THE MOON

Memory Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2002
Memory Previous Post

I am working on a new painting...an 'everything landscape'. But, whilst I have been working, thinking, sitting and standing in front of my easel, I realised that over the years the moon has been a significant inspiration. As reguler readers know, the cosmos inspires me...not just the literal one out there in space, but also the metaphoric one within our psyches.

So I decided to upload a selection of my paintings where the moon appears. And, as I went through my files I realised that whilst the moon represents time and cycles it also anchors me to my childhood... or rather it stirs my inner child through memory. Indeed, the painting above is called Memory. Childhood memories were also the stimulus for the painting below When I Was A Child I Dreamt I could Fly.

In both paintings the phases of the moon orientate the figures in time and space. Time's dance of infinite cyclical movements, stirs the universal memory. I am reminded of a recent post Elemental Dance where I mention the Whirling Dervishes. Their mesmerising, and trance inducing, whirling movement seems to condense the universal/multiversal cycles of life to a persistently contemporary beauty which reminds us of life's propulsion. Like a vortex the Dervishes suspend time linking all experience.

When I Was A Child I Dreamt I Could Fly Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2003

When I Was A Child I Dreamt I Could Fly Previous Post

The painting below The Flat And Fanstastic Horizon is also grounded in memories of my childhood growing up on the flat treeless Pirrinuan Plain outside Dalby, in S.E Queensland Australia. The whole painting is created with a cascade of tree-of-life symbols. The full moon forms a portal-like presence in the night sky.

I have previously written about my Grandmother, who had a great interest in astronomy. She tried to teach me and my two brothers to identify certain stars and the constellations. Apart from my Grandmother's cosmological interests, the night sky of my childhood could not be ignored. On a clear night the Milky Way was like a swathe of glistening fabric flung across the heavens. The glistening was not dulled by any ambiant lighting from cities or major settlements. The stars and the moon glowed fulsomely and elegantly.

This takes me to another painting, a more recent one to The Flat And Fanstastic Horizon. In fact, only since starting this post have a I realised the connection between the two paintings. The second one is The Beginning Of Everything  [It is below The Flat And Fanstastic Horizon.] Please read my previous post where I write in more detail about my grandmother and the landscape of my childhood.

In 1969 when man first walked on the moon, my parents, particularly my Father, insisted my brothers and I stayed home from school to watch the landing on TV. I still remember the grainy black, white and grey images.

The Flat And Fanstastic Horizon Oil on canvas 100 x 120 cm 2006

The Beginning Of Everything Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm 2010

The Beginning of Everything previous post

In Unison Oil on linen 92 x 208 cm 2006

In Unison previous post

I did not write much about In Unison in my previous post but regular readers will identify my inspirations. And, there's the moon reminding us of cyclic rythms over time. This painting was sold to a collector in Korea.

Meeting Place Of The Mind Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm 2011

Meeting Place of The Mind previous post

In Meeting Place Of The Mind the morphed male/female figure, synaptic in its connective qualities, is hooked into the universal/mulitversal tune. The phases of the moon are watchful as they shed their varying nuances of light on generative impulses. The moon is more commonly thought of as a symbol of feminine power, with the sun symbolising masculine power. However, there are exceptions in some cultures [some African and American Indian tribes, in Japanese, Maori and some Oceanic symbolism where the moon has a masculine fertilising symbolism]. When I read this I thought of Meeting Place of The Mind where 'mind' is neither male nor female, but a force where life's compulsions become one.

Mother Nature Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm unframed 2011

Previous post

In Mother Nature [above] the female figure, representing Mother Nature, seems partnered with the moon. In this case the moon is a symbol of feminine power. The fulsome light of the moon is reflected in the curves of Mother Nature's womanly body and the vascular/placenta-like branches erupting from her feet. The moon's light reveals Mother Nature' aura, shared with all existence.

Sap Of Life Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm

Sap Of Life previous post

Sap of Life essentially refers to water, the sap of life. As in Meeting Place of The Mind the female figure represents Mother Earth, her aura reflected in the moon's nuanced light. The feminine power to give life with a fertility that flows in an eternity of cycles dances along with the universal song, waxing and waning in timbre. Please read my previous post here

BOOK LAUNCH AND TESTIMONIALS

Just a reminder that my book launch for 'For Everyone: Words and Paintings' is Thursday 23 February! Click HERE for more details.

