Spaces Between The Gaps

Meditative Studies, the why and #45-53

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:00:00 +0000

The Meditative Studies series of nature drawings - where did it come from and why?

A daily habit

I wanted to instill in myself the habit of a daily drawing practice. Like drinking a litre or more per day of fresh water, or walking the dogs each evening, there are habits for good physical health. So too are there habits for excellence. I don't want to be average at drawing. I want my drawing to be excellent. A regular drawing session always gives better results than occasional large ones. And so it made sense to begin to form a daily drawing habit by just starting, working through the awkward and hard to commit to stage, and sticking with it long enough to end up with a daily reflex.

Meditation

Many people find stillness sitting meditation or in yoga. I've always found that the full concentration required of careful-yet-free drawing, or of painting for that matter, to be just as quieting. I had begun to notice that my drawing and painting sessions were really meditation sessions. Just like some people do walking meditations. Without my drawing meditation I notice myself become edgier. It has a soothing effect.

Nature in ink

Old botannical illustrations. I love these but I don't want to reproduce their stiffness. Old pen and ink book illustrations. There were so many unnamed talented illustrators in generations gone by. A childhood of being a bookworm has had the unintended effect of giving me a huge respect for the art of pen and ink drawing. Pieces of nature. To tell the truth, I didn't even think this out. I just notice curiousities while out with the dogs and wanted to draw them. All these influences simply meshed together.

Zen for your walls.

Small nature studies.
Quietly created as drawing meditations.
Each one is unique.

Peaceful simplicity. Slow looking. Radiating stillness.

These are delicate and deceptively simple drawings on quality artist's paper. Matted to fit a standard 8x10" frame.

My art explores an ongoing love of nature and celebrates the brighter, calmer, radiant side of life. It is a reminder that the world smiles with possibility.

All currently available Meditative Studies are listed here: http://www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Gumleaves and ....

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 10:58:00 +0000

A new and occasional series celebrating the curious forms of the iconic Australian gumleaves and the emotions of connection with nature. It has grown out of the Meditative Studies and my daily drawing practice. I wanted to take this Japanesque woodblock hatching theme that has developed and make it larger and really explore the shapes, and make it more substantial and move onto stretched canvas. I wanted to make these colourful. I wanted the feel of the bush to be present.

Gumleaves & Tranquility

Gumleaves & Joy

These pieces are 8x10" ink on acrylic on canvas. The canvas is deep edged gallery wrapped, so framing is optional.

All currently available artworks are listed here: http://www.wherefishsing.com/officialartstore

Creative Cauldron - the attempt at a giant summary

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 21:00:00 +0000

Phoenix - 12 x 11.5cm etching by FionaMorgan circa 2003

These analytical type posts where I try and define what it is about a creative's work that I am drawn to is really hard work for me. It's not how I tend to think. I tend to receive information in impressions and sensations. Although critical logical thinking is a strength for me, analysis is not. It's been a great exercise to do these Creative Cauldron posts as it forces me to explain why I like what I do and thence to see the common threads and connections between, on the surface, disparate influences.

On one hand it feels crazy to go through and analyse the work I admire to get a really good idea of what it is I love. Then again, it has been wonderfully useful to understand and become fully aware of these things. It feels crazy that this process has been so useful to uncover what is right under my nose.

While this series has been mostly for my benefit, I do hope I have not bored you all to tears but have given you some insight into where I am coming from, what I am about. This series may be added to occasionally from here on in if I find another real wow to write about, distill and internalise.

For now, (again mostly for me to see these all in one place so I can see what it is I am aiming for in my own work), a summary of the commonalities in my admiration for the work I have profiled in these Creative Cauldrons. In brain-shorthand bullet points, as that's how I tend to think.

