swallow them up! My summer 'eau de turps' clothes are minimal because it gets just SO hot and humid in Brisbane. I wear a short indian cloth skirt which has a few holes in it and a sleeveless top with paint smeared all over it. In winter I wear my normal clothes underneath an excrutiatingly disgusting track dack suit. Needless to say I really enjoy dressing up when I go out...and needless to say I do not own or have the need for any power suits!


Cheers,
Kathryn

AH! HAs

AH! HAs Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm SOLD

My last post was about change and how change leads to us 'becoming' whatever we are meant to be. 'Becoming', like change is a constant process!

I made a comment that we can control some changes...change does not always have to be something that is done to us. In this post I want to write about those 'AH! Ha' moments, which through their very intensity can afford us an opportunity to change and perhaps depart from one 'becoming' road to another. In a way 'AH HAs' are like crossroads...and crossroads are very significant as we do have a choice of which way to travel.

'Ah HAs' are those nanosecond revelatory instances which can lead to new insights, perspectives, letting go old beliefs, 'seeing' something or someone with new eyes...and so on. These instances are felt physically as one's brain explodes with revelation and the gut twists simultaneously with a plethora of feelings from dread, to excitement, thrill and hope. Yes!!!!! these instances are frissons!

'AH HAs' can precipitate change, and thus our 'becoming'. I remember attending...for want of a better term...a spycho babble group session at a health retreat a few year ago, where the facilitor shared an 'Ah Ha' that he had experienced. He recounted how he had had many relationships over a number of years and could not understand why none had worked out...until...he realised... he was the common denominator and maybe it was something about him! I must admit that this made me scramble to think about the things in my life which seemed to consistently not work out. Was I the common denominator? Did I need to look at myself rather than seeing the other person, thing, event, etc as the problem? This is all about perspective, which as regular readers of my BLOG know, is another favourite subject of mine.

I have had many 'AH HA' instances which have caused me to consciously change [or attempt to!] unhelpful beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. One of the most difficult things to change are core beliefs ie: those ones we often don't even know we have because they are rooted in the inherited belief systems of our families and societies. Sometimes, these rooted beliefs are just not helpful to us or anyone in the time we live now, and they need to go. However, there is always a choice...we do not have to let go, if for some reason we cannot or do not want to. But, I think situations will consistently happen, knocking on our psyche, imploring us to change.

An 'Ah! HA' can also cause a period of mourning. Why? I think it is because we mourne those things we missed if a revelation opens our eyes to how certain attitudes, beliefs and behaviours lassooed our 'becoming' or worse, lassooed the 'becoming' of others. But in the suffering there is hope and the latter is the element I like to focus on. As I have previously written on this BLOG, I do not ignore the negative, sad or bad. They exist in absentia, because I consciously elide them. Someone once said to me that my work did not have enough suffering...I will write about this in the future.

So...to the painting above. I have called it 'AH! HAs'. My much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life embraces the whole painting. It is life! The spots are 'AH Ha' instances offering little windows of possibility. They are like the openings to new universes...which can seem so far, but are really sometimes very close. Distance collapses! This painting is not large at 30 x 30 cm, but it is 'kinda' BIG. Even as I look at it I feel drawn into it. Maybe I am glimpsing the universes beyond! I hope you do too.

THANK YOU
Thank you to all the people who have been visiting my BLOG. You are coming from all over the world and in the last few weeks the numbers have been increasing quite quickly. I started this BLOG in 2006 and whilst I only had a very small trickle of visitors initially, I enjoyed writing and the reflective opportunity it gave me, so I have happily persisted.

And, please feel free to make comments!

UPDATES
For those of you who have read about my exhibition ‘Frisson’ I have some sad news. Due to circumstances beyond my control currently being experienced by Joshua Levi Galleries the decision to cancel the exhibition ‘Frisson’ at this gallery has been made. As you all know I was very excited about the exhibition, but this decision had to be made. I am remaining positive and will keep working. There are some alternatives for the exhibition and I am looking into these. I will keep you updated about a possible ‘FRISSON 2’!

My painting 'Elemental' which has been pre-selected for the Stanthorpe Art Award has gone to Stanthorpe. I put it on the bus yesterday. The prize is announced on the 26 February. http://www.srag.org.au/events.php

Cheers,

Kathryn

BECOMING

                                                 Becoming Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm 2010 SOLD


BECOMING

The painting above is called Becoming. It is the one I referred to in my last post...the woman with trees growing from her head, heart and feet. I mentioned I was painting an image about change.