TESTIMONIALS

Not only is Kathryn a deeply talented, original and inspiring artist, she has a gift for wordsmithing as well! Utilizing the raw power of her art, ‘For Everyone’ is a masterful insight into the very essence of who we truly are, our complexities, our simplicities and who we are meant to be. Dr George Blair-West, Author of The Way of the Quest

In Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox’s book, 'For Everyone: Words and Paintings', the combination of words and images is a gift to the senses. I highly recommend it. Felix Calvino, Author of A Hatful of Cherries

For Everyone is absolutely beautiful and as I read the prose, and looked at the paintings, it was like going on a personal journey of my life. It touched on fond memories of my childhood and reinforced my beliefs in being an individual. As a teacher I know this book could be used in so many ways. In 2011 I organised and ran the Gifted and Talented Program in Writing at my school. Many students in my class published their poetry and stories in an Australian wide writing competition. I am continuing in this position in 2012 and will incorporate this unique book to help my students develop their ideas and be more expressive. The paintings and phrases in For Everyone are great conversation starters. They will also inspire and encourage students to be brave enough to share and express their thoughts and individuality. This book is a fabulous resource for educating and inspiring young people to share the beauty from within! Lou Walsh: Primary School Teacher

BLOGS/SITES OF INTEREST

Here are a few blogs/sites I think are interesting. It's a broad array!

EVERYBODY MEANS SOMETHING

WOLF ART + WORDS

DUCKSMAHAL

MONEYTHOUGHTS

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SYMBIARTIC

QUILTOPIA DESIGN

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com 

SAP OF LIFE

Sap Of Life Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm

The sap of life? What do I mean by this? Well, sap could mean many things, from the literal to the metaphoric. However, one of the most obvious connotations is water. Regular readers will know of my interest in water! And, indeed this new painting was initially inspired by thoughts of water and its life giving and sustaining qualities. These thoughts were also influenced by major concerns many people have [including myself] about threats, posed by coal seam gas [CSG] extraction and expanding coal mines in Australia and around the world, to above and below ground water systems. I have written about these fears previously. [Links below]

But, rather than paint images of destruction, or potential destruction, I believe images which 'speak' more positively and with beauty, have the power to remind us of what we lose if essential life elements are plundered, poisoned and polluted. This reminder surely galvanises intent more robustly than constant regurgitation of images of destruction, mayhem and disaster. The media very successfully keeps us hooked into these kinds of images anyway! I can see no point in art being part of the regurgative and power neutering process.

With its association to birth, water is symbolic of the Great Mother, the divine feminine, the giver of life. Sap becomes a metaphor for the source of everything, manifested and in potential. And, of course, it perfectly resonates with my love of the transcultural/religious tree-of-life.

Using the tree-of-life motif I have placed the Great Mother, Mother Nature, at the centre of 'Sap of Life'. She is the link, the synapse, between two trees-of-life which erupt from her outstretched arms and feet. Each tree is suggestive of the capillary-like appearance of water systems... and vascular ones. The branches of both trees end in white, creating an almost halo-like appearance. This light represents illumination and a forever connection to something beyond. It's up to the viewer to imagine beyond, into the halo!

In the background, the entire canvas is covered with a dark blue tree, which whispers a universal song of quivering energy. The moon, in its various phases, beckons us into the realms of space, reminding us of the pull of its orbital tracking. Indeed, as our oceans dance to the lunar tune and rhythm we experience impulses from beyond.

A snaking white line ribbons across the cavas, weaving its way through the trees. Have you ever seen a river from the air? This line is a river, both literal and metaphoric, traversing across the 'landscape'. It seems to reflect the moon's light as it flows with meandering purpose. All connected...

PEACE AND QUIET

There are, as I wrote above, many connotations for sap. I'll leave it up to you to come up with more. However, there is one I'd like to mention, mainly because it came to me today when I read a short article in The Australian newspaper. The article written by Margarette Driscoll is about a new book called 'Quiet: The Power Of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking' by Susan Cain. The book is about research that shows people are more creative when they have time alone. It apparently refutes the benefits of group work, open plan offices etc in business, schools and so on. Well, can I say, from my own experience... I totally agree! I remember  my first experience of group work in grade 4. It was the mid 60s, and from what I can remember, group work was a new and supposedly innovative way to teach. I hated it! My first feeling of being totally sapped!