Technical:

immaculate presentation
absolute technical mastery
decorative pattern, sinuous, dancing, flow
very Australian colour, subtle tones, pastels contrasted with deep rich coloured darks, tonally related, limited palette
bravura brushwork
textural brushwork, paint as texture, emphatically paintings not images
luminous
space to breath, not busy design,
Japanese influenced design
absolutely beautiful images, mesmerising
Australian light

Ideas:

intelligent
thoughtful, a thinker, free thinker, new ideas
has an opinion
straight talking
kind
gracious
ability to synthesise and see connections from a wide landscape
wordsmith

Feeling:

poetic, evocative, ephemeral, mysterious, mood, dreamy, other worldliness, more than ordinary reality, soulful, graceful, spirit, there is more to life than we can see

playful, silly, fun, humour, quirky, make people think, have a laugh, irreverence, cartoon, wit

weaves mythology, spirituality, archetypes, truths distilled, essence, iconic, symbolism, collective unconscious direct line, synthesis, shaman, mirror into us, storytelling for the soul

zen like stillness, presence, magic of the moment, mindfulness, slow looking, nature is respected, presence, calm, gentleness, intimate, celebrate, childlike, soulful, thoughtful, innocence, playfulness, quiet, happiness, contemplation, delight, observant

Accomplishment:

unique style, no one else, own voice
top of their game, redefined their genre
respect for hard work, discipline, do the work
themed bodies of work
seeing in new ways
experimental
imaginative
genuineness, not whimsy, not contrived, honest

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

The Creative Cauldron series of posts explores and showcases the visual styles, techniques, attitudes, ideas, artists and paintings that have had the most impact on me.

The rest of the series is accessible via the Creative Cauldron page. Have a meander if you please, and remember to check out my artworks on Flickr, and have an insider peek at life as an artist on Facebook.

Creative Cauldron - Joseph Campbell

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 21:54:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Joseph Campbell quote - this & other inspiring quotes on ceramics are available from mbartstudios on etsy

It seems strange to me that Joseph Campbell's work on comparitive mythology and religion has been done so recently in time. I mean that it has taken all of history until now for someone to really take a good look at the belief systems around the world and draw out their essences, similarities, histories, relations and differences.

Despite the overdue arrival of this scholarship, oh my goodness was it done thoroughly. Such detail, such comprehension, such insightful cross discipline views and such synthesis and so much careful thought.

Where do we arrive at from this?
We now have a roadmap of how religions evolved. If you can manage to wade your way through the four part series 'Masks of God', of Primitive Mythology, Oriental Mythology, Occidental Mythology and Creative Mythology, your views on religions will probably never be the same. Your understanding of the opposing viewpoints operating in the world will be sharpened.

We now have the understanding that myths are meant to serve as guides on how to live life and they need to be updated for each time period, each generation. Myths are there to help with how to handle adversity, transitions to different life stages and to help us with what life is all about.

We have an understanding of the structure of the great overarching communal monomyth, the hero's journey, and some eternal truths which have been distilled from it, the most famous being, 'follow your bliss'.

Mythology turns out to be centrally important to humans to function healthily. Myths connect us to another way of being. They help us find happiness.

What a stupendous legacy.

I have a huge admiration for the thinker who synthesised and distilled the roadmaps people have made for life. His explanations are detailed, well thought out and very complex. It often takes me several passes of his information to be able to comprehend and digest what he has to say. I enjoy the challenge. And the rewards are well worth the effort. Too much information out there is too simplified.

While I'm not sure I can call him a wordsmith, Joseph Campbell is a storyteller for the soul. It may be one of the most important jobs there is - reminding us that there is more to life than we can see.

Interview excerpts on how myth aids us in growing out of childhood and into adults:

And how myth helps us place ourselves in the life cycle and accept where we are (very odd audio/visual mismatch from about halfway through - I recommend shut your eyes and just listen!):

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Creative Cauldron - Stephen Fry

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:38:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Stephen Fry by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

A small pondering on the admiral qualities of Stephen Fry and why he is the sort of someone I hold in high regard.

Well, he is a wordsmith, a master of language with his own unique voice. This is a trait that I tend to admire. But of course there's more.

In a world filled with vacuous celebrities, it is a relief to find an intelligent, thoughtful and even wise voice. This is someone who has a strong belief in the inherent good in people, the better side of humanity and yet is not naive. Someone who stands up to paranoid and closed thinking, looks at things rationally and with humility and says what he thinks.

To be opinionated but not offensive. To hold strong, thoughtful views. To be a free thinker. These are qualities I can aspire to.