This painting is inspired by my enjoyment reading Dr Norman Doidge's book 'The Brain That Changes Itself'. I have mentioned this book in a few of my recent posts. I am re-reading it for the second time...but it is taking awhile because I am going to bed so late.

What inspired me was the over arching idea that change is not necessarily something that happens to us...we can make it happen as well. Change is a constant whether we precipitate it or not. So, if we are in a process of constant change we are constantly in a process of becoming. Now, you might ask, 'Becoming what?' I do not know the answer to this question, but I suspect if I did then the process of becoming would be thwarted by prescription and therefore not reach whatever its ultimate force is. All I know is, that if I can do things to ensure my becoming is generally positive I will do these things! Even, if we can make change happen, we cannot minutely control the outcomes of that change. Indeed, I doubt that the change itself can be completely pre-described. I gather from reading 'The Brain That Changes Itself' that many programs designed to fix or improve a disability or problem have often had other positive outcomes which were not initially conceived.

So, as I was thinking about change, an image of a woman with trees growing from her feet, hands, head and heart came to me. I could 'see' her before I even painted her. The tree is my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life and in this image represents life's inevitable and constant change, whether it be for one individual or for a group...and even possibly all of humanity. The tree represents growth and a connection to the earth as well as a conduit to the universe and Heaven. The tree can connect with the substance of materiality as well as the substance of the non-material. The tree changes as it loses its leaves, but each cycle of growth and change represents a process of becoming.

When my children were little I read that small children should not wear shoes too early or too much, because the physical experience of feeling on the soles of feet provides information which helps a child to develop healthily in regards to balance, proficiency with walking, running and so on. This made sense to me, so I made sure my children went barefoot whenever it is possible. In Norman Doidge's book he makes a comment about older people and their habit of looking at the ground when they walk. This is because as we get older we rarely go barefoot...well unless you are an artist working from home like me! By not going barefoot and not allowing our feet to experience different surfaces and feelings, we have tourniqueted the natural flow of information to our brains and the return messages which would give us more confidence to walk with our heads held high. Our brain maps for walking confidently are diminished by wearing shoes all the time! Long story...I know...but this gave me the idea of painting my lady with trees growing from her feet.

Knowledge gained via our feet can help us hold our heads high, meaning we are not watching the ground in case we fall or trip. This means we see more of our surroundings, the world around us and importantly we 'see' ourselves in relation to the world...being a part of it, rather than missing out because we need to look at our feet to know where to put them! Kinda nice to think that by going barefoot we might have more chance to witness our own becoming in the world!



TREE SYMBOLISM

My BLOG friend Fred who writes this great BLOG http://www.moneyplusthoughts.blogspot.com/ sent me a link to another BLOG post about the Holiday for Trees or Tu BiShvat holiday, a Jewish celebration. Tree symbolism is incredibly interesting and I have noticed on a few other websites that tree symbolism is now being linked to environmental issues...not surprising really. Symbols do 'say' more that words can describe!
http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/01/tu-bishvat-symbolism.html

Here's a link to a short intro to Mayan tree symbolism:
http://www.buriedmirror.com/yaxche.htm

And two links about Islamic tree symbolism:

http://www.sol.com.au/kor/15_02.htm

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/spirituality/speaking-tree/Islam-encourages-us-to-conserve-and-protect/articleshow/5347547.cms

There are so many sites to visit to learn about tree symbolism. But, as I have written before...it just reinforces my belief that we are all forever connected through archetypal symbols because they are transcultural and transreligious. Something about them chisels away at our subconscious where a 'knowing' and resonance exists.

Cheers,
Kathryn

ARCHETYPAL

The Brush Of Angels' Wings Oil on linen 50 x 92 cm 2008

Collective Memory Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2008

Forever Connected Oil on linen 120 x 80 cm 2008

I have been painting a smallish painting about change. I should be finished in a day or so. Once completed I will upload an image for my BLOG. A woman with trees growing from her heart, feet and hands stands in the middle of change............

In the meantime I thought I'd upload the above three images....and why? Well, they have all been selected for the 2010 Brisbane Senses Art: 31st Rotary Art Spectacular which is being curated by Simon Wright, Director of Griffiths Artworks and Queensland College of Art, and Senior Lecturer [adjunct] at Griffith University. The exhibition and prize will be at Brisbane's Riverside Centre from 18-27 March. Here is the website http://www.rotaryartspectacular.com.au/
where you can read about the prize, the exhibition and the charity partners which Rotary helps support. All the artwork is for sale.