The last paragraph of The Australian article is a quote from Cain's book, "Anyone who has ever needed noise-cancelling headphones in her own office or marked an online calendar with a fake meeting in order to escape yet another real one knows what I'm talking about," brings back memories of me sitting in evening prep at boarding school, with ear phones on to keep out the constant chatter and noise created by a hall full of teenage girls, inadequately supervised by young mistresses! I remember the Head Mistress came in one night and I was hauled out of prep with accusations that I was listening to music. Far from it...all I wanted was peace and quiet! I recall the Head Mistress was somewhat chastened when I told her I was wearing ear muffs, that my parents had bought me, because the noise in prep was so distracting. Thank goodness I am an artist and can have peace and quiet, and be on my own whenever I want [well apart from the demands of being a parent as well]!

Peace, quiet and alone time...sap of life!

PREVIOUS BEAUTY POSTS

BEAUTY

BEAUTY AND THE VORTEX

BEAUTY AS A PORTAL

BEAUTY GIVES HOPE A CHANCE

PREVIOUS WATER POSTS

WATER LANDSCAPES

WATER

CURRENCY

AIRSPACE AND PHANTOMS   [This post is the most popular one on my BLOG!]

WATER GALLERY

MURRAY DARLING CURRENCY

Just a reminder that my book launch for 'For Everyone: Words and Paintings' is Thursday 23 February! Click HERE for more details.

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NEXT SOLO EXHIBITION

QUIVER

'Sap Of Life' [above] will be in my next solo exhibition QUIVER 18 - 29 April

Graydon Gallery, Merthyr Rd, New Farm, Brisbane

Open daily 10am - 6pm

Other paintings which will be in QUIVER are: There will others too.

Elemental Dance

Out There Somewhere

Perpetual Beginning

Breathing Across Time

Quiet Fierceness Of Light

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

ELEMENTAL DANCE

Elemental Dance Oil on linen 55 x 80 cm

 

I hope those of you who read my last post 'Love-Valentine's Kind' enjoyed a bit of fun. Dancing is also fun! It is also transformative in a number of diverse ways. It is great exercise, so can help with weight reduction. It can be a very social passtime where frissons of romance blossom. It can take an individual to places within as they lose themselves in the energy of movement and music. I've seen my daughter dancing in ways which indicate she has lost herself in the moment. I remember the same feelings when I was younger and used to prance around my parents' living room. I have seen how dancing, with the need to remember sequences and work as a team when in a group, assist in alleviating attention deficit issues and sequential thinking blockages. I know dance can express more than words can say...it's like a painting!

The Whirling Dervishes are, of course, one of the most famous examples of the transformative power of dancing and movement. Check out this website for more information. The repeated whirling movement mirroring the revolving or circular motions of the universe within us and beyond to the multiverse.

In the painting above 'Elemental Dance' I have tried to capture Mother Nature's embodiment of life, the quiver, the quake and the jazz! Everything is in a constant state of movement, whether quickened or slowed. Life is a symphony! It is an ongoing one propelled by nature's pulse. The painting below 'Into The Symphony' is an older painting, but 'speaks' of the nuances of life's rhythm.

In 'Elemental Dance' the female figure representing Mother Nature is the link between everything. The two trees-of-life erupting from her head and feet connect her to all seemingly opposite elements. The  red umbilical-like cord which connects her heart with the larger tree-of-life is the universal/ multiversal pulse.

We are dance partners with Mother Nature! Sometimes we take steps that do not synchronise, such as plundering resources in ways that are detrimental to the environment. But, the dance will go on   sometimes with tempo and other times with restorative slow waltzes.

I consider my work at one level to be quite political in a provocative sense rather than an overt one.

Regular readers will know I have written about this before, particularly in reference to beauty. By

harnessing beauty, love and compassion we have the capacity to neuter violent and agressive argument. The very act of harnessing then can be seen as the supreme political act.

BEAUTY POSTS

Lifeblood

Beauty and The Vortex

Beauty as a Portal

Beauty Gives Hope a Chance

Into The Symphony Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/09/into-symphony.html

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/09/into-symphony-again.html

COUNT DOWN

For Everyone: Words and Paintings

Book Launch!

