Vivian Bonder

seth! oh.. regards the pulse

2012-03-21T22:24:28+08:00

What an absolute honour to have been asked by Seth to participate in his first book 'The Pulse of Mixed Media'! We have 'known' one another for quite sometime and I remember well our first email contact regards the inaugural Artful Blogging magazine and how excited we both were to be published in the same magazine :) Over time we have become friends, good friends I happily add. We chat, we skype, we support, we listen. We send tubes and cubes and piles of artwork back and forth and very happily work on top of one anothers art (he is one of the few I could work with in such a way..). And we even tried to set up an event where we could teach workshops together as a team of two. And maybe I am hopeful but I can see it happen sometime in the future..

Contributing to a book so rich in variety and with such an inspiring group of artists has been humbling to say the least. When Seth asked for a self-portrait, I took quite an inquisitive appraoch and needed to sit back to reflect on who I am as a person..

Thank you Seth, for making this happen and thanks to all the other contributors who have made this book an absolutely amazing piece of work!

In The Pulse of Mixed Media, as contributors, we were asked quite a few different questions by Seth and I answered in an honest and authentic way. Mind you, answering in such a manner is not always easy when you know the words are going to be published and thus open for all to read! But I believe in the power of transparency, openness and authenticity so all good. But I wonder...

How do you deal with authenticity, not only in the words you share with others but also through symbolic meaning in your artwork, as you and I know can possibly reveal so much?

(eta seth's answer below!)

"In all the art I create, I try to begin from the inside so that some part of me rises to the surface. It is often only apparent to me, but all of my work is either a direct representation or symbolic of who I am and what is going on for me at the time. Being authentic is not always an easy or natural thing when you know that there will be an audience who has the power to judge and critique. But that is life and the world we live in. When I am able to be truly vulnerable and just let go, that is when I create my most powerful work."

(not the best image but at least a fairly recent page out of my journal..)

I noticed some people commented on my being absent from my blog.. And yes, it has been a looooong time and when I have posted, it has been very infrequently. I have gone through a stretch of wondering why on earth anyone would be interested in anything I would have to share and/or show. On top of that I have had my fair share of personal turmoil, emotional turbulence and sharing anything about this publicly on my blog did not feel 'right' so to speak.

Slowly I am coming back into sharing more of my work again and opening my self up, vulnerabilities and all. Because of the nature of the past couple of years I haven't really gotten into teaching very much either, but this might change soon :)

Art is.. YOU!!

2011-07-21T11:34:19+08:00

So very very excited to be part of this inspiring and creative event, in March 2012!

Art is.. YOU!

Details of the different workshops are online now and these are the projects I'll be teaching..

Identification - which is all about the things and people we identify with, in various ways and including lots of personal symbolism and meaning while at the same time learning some cool techniques!!

Dream Journal - On the first day we create our handmade journal from scratch and on the second day we will be art journaling on the pages with a variety of mediums and supplies, and play with colours and vibrancy! The journal can be used to record dreams, ideas, or anything you like!

Thanks Sallianne and Ellen for this awesome opportunity.. Even though it is still a long time away, I'm looking forward to Sydney in March 2012!

sigh.. - 24/03/2011

2011-04-17T22:40:31+08:00

Sigh. Deep deep sigh. You know how you sometimes just need to expel air from the body? Yeah. That's what I feel like. So much has been going on in my life and I haven't had the time to do anything with my blog whatsoever. In the larger scheme of things what has been going on in my world is tiny compared to what others go through, but it seems that massive changes have occurred here, which shows once again, everything is relative and strongly influenced by our individual perspectives.

After a break of a good few years I have started work again at Scraptivate. The above picture is one of the Inspired Tree which I will be teaching over a course of a couple of weeks, 3 workshops in total. Next week 30/03 and 02/04 I'll teach an Art Journal class {if you're interested, call 9444 6626}. For me it is interesting being back in the 'workforce' after such a long break and mainly working for myself, but in all honesty I am really enjoying it!

I love how things start falling together as soon as the right choices are made. All a confirmation that the chaos of the last couple of months has been worth it.

Synchronicity..

silence - 24/11/2010

2011-04-17T22:37:48+08:00

While I've got a minute, I quickly wanted to share another page out of my recent journal..

And then have a look at what my dear friend Lynne has been up to ;)

I just got back from 5 days Brisbane and fell in love (once again, just like 10 years ago!) with the Sunshine Coast. I stayed with a lovely girl in Melaney and it is so very lush, green, wet, hilly up there. Everything Perth is not! Fruit and veggies grow like crazy and how I loved the fresh pineapple, papaya and bananas at the market.. Anyway; back home now and I enjoy that too :) It looks like I'll be here for a while now, I don't have any travels planned but then again.. you never know!