To be well read and educated. To be kind. These too are qualities that anyone can achieve with persistance and mindfullness.

Of course he is wonderfully multitalented - writer, speaker, actor. While natural talent will get you so far, plain old fashioned hard work is what is takes to get this far. My hat is off and I am reminded to do the work.

His story of enrolling in English Literature at Cambridge University and becoming so enthralled and caught up in the acting world on offer there - to the point that exams and essays and such things that were there to determine a pass or fail were more or less ignored - is a classic 'follow your bliss' story. Again, a reminder.

And then there is the comedy. The boldness and freedom and aliveness in silliness. Hooray a real person!

There are gazillions of intelligent and thoughtful spokespersons who never get a toehold in anyone's imagination because, I think, they tend to be dull and hand their opinions down from above. Make people laugh. Like cartoons that bypass the everyday guardians of how we think, a bit of humour darts past the guards and gets the message through. Then 'just' learn how to graciously offer and explain your thoughtful opinion, with a dose of wit, plain talking and kindness.

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Meditative Studies day #71-84

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 01:05:00 +0000

Latest works, done in time snatched inbetween recipe testing, framing and market stalls. I find I really miss the regular quiet concentration time if I skip a day and make it up later. There's a background buzz of anxiety that builds without this regular drawing meditation.

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Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Buy one, buy them all! $20 each, including postage within Australia. OS airmail postage is $5 for 1, $8 for 2, $11 for 3+. Comment SOLD on the photo of the one you want and include a contact email so I can send payment details.

Meditative Studies day #55-70

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 01:07:00 +0000

You could be forgiven for thinking these drawings are really not flowing at the moment, but the truth is I've been creating a yet to be revealed little sub-series of Meditative Studies. More later. For now, the chattering mouths of the banksia seedpod is all I can show for the past few weeks work.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Creative Cauldron - Tom Robbins

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 22:16:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Tom Robbins by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Loopy. Poetic. Irreverant. Philosophical.
Tom Robbins is a wordsmith and like most wordsmiths gets my admiration just for that fact alone. I enjoy language. I like the way it rolls off the tongue, the soundscapes, nuances, visual pictures, new conceptual landscapes and amusing connections it can make.

Great writing is rare, and the more I read newspapers and online media, the more I realise how rubbish, how low the standard, most writing really is.

Really original stories, well told, that delight and excite the psyche of the reader. That's what Tom Robbins aspires to and that's what I think he tends to hit. His stories are bizarre yet coherant. His descriptions so original he makes most writers look like plaigerists.

So much so that he is said to have redefined the novel and to have a completely unique voice. To have a completely unique creative voice is to me the pinnacle of creativity.

His work captivates me with the way it weaves mythology into today. There is a spiritual or mystical 'meaning of life' element to the way he approaches a story. It's never just bland facts well told. It was no surprise to me to hear that Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary and Joseph Campbell were all friends or mentors. His stories speak to the enduring part of humans, not the day to day part.

And part of this is pure sillyness. His stories are full of belly laughs. They are undeniably playful. I find them a wonderful reminder to not take life so damn seriously. Have fun. Be silly. It may not be approved of, but it just might be the best way to live.

Comedy allows you to say truer, rawer things to total strangers without being shut out or beaten up than any other method. Cartoons distill what we are thinking in private and don't tell. They get their message through and yet are often seen as not weighty or deserving respect. I don't understand this view.

I think Tom Robbins' writing is like cartoons for our psyche. It bypasses our everyday selves with a raw message and wakes our psyche up and all the while we are laughing at ourselves and shaking our heads with remorseful recognition.

"What I wanted to do in this world was to surprise and entertain and enlighten myself and others by telling stories that had never been told in a style that defied categorization."

"What I do is twine ideas and images into big subversive pretzels of life, death and goofiness on the chance that they might keep the world lively, and give it the flexibility to endure."

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

2012 Twitter Art Exhibit LA - Gumnuts & Stillness

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:49:00 +0000

Gumnuts & Stillness - 2012 #twitterartexhibit LA

Ever since I first heard of the #twitterartexhibit I wanted to be a part of it. An international exhibition gathered via Twitter of original postcard sized art. Love. This time my entry is winging it's way to LA in time to be included and sold off for charity.