Details HERE

APRIL QUIVER

17-29 April

Solo exhibition

Graydon Gallery, Merthyr Rd, New Farm Brisbane

QUIVER is an exhibition of new paintings inspired by concepts of Mother Nature. Using the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol, Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox explores distance from the nano to the multiversal. In this distance where perspective, both literal and metaphoric, takes on multi layered dimensions, the quiver …tremble….vibration…of all life reminds us of the shared rhythmic pulse across time and space. 

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

P.S. If you are looking for THE perfect Valentine's gift, then make sure you check out 'Love...Valentine's Kind'

LOVE...Valentine's Kind

                                                    Sending Love oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

So, I have decided to be a little light hearted for this post. I've decided to focus on love...yes love....the romantic kind.  Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

I have uploaded a few paintings which I think would make great Valentine's Day presents. Why, because they are about love, some are a little sexy, a couple remind us of the Adam and Eve adventure. That story which is so often very simplistically interpreted eg: man was lead astray by a woman!

So let's begin:
Sending Love above, is my interpretation of love emmanating from a central force eg: heart! The heart is the tree-of-life, which is a symbol of life, itself signified by a pulse...heart!  Love is pure, hence the white and pale tones of the tree and the emmanating light which cascades from it. In my mind, we have the capacity to conjure great feelings of love, and then send this love, as white light, out into the world or to the people we love. Our imaginations hold a force which extends beyond us.

Into My Galaxy Oil on linen 85 x 147 cm

Into My Galaxy...well what more can I say! When in love the 'galaxy' is just the two people who are in love. Their own world, where sparks fly, frisson seduces, time collapses and perfection reigns.  Now, this painting, as it has been pointed out to me, can also be read as the moment of fertilization! Regular readers will know of my great interest in collapsing perspective. So, we have travelled from a galactic perspective to a very intimate internal one. The latter being the moment of life's first quiver, a culmination of an act of love.

Forever Connected Oil on linen 120 x 80 cm

Forever Connected is a painting which 'speaks' about the connections forged by shared stories across time and cultures. On a macro level we all share the same story...the one about how the universe/multiverse was created! Focusing in a little Forever Connected refers to the story of the burning bush and Moses. This story is shared by the three Abrahamaic religions, thus connecting Islam, Christianity and Judaism forever. And focusing n a littel more, the love of two people also forges a connection across time through children and other relationships...and this connection continues even in divorce and after death! 

Compassion Oil on linen 100 x 100 cm

Compassion is a really beautiful painting! It is currently hanging in my sunroom and many people have commented on it. This painting was also selected for the Blake Prize Directors' Cut online exhibition. The paintings selected for this were shortlisted for finalist selection in the main Blake Prize, but did not quite make it. http://www.blakeprize.com.au/galleries/directors-cut

Two trees-of-life meet in a blaze of light, their branches connecting and embracing to form a circle, which seems to be many things at once...an opening to a portal, a crown, an embrace, a celestial entity.

Compassion is a very important ingredient in any relationship, whether it be between countries or individuals. This is the post where I write about my thoughts on compassion and Compassion http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/07/compassion.html

Remembering The reason Why Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm

Sometimes, in a relationship, one needs to remember why. Please check out my previous post HERE

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

This is a painting not simply about Adam and Eve, but about men and women. please check out my previous post on this painting HERE

'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] Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm

The title of the painting above says it all really...don't you think?

Hot Gouache on paper 15 x 21 cm unframed

So, back to a bit of fun. Hot is a small painting and it is meant to be HOT! Sprouting wings, red, swirling colour...up to you!

The paintings above range from $300 AUD up to $6,800 AUD [Excluding packaging and freight]

[Prices correct as of 11-1-12, but will change as time goes on. if you are reading this in many months time, please check for updated prices]

AND, I do have many other paintings on my WEBSITE

Some paintings are listed with prices. Please contact me via my website for any price enquiries.

AND

Please check out my BOOK LAUNCH SITE

For Everyone: Words and Paintings

NEXT EXHIBITION

QUIVER

17-29 April

Graydon Gallery

Cheers,

Kathryn

PS...Please click on the 'share' buttons below if you have Twitter and Facebook accounts...or any other sharing social network membership. It all helps spread the word. Thanking you in advance.