I have previously written about all three paintings:

Forever Connected http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/forever-connected.html

Collective Memory http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/03/collective-memory.html

The Brush Of Angels' Wings http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/05/angels-wings.html

It is obvious that all three paintings have a core theme of life which is represented by my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life motif. Fundamentally, I aim to search for ways to allow archetypal symbols to 'speak' to me, and you, and us in the 21st century. Archetypal symbols can be seen as old and even outdated... yet they are intrinsically without age...agelessness means they do not have to be tethered to any particular century or aesthetic. It is up to us to 'see' and search for the secrets and essences which give us meaning in our time. This does not make archetypal symbols fickle...it makes them strong. They could be seen as the universe's gifts to us...we just have to learn how to unwrap them. I'd like to think that artists [all types of artists] start the unwrapping and this is our gift.

So, if you want to attend the opening of the Rotary Art Spectacular, go to the website and order your tickets. I went last year and I can tell you, it is a very enjoyable night out.

Cheers,

Kathryn

HORIZONS

Frisson Oil on linen 84 x 147cm 2010

The Hidden Seen In My Mind's Eye Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2004


I am working on a painting of a woman with trees growing out of her feet, hands, head and heart...and I am taking a moment as I walk away from the painting...I need to let it breath and for me to let go some frustration. Yes, this is just part of the process, the ebb and flow, the toooo and fro...and so on. It gives me time to 'see' the painting with new eyes when I go back into my studio [well garage!]. It gives the opportunity of a distance which reveals.

So, while I take my breathing moment I thought I'd write about the painting I uploaded in my last post. The painting is called 'Frisson' and whilst I wrote a post with it as the only and lead image, I did not write anything about it. Instead I wafted on about recipes for a frisson........

As you can see I have reloaded 'Frisson' and have uploaded an older work called 'The Hidden Seen In My Mind's Eye'. As I was reviewing my image files I noted, or felt, that the same sense was evident in both paintings. With 'Frisson' I wanted to create a soft, shimmering painting, and I wanted to experiment with using purple and yellow, and all the tones in between. I wanted the frisson feeeling to be one of tingles, a missed heart beat and luscious anticipation. I have to say though, the painting took a lot longer than a nano-second of tingles or a missed heart beat! But, I am happy with the meeting of soft colours, as if distance has melted upon the horizon, heralding the darkness of night and the inevitable rising of a new day. I also think the meeting of colours is like the momentary light brush of someone's hand or lips...yes someone you really like!!! It also whispers the flutter of angels' wings!

I have used my much loved tree-of-life to create the sense of a life force, as if tingles are travelling through a vascular system.

' The Hidden Seen In My Mind's Eye' is obviously an older painting, but I think it also heralds the new day as we witness the softness upon the horizon. I am very fond of this painting and I am surprised it has not sold as it receives a lot of attention when people see it. Obviously THE right person and THE right situation have not happened....yet!

I have mentioned horizons a few times in this post. As regular readers of my BLOG know, I often use landscape elements as metaphors. To me an horizon can also represent our own horizons, limitations, fears, goals, etc. Once an horizon is reached it disappears as other horizons present themselves... and they need not always be in front of us. Reaching an horizon can engender an 'Ah Ha'... or looking back from where we came can also shock us with an 'Ah Ah '... a revelatory kind. Horizons that we see with our eye, of eye ball and pupil, need to be mediated with those horizons we cannot see, because all horizons disappear once reached. We need to be able to imagine what is beyond the horizon. This imagining is imperative in a global world in which we live locally to ensure we are compassionate towards ourselves and others.

Cheers,
Kathryn

FEELING A FRISSON

                                 

 Frisson Oil on linen 85 x 147 cm 2009/10

My exhibition in March is called 'Frisson'. The meaning of frisson...a noun...is a sudden strong feeling of excitement or fear; a thrill. [ORIGIN French. Source-Oxford Dictionary]

It is such a great word. Think of the pleasure in capturing the moment when you meet someone whose attraction to you causes sudden gut tightening feelings of excitement, fear and thrill. This private yet sensual, earthy, tingly and anticipatory experience is a ‘frisson’. It is full of potential and it can be both scary and exciting! And...it can be replayed over and over in our imaginations as we fall into the romance of the situation. Our imaginations allow us to repeat the experience.

I sense that 'Ah Ah' moments are small frissons because the 'Ah Ah' is felt in the gut, heart and the head. The world shifts a little as the 'Ah Ah' becomes both a physical and an emotional experience. I'd like to suggest that the potential is the change which may occur if new realisations are acted upon. This could be physical action or new ways of thinking, but both leading to change over time.