Meditative Studies day #37-54

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 01:51:00 +0000

Sometimes drawings simply flow out of the pen. Other times they take multiple careful practices, multiple frustrating mistakes and restarts, and ultimately are coaxed into being. The past few weeks have been that way, but at least these ones have made it.

A small announcement - I am intending to post these up once a week from now on rather than as they are created. Think of it as an end of week delight of a new batch of drawings to look forward to.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Creative Cauldron - Marija Gimbutas

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 22:32:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Marija Gimbutas by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Marija Gimbutas was an archeologist with more skills and background than usual in linguistics, folklore, comparative religion and mythology. She worked diligintly and hard across disciplines for many years to synthesise data from her archeological digs, linguistics, folktales and artwork. She saw connections that single discipline scholars could not see. She went on to make interpretations of these connections that gave the world a new way of thinking about pre Indo-European (Neolithic) societies. Specifically, she believed she had decoded the symbolism and mythologies of the Neolithic cultures.

Neolithic symbolism - brushes as symbols of energy

I am fascinated by her interpretations and intuitive leaps. A lot of her conclusions as to the symbolism and surrounding mythology seem to be based on inferred information and can't be proven, or at least, not easily. Her analysis of the artefacts is not necessarily accurate as they are viewed through the lens of our current culture and time. She has stirred a up a hornets nest with her assertion that Neolithic culture was egalitarian, matrilinear, peaceful and Goddess worshipping.

Neolithic symbolism - tri lines as symbols of becoming

She stood firm and presented what she had found, despite it being so resoundingly unpopular with the academic world and I respect that attitude and fortitude. I really don't know if her conclusions are intuition gone astray or insightful and accurate.

Neolithic symbolism - vultures as symbols of death and regeneration

What I do know is that her book, 'The Language of the Goddess' is a compendium of European Neolithic symbolism. Whether her interpretations are correct or not, Westerners like myself now have their cultural symbolic history compiled and available to them.

Neolithic symbolism - eggs as symbols of regeneration

When I was introduced to this book I was told a story of when it was shown to Aboriginal elders. Their reaction was one of recognition and an exclamation of, 'this is white man's Dreaming'. My intuitive reaction was similar.

Neolithic symbolism - owl eyes as symbols of regeneration

Whether Marija Gimbutas' conclusions as to the meanings of the symbols are right or wrong, I now feel that I have a language of symbolism to work with. And as someone fascinated by petroglyphs and rock art, that is indeed a wonderful thing.

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Meditative Studies day #31-36

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 06:14:00 +0000

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Meditative Studies day #29-30 - worthwhile seedpods

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 08:18:00 +0000

I'm off to try out Port Macquarie Foreshore Market tomorrow. With a 4am start and 5 hours of driving, I am both hopeful and apprehensive about how this venture will turn out. That's a lot of petrol to cover on top of the stall cost to make this worthwhile. Fingers crossed. And I expect to need to sleep for a day afterwards.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Meditative Studies day #22-28 - a week of beans

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 05:51:00 +0000

Three new Meditative Studies for the week, plus the previous one to show them as a set.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including these ones:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Creative Cauldron - Sydney Long – art nouveau and symbolism

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 21:29:00 +0000

Artist inspiration and artist influences. No biographies, dates or scholarly research here - this is a personal response to the work of Sydney Long by Australian artist Fiona Morgan.

Sydney Long - Spirit of the Plains

Spirit of the Plains is probably the best known work of Sydney Long. He spent part of his career striving for "soulful and graceful evocations of the spirit of the land, as did the Greeks and their beautiful myths." (thanks Wikipedia). This painting is the zenith of his work. Seen in real life, it's incredibly compelling.

Sydney Long - The West Wind

Sydney Long - Pan

He seems to be most well known for his symbolism paintings. He did achieve the poetry and evocation of the spirit he was aiming for, though it was a very Western spirit transplanted onto the very non-Western, Australian landscape. It was definitely a product of it's time (Art Nouveau era). Despite the oddness of ancient Greece myths set in the Australian bush, I think he achieved some stunningly beautiful work. Really being able to capture the spirit, or the essence, of a sentiment is difficult to do visually and something I admire.