QUIET FIERCENESS OF LIGHT

Quiet Fierceness of Light Oil on linen 90 x 180 cm

This new painting Quiet Fierceness of Light was inspired by a recent work on paper Firmament which is below. Yet, as I painted Quiet Fierceness of Light other things happened. It posed a number of impasses for me, as it challenged me with questions, articulated through dilemmas of aesthetics and conversations with myself. I wanted to create a feeling of a calling, the kind that whispers to us when we least expect it. The kind of calling that moves us past what we know to places where the unknown provokes us to wonder...and discover new knowledge about ourselves and the world.

Regular readers will know that light features in a number of my paintings [I have provided links below]. I love the frisson which quivers in the connections that link the scientist's wonder of light with the philospher's and spiritualist's. The frisson is highly charged!

In Quiet Fierceness of Light a figure of a woman reaches across the canvas, as if she is straddling the depths of time. A flame of light provides a force which seems to propel her. But she garners this light in the spaces between the branches of the trees which errupt from her arms and legs. These trees, regular readers will know, are my interpretation of the age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol. They have various possible meanings. They can be 'read' as roots issuing forth from her feet and branches from her hands, or representations of life systems such as the vascular and lymphatic, or cross sections of internal organs such as the brain or kidney. Yet, we can go further and see them as representative of any kind of life giving system such as above and below ground water systems. For me, in this painting, they both emit and garner energy connecting all life across all dimensions.

The background of the entire painting is formed by one tree which cascades across the canvas. Like ripples it suggests another layer of life's propulsion. It seems to embrace all direction, all space and beyond, possibly indicating the primordial template/system of life in the multiverse.

The red circle, with the light emanating from it, may be the sun, the source of literal light broadcasting across our daytime. Yet, light as a metaphor struggles to penetrate our psyches when the darkness of sameness erodes confidence amd strangles wonder. The light in Quiet Fierceness of Light is more about the light of knowledge...of ourselves, others and the universe. It is with and through knowledge that we shed light across the pathways of life. The light imbues us with wonder as it calls forth both beckoning and shining the way. Light that beckons is where we find challenge, drawing us towards it. If we are game we meet its glow.
There is more to Quiet Fierceness of Light, but I'll leave that to you, the viewer. I leave you to travel your own journey with light!

Firmament Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm

LIGHT

Sending Love
Halo
Finding
Becoming The Light
Colour Of Knowledge

WHAT I AM READING

I am currently reading Fire In The Belly: On Being a Man by Sam Keen. It was published in 1991/92 so is twenty years old. It is a fascinating insight into men! I have read the first four chapters where Keen analyses the role of WOMAN in the male psyche. He writes WOMAN in capital letters to differentiate the Goddess/Mother Nature entity from the woman of flesh and blood. He investigates how men need to find distance in order to embrace and love. I am really looking forward to reading the entire book. Keen writes beautifully eg: When writing about WOMAN- 'She has been an inevitable symbol of divinity since the beginning of time and remains a sacred presence in the timeless dimension of every psyche.' How about that for creating pictures with words and transporting the reader to places beyond!

Fire In The Belly: On Being a Man A Bantam Book USA 1991 

WHAT I HAVE JUST READ

I have just finished A Hatful Of Cherries by Felix Calvino. This is a wonderful collection of short stories, written by Calvino, who was born in Spain, but now lives here in Brisbane! Each story drew me in and I felt a connection to the characters. I felt so sad for Basilio and his wife. Really loved the ‘Ghosts on The Beach’ too. ‘Silvia’ was such a measured story, belying the strangeness of the two men sharing a mistress.The story about quitting smoking was painful to read, but gripping. I felt his frustration...and I have never smoked! The ‘Detour’ story has a film in it I am sure! Calvino's endings are really great, because he makes them astonishing, even when they are about ordinary happenings.

I also liked the way Calvino moved from stories set in Spain, to those set in Australia. It provided a rhythm that was punctuated every now and then...like jazz! I could not read more than two stories at one time, because I liked how they stayed with me for awhile.

One of the short stories Unfinished Thoughts has been made into a short movie, which has won and been nominated for a number of awards. Click HERE for more information.

I highy receommend A Hatful Of Cherries
A Hatful Of Cherries Arcadia Australia 2007

SOME INTERESTING SITES I'VE FOUND

I recommend  Everybody Means Something: Words, Values and Identities Explored  This is a BLOG with some very thoughtful posts.

