Wednesday, 7 July 2010

travel intèrnational

transit town
here i am flying flown over the great dish of ocean
that is the pacific
the trip was long and arduous
but i arrived into the gentle arms of mont saint hilaire
which is a beautiful place to be

am travelling Quebec for summertime
and i find the colours so vibrant
sometimes i feel lost in a francophone reality
surrounded by french language
french culutre
that is embellished with the quebecois flavour

everyone is out, the sun is hot, really hot
am surprised, lucky i can do hot, my blood understands it
here are some pics 


Friday, 18 June 2010

banjo

yes....todays title is 'banjo'
because....
i have been learning the past 6 weeks
the basics and absolutely love it! 

So the story goes...
my friend and i decided late on friday night 
that instead of sitting around by ourselves, 
we would take our banjo and puppet conversation 
to the streets. 
we grabbed some chairs, water and the kit
i got my cowgirl boots and hat, 
we jumped in the blue balooga whale ute
and kicked it....

her puppet, affectionatley known as 'noway'
has fluffy yellow pants 
and a possum look in his/her eyes...
and my banjo makes nice noises. 

busking is a cool social observational exercise.
had a british backpacker very close to my face
telling me to 'play the guitar, i want to hear indi pop, 
british indi pop, i hate the banjo, play me some guitar....'
his beer breath and brain couldn't grasp the idea that
a banjo is a banjo and not a guitar....oh well....

one man sat and listened, closed his eyes, 
as I played noway a sad song in Aminor, 
he stood up, pulled out his fat wallet
and plonked a $50 on my banjo bag.

all in all our conversation in music and motion
proved economically viable
and most importantly it was....
so much FUN.....

british indi pop can suck my _____, and the banjo
well....we can keep playing
waltzing matilda.....


Tuesday, 15 June 2010

gReen....

green paint scary....
in the sunlight.
that's ok she says.
everything changes....
yay.

Friday, 4 June 2010

this one is going to the big smoke
gets to be pinned to the wall at Togart10....
funny, but still feel like my art scrapes out of the quagmire
don't feel professional or clean
it's all wonkey and messy, oh well...
don't really get it...
oh well.

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

in the night forest....

lately studio
has been fractious
don't get what it is i do...
but felt good to make these...
seems like all i want to do is play banjo.

Friday, 28 May 2010

roundabout

can't get comfortable in my shoes...
even though i don't really  have any. 
not sure....twisting and turning.
think food is wise....
coconut also.
hits my head, with life force.
doonk. thud. dent
trying not to go round and round in circles..
roundabout...
around about
it does it doesn't
all
nothing
stupid head.
coconut brain
coconut...

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

...

sometimes cracks appear in the armour...
when i am not as tough as what i want to be....
when i want to pretend that i am impermeable,
that nothing can move the mountain.

but sometimes, i am just human...
simple, complex, alive.
no more no less than anything else....
am moved by my soul, this soul
where fire burns, sometimes hot, you get burned

other times we are all just fools....
aboard a rudderless ship. 
landing in places where we do not know

other times, the tyranny of distance
can sway us. move us, destroy us,
erode our mountain
like a river carving valleys.
tired of this stupid love song.
the (uni)verse, poem of love or pain
surrender.....again.

Monday, 24 May 2010

passing....

a while back i lived with the people you see
it was an intense time...
but has shaped part of who i am.

one of my family passed away recently
old johnny...
he was a painter, song man
and eldest son of  old auntie mary.

they are singing now...making baparu, manikay...

ngarri djiny ngamunbarra
ganalbingu....
ngarri ngadji...
djut djut djani bangadi.

ginger

went on the weekend to the opening of 'colour country - art of Roper River'.

got to stand in front of some giant ginger riley paintings....(bit like the one above)
be transported into a world of colour and mystery.
and listen to bossy old ladies tell their stories....
it is a fantastic exhibition, all being told...
loved all the colours....
didn't get bored even....which is unusual.

but really it was ginger who captured my being....
especially the red triangles,
which i can't find images of, but hold dear....

Friday, 21 May 2010

etoile et emo

some things just are funny.....
lately in the studio
took some pix.

Thursday, 13 May 2010

fair weather.....


all hail the blue skies
and beautiful dry season....

found my feet taken on the
Ian Fairweather memorial walk here in Darwin the other day....



it is a lovely little walk near mindil beach, up a hill, over rocks
look to the sea....i was mindful of the man...the artist...


here he is, in his studio....
Ian is famous in my home town (Darwin, Australia)
for living in the hull of an oldboat in Frances Bay,
but mostly because he
sailed (drifted?) in a re-purposed WWII aircraft
across to Timor....the Indonesians kicked him out returned him....

Ian was a prolific artist...he used canvas for his roof
and painted on cereal boxes (my hero)
he was messy, unconventional, and the best....




Sunday, 9 May 2010

leaves.light.

on a lighter note....or not
don't know
heres some images of some painty stuff

put leaves on primed, canvas, paint stuff




took leaves off.
left these marks above.
so much fun. 



house guest....







well....told you about my poor little house friend
the cool monitor lizard who used to 
skulk along the back verandah.
now he feeds the bananas
and bones to earth. 
no sign of cane toad. 

Wednesday, 5 May 2010

leaves love light.
light leaves love.
love. leaves. light...

Tuesday, 4 May 2010

link it

hey blog land
am meandering through
the muddy waters...
trying to find clarity and direction about new work

how to link paint with plants
but there is no division really

above is erythrina variegata
makes lovely shapes. leaves are beautiful.
think it might be the plant of the week....

love n lee ness

Wednesday, 21 April 2010

in honour of reptiles

last week: first cane toad in garden.

this week: dead house goanna.

ca va mal....tres mal.

Monday, 19 April 2010

looking

i love that my job is looking for
lovely references to plants

like a pirate unearthing grand treasures
drawing the map of the new world
uncovering what is hidden


buried treasures
buried marks and translations