Sydney Long - Flamingos

And sometimes, like Tom Thomson, he uses a decorative, pattern based line that flows. I love this effect.

Sydney Long - The Drover

Less odd was his adaptation of the sinuous dancing lines of Art Nouveau to the Australian landscape. Hills swirl, sinewy trees are formed into enveloping patterns and clouds dance. I think his vision of movement in these objects is inspirational.

Sydney Long - Pastoral Landscape

Sydney Long - The Valley

Once again I notice that Sydney Long's colour is very Australian. This is definitely something I am drawn to. This attribute is part of why I also admire the works of Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Warwick Fuller. Time to pay closer attention to my own colour mixes.

Sydney Long - Evening

Sydney Long - Moonlight Pastoral

Something that's not mentioned of Sydney Long's work is it's luminous quality. All of his paintings that I've seen have this luminous glow to them. Have a quick scan through the examples here and you will see that many of these are backlit. The sky is a great colourful light and the foreground is a pattern with deep rich colour. Gorgeous floating pastels contrasted with dark sumptuous colour. It's a recipe that works and I am taking note!

Sydney Long - Moonlit Pastorale

Sydney Long - Moonlight Pastoral

Probably because his symbolic paintings grab so much attention, Sydney Long's nocturnes and moonrises don't seem to get a mention. He did piles of them (and seemed to name most of them Moonlight or Pastoral or variations thereof). I think they are beautiful. They capture the quiet serenity of being out in the open and free. Big relaxing breaths at the end of the day. Can you feel the magic of the moment of dusk when almost anything could happen?

Sydney Long - Pastoral

Just to put Art Nouveau in context, this is the sort of imagery that was being created at the time, also full of decorative sinuous linework:

Alfonse Mucha - Summer

Aubrey Beardsley - The Peacock Skirt

About the Creative Cauldron series of posts

Meditative Studies day #19, 20 & 21 - where you bean?

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 03:44:00 +0000

Where have I been? Quietly practising away, experimenting and perfecting the solutions to drawing these beans.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one from today:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

$20 each, including postage within Australia. OS airmail postage is $5 for 1, $8 for 2, $11 for 3+. Comment SOLD on the photo of the one you want and include a contact email so I can send payment details.

A long weekend vs buskers

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 21:06:00 +0000

Sunday was the final day of the Buskers festival. This photo gives a much better idea of the crowds than my one from last weekend. It was also a long weekend, with Monday being a public holiday. True to my theory that selling art at markets works during festivals and holidays and not on ordinary market days, I had a great day (and so did the traders on either side of me). Funnily enough, the streets of Bellingen, renowned as a bit of a tourist drawcard, were basically empty on the public holiday despite the shops being open. There was no one on a long weekend getaway around. So I think it's safe to say the Buskers festival and not the public holiday was the magic ingredient.

Meditative Studies day #18

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:03:00 +0000

Black ink pen on white artist's paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one from today:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Meditative Studies day #17 - persistance pays

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 01:33:00 +0000

Persistance pays off. A little bit, every day over a long time has a large effect. Like turning a ship, the effort at first looks insignificant. Over the long haul, a small change in direction, a sustained focus on what you want to achieve, makes a gaping difference.

A week of drawing shells over and over and over paid off yesterday and today.

Black ink pen on white watercolour paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the very commonly available standard size 8x10" frame.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one from today:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Meditative Studies day #16 - let's start over

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 06:12:00 +0000

What to do when you fall off the horse? Get right back on of course. Persistance will get you a long way to where you want to go.

So you may have noticed a lapse of a few days in this daily drawing project. I sure felt it. As time consuming as this daily project is, it is also incredibly soothing and I could feel the agitation building up as I missed this regular slow-looking time.

I'm back in the saddle again. This time a little wiser. It seems I need more structure. A daily time to do the daily drawing session. Can do. Alarms set. Mind primed. Today went well.

The point of making mistakes is to learn from them.