In a previous post I said I would write an open ended recipe for a Frisson. I never follow recipes when I cook, so that's why my Frisson recipe will be open ended. I don't follow recipes for many reasons, including not liking restrictions, not having the right ingredients in my cupboard or that weevils have attacked my cupboard contents, to expired use-by-dates... You guessed it, I am not an avid cook, much to the suffering of my family.

So, to start this Frisson:

• A large cup of excitement
• A small shell of fear


• A tank of anticipation


• A thrill of potential


• A quiver of dread


• A stirring of eros


• A sentient dose of sensuality


• A pinch of gut wrenching


• A nano-second of a missed heart beat


• A 'Ah Ah' moment


• A sweep of tingles

In my previous post 'LOVE' I wrote about some thoughts I had about art and its potential to change our brain maps. I wrote this post after reading Dr. Norman Doidge's marvellous book 'The Brain That Changes Itself'. I am re-reading the book because it is so fascinating.

So, if looking at a painting causes an 'Ah Ah' moment or a frisson, maybe this is a clue that art does have the potential to precipitate change, because frissons and 'Ah Ahs' are felt in the body, heart and mind. Even after seeing the painting, a person can keep thinking about it, replaying the first sighting in their imaginations. This is why some people re-visit their institutional galleries to see their favourite paintings again and again. It is much more than an intellectual or entertainment choice. The replay is a repetition, which must affect the brain and induce the firing of synapses and the release of chemicals. Hopefully, this is why people might buy a painting too...???

My middle daughter saw 'The Resurrection' by Tinteretto at the Queensland Art Gallery when she was just under 3 years old. I could not get her to move and on each subsequent visit to the gallery [up until the dreadful teens arrived] she would make her way the painting to sit and ponder. And...the questions...so many questions. I can tell you she not only had her brain working, but mine too. Answering some of the questions stretched me too, because the probed far beyond any art history I knew!

If art can cause change... it can also cause or assist the maintenance of prevailing patterns eg: the dominance of negativity and worst case scenarios which humankind seems drawn to in the general media and superficial entertainment and celebrity.

BUT, we do have 'free will' and thus choice! Maybe these are two more ingredients to add to my Frisson recipe!

GOOD NEWS

My entry 'Elemental' for the Stanthorpe Art Prize has been pre-selected for the award which is announced on Feb 26th. The selector/judge is John McDonald [Art Critic Sydney Morning Herald and author of Art of Australia Vol 1]
Cheers,
Kathryn

INDULGENCE

So far untitled Gouache on paper 30 x 21 cm 2010

I have just returned from a short glorious holiday in New Zealand. I did not trip around, except for a couple of nights in Auckland, but treated myself to a wonderful quiet indulgence in one spot which was SO worth saving my pennies for. I went with a friend and we stayed at The Boatshed on Waiheke Island and everything was magnificent. http://www.boatshed.co.nz/ Waiheke Island is about half an hour by ferry from Auckland and it is truly a beautiful place. AND, The Boatshed was amazing with its fantastic architecture, incredible views, acres of flowering agapanthus, delectible food, quiet elegance and so on. So, if you are visiting my BLOG from places well beyond the Pacific, I highly recommend a holiday in New Zealand, especially during the Northern winter. New Zealand's weather was just perfect....not freezing like Europe or HOT like Australia!

We had a few nights in Auckland...or we were meant to! I will never fly PacificBlue again. This was my first [and last experience]. Our first night which was meant to be in Auckland ended up being in Christchurch, because the plane from Brisbane was firstly delayed...and then cancelled. We were instructed to to stay at the Christchurch airport despite originally being told we would be sent to a hotel...yes no sleep! We were then put on a plane to Wellington and then to Auckland. Our 3 hour flight from Brisbane to Auckland ended up taking us all night. Not impressed. However, I have just flown back today with Air NZ and it was fantastic. No comparison.

So, in the midst of doing nothing on my holiday indulgence...no cooking, cleaning, washing, mowing, shopping...or children!!!!!...I did paint some small gouache on paper paintings. One of these is above. I am really interested in the play between straight lines and curved ones, especially the curved lines of a tree and its branches. The beauty of gouache is that you can really stretch it, pummel it, play with it. I use very thick watercolour paper and lots of water, and love watching the paint react to the water. It does amazing things which, I can then choose to work with or not. Once the paper has dried it is fun to rework areas, fill in with colour, overpaint and so on. The painting above is full of movement and stems from ideas, thoughts and memories I have written about in a couple of recent posts http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/12/leaves-are-dancing.html and http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/12/long-distace-in-her-eyes.html

I am reading Norman Doidge's MD book 'The Brain That Changes Itself' again for the second time. Please read my previous post for some of my thoughts about art and the brain...! I have more thoughts brewing.