I have not been sleeping very well lately and feel quite tired. I might have just half an hour or so for a nap before picking up the girls from school.. Mm sounds tempting..

virtue - 17/10/2010

2011-04-17T22:35:57+08:00

Dawn over on d'blogala is hosting (for the 2nd time I believe) NaNoJouMo with wonderful journaling prompts/words. No pressure, just a way to do some art journaling everyday, getting in the habit so to speak ;) Now we all realise I need a bit of that!

She says:

Each day during November, I will post a word to get you art journaling. A journal jump of sorts—one word a day to inspire or get you thinking. The goal is to journal SOMETHING in your art journal. DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A FULL PAGE...can be a doodle, maybe painting some backgrounds, doing some collage...just SOMETHING every day in your art journal during November. Even if it’s just moving a pencil across the page in a crooked line...

Nothing earth-shattering.

You may say, “Dawn, WHY should I do this?”

Well, I know some of us (many, let’s be honest) have a difficult time getting started. Sometimes we just need a kick in the pants to encourage us. I also want you to learn how to journal a little at a time. Art journaling is an activity that can be done in spurts. You don’t have to create an entire page or spread in one sitting. I have pages in all stages of production! And it’s OK!

So I decided the night before last to join and wow, it really works! I feel inspired to create (somewhat more than just writing pen to paper). Thank you DAWN! There are prompts/words available as from the 1st of November so quite a bit of catching up to do for me and that's ok. I have been having late nights again because my mind simply won't rest and what a better way to deal with life than doing some art play?

traveling! now what to take with me?

2010-10-14T21:46:43+08:00

At the start of next week I will be traveling back to Holland for my brother's wedding and yes I am very excited indeed to be able to be with my family on this very special occasion! Most of the important/needed/crucial things are crossed of my 'to do' list and so I will be able to relax tomorrow morning while hanging out with my friend drinking a nice cuppa chai at a local cafe!

One of the things I wanted to do before going on this trip was to make a pencil holder for my new (look at those super-sharp-never-ever-used-EVER) Faber Castell watercolour pencils! The only colour I used heaps already is that stumpy one ;) The quality of these pencils is amazing and the colours in the set fabulous. How do I know? I tried very carefully, without 'hurting' the new tip.. They won't stay like this for long!

So what I will take with me this time is these pencils, a couple of .8 Art Liners, of course some favourite colours Caran d'Ache neocolor II watersolubles, my very much used Winsor & Newton watercolour travel kit, Ranger mini mister, Koi water brush and a blank journal.

I didn't quite like the plain black outside of the journal so I covered it with this lovely cotton I had lying on my desk, leftovers from the pencil holder I suppose. I stuck it down with fabric glue and it holds down really well. Some of the pages are covered with inks, others with gesso mixed with ecoline or FW.

The funny thing is, I also sewed up a little pocket-bag to hold my crayons and watercolour kit, and now it's all like a matching set, which is very unusual for me! I just really REALLY loved the fabric and wanted to use it for everything! Would I have enough for a bag? Or a wrap skirt? Or a top? Or maybe a scarf?

So, yes I may not post a lot over the next few weeks but that is nothing unusual :) ! Wishing you all sunshine, autumn leaves (oh yes! I get to play with autumn colours too!!) and love & light..

2010-09-10T12:14:03+08:00

Once again there is a lot of time needed in my world for quiet contemplation, Soul searching and lots and lots of solitude. It has been very quiet .. I have started up a new art journal and am happily creating, journaling, drawing and exploring. I took apart an old physics book, and bound it with lots of craft papers as well as torn pages from another book. Then gesso'ed and started colouring with my fave caran d'ache neocolors. My absolute all time favourite stuff those little sticks of colour.

Then I tore pages from a wonderful Dutch magazine (photography is stunning) Happinez. My mum keeps these magazines for me and I love the pictures.. This one above makes me want to take my socks off and sit in the garden with a bowl of water & rose petals! Maybe I should do just that!

Gotta go, more soon. Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

~ birds ~

2010-08-23T14:23:30+08:00

A bird does not sing because it has an answer.

It sings because it has a song.

{Chinese Proverb}

playtime

2010-08-04T21:30:39+08:00

A few weeks ago I received The Tube and Seth's project back from Steph (can't seem to find your blog girl??) for me to add more details to both.. I thoroughly enjoyed myself splattering away..

Just sharing some snippets, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the other two in this exciting collaboration. We are about two third of the way now and the projects are all looking (and feeling) pretty amazing. Such a joy to be able to collaborate with 2 such talented and inspiring people. If only we lived closer ;) We'd actually be able to share some creative time in the same room!

2010-07-23T17:10:46+08:00

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