Charter For Compassion  I have been a member of this site for some time. It was inspired by Karen Armstrong, who is a 'provocative, original thinker of the role of religion in the modern world' . Check out her TED site. I've read her book The Spiral Staircase. It is just one of her many books.

I read this provocatively titled article recently, Infinite Stupidity It is a talk with Mark Pagel who is a Fellow of the Royal Society and Professor of Evolutionary Biology. He is Head of the Evolution Laboratory at the University of Reading.

Did you know there is a Global Peace Index ? I met Steve Killelea, the man who founded the organisatin Vision For Humanity a few years ago, at a conference at the Univeristy of Queensland. At the time the idea for a Peace Index was new. But, Steve Killelea is a very passionate man and within a year of the UQ conference the Peace Index was up and running.

I also discovered recently that there is a Corruption Index!

Other interesting sites are listed in the LINKS tab on the right column of this BLOG!

'FOR EVERYONE: WORDS AND PAINTINGS'

My BOOK!

Please click HERE for more information

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

 

 

MY WOMEN

Homage Mixed media on paper 37 x 27 cm 1991

The female figure has been a constant presence in my work, particularly since 1991 when I had my first baby. Not all my work depicts women, but I have been told, that my work exudes many aspects of the feminine. Regular readers will possibly think of my love of the tree-of-life, an age-old transcultural/relgious symbol of ongoing life in all its many splendours.

The painting above 'Homage' was created when I was pregnant with my first daughter. The pregnant woman is me, but she seems to resonate with shadows of herself. These are the women of my paternal and maternal ancestry. I look at this painting now and chuckle. Why? Because it is prophetic...the three baby figures on the left seem to be telling my much younger self, that I will have three children. And, I have.

I called the painting 'Homage' because my maternal grandmother died only six weeks before my first daughter was born. I was her only grand-daughter and a very strong link existed between me and Grand-ma-ma [Yes, that's what she insisted on being called!].

The stepping depicted in the painting was a conscious attempt to depict some kind of ascension, progress...birth to death...but also whatever existed beyond them...no end.

                                                                Life Oil on linen 80 x 200 2005

This painting 'Life' was created fourteen years after 'Homage'. It depicts a road with figures dotted along the route. This painting 'speaks' of the cycle of life, but belies the notion of a circle! It is actually somewhat 'dark'. In this painting I am reflecting upon the power of insidious expectations placed on women ie: that there is a 'road' or 'map' and deviations are not welcomed or possible. Well. I know that is untrue. My deviation, like that of many other women, was divorce.

                                                Am I Mirage? Oil on Board 40 x40 cm 1992

Living With Distance Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm [Diptych] 2001-2

The two paintings above, done ten years apart, resonate with a feeling of distance, yet the female figures seem to emerge from the landscape. In 'Am I Mirage?' I believe now, that the younger me was searching for some kind of identity that was not hinged to the identities I played to 'fit in' to societal expectations. In 1991 I lived in a small rural community, in 2000 I divorced after eighteen years of marriage and moved to Brisbane.

I'd like readers to look at the above two paintings and compare them with the next two.

Breath Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2011

                                     Mother Nature Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm 2011

The two paintings above, painted this year, and nineteen years after 'Am I Mirage?' and ten years after 'Living With Distance', tell me that the feeling of distance is not longer there or if it is, it is not about being lonely. In the recent paintings the female figure seems less agitated, less tethered. She is Mother Nature, so she is me and she is you. She is that impulse for life within us all...that impulse shared with whatever urge it is for all existence.

Given that I was born in the country, and then spent eighteen years of my adult life living in the country, it is not a surprise that landscape is an essential part of my inspiration. However, I sense that my recent work is untethered from specific place, as if landscape itself is freed from being bound to Earth. This reminds me of another painting [below] called When I Was A Child I Dreamt I Could Fly.

                    When I Was A Child I Dreamt I Could Fly Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm 2003
                  http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2006/09/school-holidays.html

When I Was A Child I Dreamt I Could Fly painted in 2003 [when I was certainly no longer anywhere near the age of a child] is a painting directly 'speaking' with my inner child...my inner essence. Even now I can remember the feeling of flying...it was fantastic. AND, this takes me to my book 'For Everyone: Words and Paintings'....a book which calls to your inner child or essence by prodding memory.