AND, now that the holiday period here in Australia is coming to an end, I am full power into working towards my show 'Frisson' at Joshua Levi Galleries opening 4th March.

Cheers,
Kathryn

LOVE

Love Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm

Happy New Year to everyone! I actually saw the New Year in this year...on a boat [quite a big one too] moored off Moreton Island, Queensland, Australia. It was a really fabulous way to see the New Year in. I have a story about me and boats, but that's for another time...I MUCH prefer big boats to small boats.

I am still reading 'The Brain That Changes Itself' by Dr. Norman Doidge. Yes, I am taking it slowly, but I read at night and fall asleep far too quickly. This book is one I will be re-reading though. The idea that the brain can change itself has been refuted/questioned for a long time, but this book chronicles the many years of research and evidence that the brain can, indeed, change itself. It is a multi faceted book looking at how the brain can change to accomodate and override impediments such as blindness, illness and injury amongst other things including attention deficit disorders. It also looks at the changes caused by culture including technologies such as TV, Internet, video games etc... and etc

I have some ideas about visual art [specifically painting] and changes to the brain. These ideas are not whole yet, as they seem to drift into my thoughts and then slip away. I am thinking to myself, is this me experiencing changes in my brain...and if I give up trying to 'catch' my ideas will my brain just slide into a comfortable but not invigorative life? Well, I am going to 'catch' my thoughts, for a couple of reasons, one being that I [humbly I might add] think they are potentially really interesting thoughts and secondly I am now determined that my brain will not slip into a lazy atrophy.

Apparently, the brain changes and is invigorated by doing new things, not necessarily or just by getting better and better at those things one does all the time. So, new concepts may trigger off new ways of thinking and thus neuronal activity, just as learning to dance will stimulate our neurons. It is called brain plasticity or neuroplasticity.

So, I am thinking I might take dancing lessons, because whilst I love to dance and I think I am a really good dancer [my children laugh at me though!] new dance steps will get my neurons dancing too. I want to learn how to dance like Brazilians! Our lovely Brazilian student who stayed with us for 5 months in early 09 could dance OH so well.

I have even started doing some of those quizz type activities in the newspaper...just to get my brain going in different directions. I am not having a huge amount of success, but I am improving each day!

But, back to my fleeting thoughts about visual art and its potential brain changing agency. It seems to me that there is a very fashionable taste element in contemporary art. This art has a graphic appearance, often almost cartoonish. Very realistic images with quirky graphic or colour elements are also fashionable. So, I ask myself...is fashionability an outcome of mass incremental brain changes in the general population 'fashioned' by influences such as TV, video games etc? If it is, then any art which is fashionable cannot be provoking in the sense of contributing to changes in thinking, outlook or perspective. It is a follower of fashion rather than a leader.

So, let's move on from fashionability to art which is not fashionable. Does, non-fashionable art hold the potential to stimulate change and activity in the brain? I mean the kind of thinking or imagining which is not just a repeated version of a the broad visual genre offered by television or video games or advertising. I would say that non-fashionable art is successful in its non-fashionability if it causes people to wonder and ask questions...not questions that sit on the surface of description, but questions that probe our consciousness, beliefs, history, memories and relationships. Art which stimulates those Ah Ah moments when a new realisation hits you with a bang and you can almost feel your brain jolt with the stimulation. And yes there can be some Ha Ha moments too, but not the kind of humour which makes fun of others, is a repeated version of a sitcom type situation or is grounded in superficial slapstick.

So, I will keep thinking about visual art and its agency as a neuron stimulant! But, as readers of my BLOG know, these thoughts fit with my ideas of art as a catalytic agent for agenda-less, but not directionless conversations. It seems axiomatic to me that these conversations would be new, revelatory and cause change not only within a person but potentially throughout the world.

I suppose the clue is to be able to sidestep 'fashion'...maybe that's where dancing lessons will come in handy!

NEW PAINTING ABOVE-
LOVE Oil on Linen 100 x 100 cm 09/10 SOLD

This is a subtle painting using my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life motif. There are two trees which form a circle and where they meet the colour turns to a soft purple. I have to say, when I look at this painting I feel something right in my heart. I know this sounds really gooey but even my children have said the same thing. When I was painting this work I knew I wanted to paint 'love'...and it just came out. I did not title this painting after it was completed as it was always going to be 'Love'. And this love can be whatever kind you want it to be...and it can change from day to day if you like! As, I have said before every converstion, whether it be with oneself or with others, that is triggered by one of my paintings, provides another completion. I do not complete my work...and I like the idea that there maybe multiple completions.