All the currently available Meditative Studies are here, including this one from today:

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

Black ink pen on white paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the commonly available standard size 8x10" frame. $20 each, including postage within Australia. OS airmail postage is $5 for 1, $8 for 2, $11 for 3+. Comment SOLD on the photo of the one you want and include a contact email so I can send payment details.

Buskers Festival market

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 01:37:00 +0000


Panoramic view from my stall at the Coffs Harbourside market Buskers Festival weekend 2012 AFTER the crowds had gone

In keeping with my plan to get out there and show my art to the world via selected markets over the next year or three, off I went and set up at Coffs Harbourside market last Sunday. It was both a glorious day and the first weekend of the Coffs Harbour International Buskers Festival.

What an awesomely entertaining day. Right in front of me for around six hours there was performer after performer. I couldn't see much through the crowds, but I got plenty of sound and atmosphere.

And in keeping with my theory that ordinary market days are no good for art sales while those coinciding with festivals or holidays are worthwhile, I am happy to report that it was indeed a worthwhile day.

Next weekend the Buskers Festival continues AND it's a public holiday on the Monday (Labour Day NSW), so I am definitely going to be back at the Harbourside market on Sunday.

Meditative Studies day #15 - all in one place

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:51:00 +0000

Meditative Studies now all in one place at www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

In the interest of simplicity, you can now go to one place to find all the currently available Meditative Studies.

www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies

All drawings are currently black ink pen on white paper 5x7" and matted ready to frame. Fits the commonly available standard size 8x10" frame. $20 each, including postage within Australia. OS airmail postage is $5 for 1, $8 for 2, $11 for 3+.

At the moment this links to a FB photo album. This may change as I experiment with how best to make these available, but the address www.wherefishsing.com/meditativestudies will remain the same. Comment SOLD on the photo of the one you want and include a contact email so I can send payment details.

The drawing session today went well, in a learning sort of a way and I'm quietly hopeful I'll have a new meditative study to show you tomorrow or the next day.

Meditative Studies day #14 - nothing to see here

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:42:00 +0000

Another day of repetitive drawing, still working on the same few problems and getting close to resolving them all.

Meditative Studies day #13 - little by little and some rain

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:42:00 +0000

Our sleeping water-loving visitor, heralding rain.

A continuation of my theme from yesterday of focusing in on just one thing and getting it right. Another drawing session of repetition. And little by little I can see the results. One step at a time I am banishing errors in my drawings of these pesky shells and figuring out better ways to depict them.

It's a good feeling to see progress between the beginning and end of a session.

Speaking of progress, after two months of dryness, we finally had rain. While my initial tree change was some six years ago now, I have never before lived in a house relying only on tank water. Given that we are in one of the highest rainfall areas of Australia, averaging several metres annually, I was not at all worried. But after two months our rather little water tank was getting low and we switched to all the old Victorian drought-era water saving measures we had to use these past few years. Buckets everywhere to catch all the good unused water. Reduced flushing. Short washing machine cycles.

It's been lovely to see & smell rain again and we had a water-loving visitor as a bonus.

An ordinary market day

fi@wherefishsing.com (Fi of WhereFishSing.com) — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 03:18:00 +0000

WhereFishSing at the September Bellingen community market 2012

Yesterday was Bellingen community market day. It was a gorgeous sunny day and plenty of people were out and about. However unlike the previous market which coincided with the Bellingen Jazz Festival, this was an ordinary market day.

As it turns out, as far as art at markets goes, this seems to matter.

I have only done a small number of markets so far and it may be too early to make a definitive call on this, but so far there is a crystal clear demarcation between ordinary market days and festival or special market days.

So far, festival or special market days are ten times more successful than ordinary days.

Leading up to christmas I'll continue to test this theory, and after that I think I'll be applying it rigorously. After all, market stalls are a huge amount of effort. While fun, they leave me exhausted. They do have to be worthwhile doing.

Speaking of which, I have come to the decision that on market days it is too much to expect of myself to do a daily drawing. The day is a super early start, filled with dashing busyness and ends in a fog of exhaustion.

So no drawing from yesterday, but a photo of my stall at the market instead.

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An ordinary market day