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

TO GROK LANDSCAPE

Thank Goodness [It's Raining] Oil on linen 92 x 207 cm

To grok is to intimately and completely share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok

Regular readers will know of my concerns for the planet, particularly with regards to water and soil. Since I started this BLOG in 2006 I have often written about my concerns, plus the paintings which I call my 'quiet activism'. My more obvious visual statements are made using small $ signs and words to create ambigious 'landscapes', which pose questions about how we 'value' our land, and its life giving and sustaining qualities. In Australia and elsewhere we are witnessing a rush to extract huge amounts of minerals and coal seam gas. Like many others, I am not anti-mining per se, but I am anti rushing into extraction activities without a scientific analysis of the risks to water, food production etc. There are enough scientists, and others with experience, calling for caution to indicate that there are risks...and major ones.

Earth For Sale Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

This painting is created with small $ signs.

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/07/earth-for-sale-120-x-160-cm-oil-on.html

But, this post is not about mining or coal seam gas or farming. Rather, the paragraph above is a short backdrop for new readers.

TO GROK?

To grok is to intimately and completely share the same reality or line of thinking with another physical or conceptual entity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grok

As I ponder the environmental dilemmas confronting the world today, I can't help but think about the manner by which we are connected to land. Yes, we use it, move around upon it, photograph and paint it, some watch it from satelites, we dig into it, we manipulate it for all sorts of reasons. However, I sense we largely see ourselves as separate from it. We are observers, witnesses, users, particpants upon. Yet, what if we saw ourselves as part of the landscape, enmeshed with its ebbs and flows, absorbed into the one pulse of life? What if we were to grok with the land, the Earth?

I suspect that early humans did not differentiate themselves from the land, their environment. From the distance of thousands of years into a future characterised by dilemmas of survival, our forebears' attitudes seem highly evolved.

 Heaven and Earth Oil on linen 90 x 200 cm

How can we return to a early humankind relationship with land, in a way which is reconcilable with their future...the one we now inhabit?

SYMBOLISM

I'd like to suggest that the answer lies with potency of symbolism. And regular readers will know what I am going to write next. Yes! The age-old transcultural/religious tree-of-life symbol holds clues, I'm sure, to how we might re-imagine our future relationship with Earth and land...and given modern understanding of outerspace...with the cosmos as well.

I am sure there are other age-old symbols which have the kind of potency that can propel re-imagining forward, as it speaks to the past. However, for me, the tree-of-life holds so much endless potential to re-awaken human race memories of connection and rapport with our environment, its physicality and its spirit. The vascular quality of the tree, speaks of systems...and systems keep us and the planet alive. I'd suggest that systems also ensure the propulsion of the Universe...and possibly the Multiverse! We may not understand, or have even identified, some of these systems, but we know they must exist. As I have writen before I have faith in complexity!

 Radiance Oil on linen 92 x 208 cm

Mountains and Metaphors Oil on linen 80 x 200 cm

PAINTINGS
The paintings I have uploaded for this post are a selection of 'landscape' paintings since 2006. All, but the one immediately above and Earth For Sale , depict the tree-of-life totally absorbed...grokked...into the 'scape'. It is THE energy at the same time as being THE 'scape'...one influences the other to manifest. The tree, as a symbol of life, is simultaneously a symbol of us and our environment, here on Earth and within the Multiverse.

In Mountains and Metaphors [immediately above] the moutains are symbolic of overcoming adversity. In Earth For Sale small $ signs create an ambigius landscape. The $ signs are only discernible when viewed up close. I am asking 'Have we noticed?' Have we noticed how we 'value' our land?

Into My Galaxy Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm

Majesty and Order Oil on linen 36 x 36 cm

The Beginning Of Everything Oil on linen 90 x 180cm

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/11/beginning-of-everything.html

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FOR EVERYONE: WORDS AND PANTINGS

BOOK UPDATE

Please check out Kris Wampler's great online interview about

FOR EVERYONE

http://kriswampler.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/interview-kathryn-brimblecombe-fox/

Plus

http://www.spbroundup.com/nonfiction/religion

and

http://bloggers.com/KathrynBrimblecombe

and

for book launch details, where to buy etc etc

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/p/my-book-for-everyone-words-and.html

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Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com