JOURNAL
documenting
&
discovering joyful things
Beautiful art - A Hot Summer
I thought Melbourne's rising mercury today would form an appropriate backdrop to showcase these seriously gorgeous works from Brooklyn (NY)-based illustrator Monica Ramos. They're part of a series that she calls "A Hot Summer," based on summer in the Philippines.
I've been wanting to show you Monica's work for ages. Take a look through her portfolio, it's fantastic! I'm especially in love with the "Comfort Foods" series. Cute, huh? And if you dream of making a living from your creative work, Monica will share some friendly advice, too.
All images are from Monica's website, and used with her kind permission.
Art on fire
I had wanted to spend the evening last night writing a witty and clever blog post that would make you smile. Instead, I spent the night on my hands and knees sponging baby vomit off the floors, after spending the afternoon cleaning baby vomit off my baby and his pram and a goodly portion of myself, in the Emergency Department waiting area at the Royal Children's Hospital.
It feels like my little boy is sick ALL THE TIME but the triage nurse told me yesterday that babies on average have 10 to 12 viruses in the first year of their lives. Seriously? No wonder babies cry! My baby is 11 months old and I don't think we've clocked up 10 viruses yet, so I guess we're doing well after all…
While he (and I) recover, take a look at this STUNNING video of artist Steve Spazuk who creates extraordinarily beautiful works of art, using fire.
SPAZUK fire painter from Patrick Peris on Vimeo.
Have you ever seen anything like THAT? Have a great weekend!
(First seen via Swiss Miss)
Outlander
Don't even ask me how I ended up watching Outlander at first, because I can't figure it out. The last thing I remember was thinking "that looks pretty corny and a bit B-grade so I don't think I'll bother," and somehow since then I've watched every episode made (half a season) and I can't stop thinking about it.
The story is about an English woman who is travelling with her husband in the Scottish Highlands at the end of WWII, when she steps through some standing stones and finds herself stranded and alone in the middle of the 18th Century.
I know. I KNOW it sounds corny but it is SO good. A bit slow to start, but after a while you don't even mind the slow pace, it's like this show takes the time to respect the characters and the viewers and build the suspense and action properly.
There's no way I can wait until half way through next year for more of Claire's adventures, so now I'm reading the first book. Again, SUPER addicted. As soon as I finish writing this post I'm going to pick the book back up again, because I'm in the middle of a really good bit and it is quite important that I find out what comes next!
Also, I really need to visit Scotland.
What have you been watching and reading lately? Have you read the Outlander books? No spoilers please!!!
Love your work
Lately I keep meeting people who are so passionate about their work that their attitude inspires everyone around them. Do you know anyone like this? Cases in point…
1. A landscape gardener came to look at our back courtyard and talked for 15 minutes about one particular varietal of clematis that he found particularly lovely. Everything he said about gardens was all about emotion, the feeling you get when you walk into a garden space. "A place of stillness" is what he wanted to create, emotional stillness, so that being there makes you feel at peace. Before making suggestions for our courtyard, he asked if he could come over one afternoon and just sit in the space (for three or four hours!), simply to get a feel for it.
2. We had some people come into our house recently to hang all our large pictures. We all got chatting about art, and creative perfectionism, and the difficulty of letting go. One of the men said he would look back at the way he hung pictures 10 or 12 years ago and cringe, because he had learned so much and would do things so differently now. And I thought "Wow, this man is a career picture-hanger." He was an artisan, not a handyman, and I'd never met anyone so passionate about drilling holes in walls.
3. I stepped into a potter's shop last week to buy a bowl I'd been admiring through the window for a long time. The maker clutched the bowl to herself and said "Are you sure?" when I told her I wanted to buy it. As she wrapped it up, she said, "I'm sad that bowl is going." She had made everything in that shop, with her own hands, and it was all beautiful. But while she made a living from her work, she LOVED her work too. She created it because she wanted it, and that made it hard to let go.
I walked away from each of these conversations feeling energised, and determined to give myself permission to give my all to the things I loved. To stop apologising for my passions. You know? I don't think it matters what your passion it is, or whether or not others share your passion. It's your excitement and energy and commitment, and the sheer joy of doing what you love, that shines through. That joy puts a smile on the face of everyone around you.
Textile artist Jacqueline Fink on the creative process
"My work is as much a physical feat of endurance as much as it is a loving creative respite." ~ Jacqueline Fink
Jacqueline Fink is a knitter, and some. She is also a crafter, a dreamer, and an artist. And a mother.
Jacqueline learned to knit, like so many others, from her own mother. She told Trend Tablet magazine that as a child, she was "too impatient to commit to the language of knitting" to be able to follow a pattern. But five years ago, after her mother received a double lung transplant that saved her life, Jacqueline had a dream that heralded the beginning of her creative brand, Little Dandelion.
Now, she creates large-scale knitted works that range from gorgeous, textural blankets to chair covers and enormous 'pure art' installations.
From time to time, as a creative person, I struggle to find inspiration. I also struggle to manage my work-life balance. And I feel overwhelmed, stifled even, by burnout and writer's block (that's been happening lately).
But somehow in my mind I put creative professionals - "real artists" as opposed to hobby creatives like me - up on a pedestal when it comes to the creative process. Subconsciously, I imagine this is all seamless for them. Which is untrue, and probably rather unfair of me. Professional artists, designers, crafters, writers and every manner of other creative folks have to find inspiration, balance priorities and beat burnout, too. Duh. Of course.
So... I figured we might all be able to learn a little something from how other artists approach these challenges, and Jacqueline was kind enough to share a little from her own experience.
ON SEARCHING FOR INSPIRATION...
My process is perhaps a little unusual. I don’t draw on external references for inspiration: I’m not one to trawl through magazines or the internet and while the natural world may influence my preference for a natural colour palette I create purely to please myself.
Inspiration typically finds me via a subconscious thought stream when I am engaged in something completely unconnected with my work or via a dream. I see the creation in my mind’s eye and, because I cannot draw, then have to hold it there while I work out a way to make the piece.
ON OVERCOMING CREATIVE BLOCK…
I have learned to do the following:
1. Just park the problem in the too hard basket and do something completely unconnected with your craft for a while 2. Spend time in the company of elbow creatives whom I love and admire. Their energy always reinvigorates me propels me on 3. Keep creating. I’ve often overcome great difficulties with one project through the process of making another
ON WORK-LIFE BALANCE…
I gave up on trying to achieve a work/life balance long ago and I don’t beat myself up about it. It is what it is. I work in our living room and so there is no separation of space for any of us and our life is pretty much chaotic most of the time. But we are a very flexible bunch and can tolerate mess so we just do the best we can with what we’ve got. When you have something you want to achieve it is very important that you don’t place roadblocks in your path as an excuse not to give it everything you’ve got.
And one last (exciting) thing…
Jacqueline is now developing her own oversized knitting yarn "so that others can experience the joy of slow craft and this rather unusual method of knitting." Hooray! If you want to stay tuned, or take a look at more of her lovely work, Jacqueline's website is at LittleDandelion.com, and you can follow her on Instagram at http://instagram.com/jacquifink.
All images here are used with Jacqueline's kind permission, and taken from the Little Dandelion website. Photography credits are as follows (top to bottom): 1. Sharyn Cairns 2. Jacqueline Fink 3. Jacqueline Fink 4. Jacqueline Fink 5. Sharyn Cairns 6. Jacqueline Fink 7. Jacqueline Fink 8. Jacqueline Fink 9. Paul Westlake
Open hands, empty nests
The video below is amazing. It's a rare and quite vulnerable insight into the inspiration behind artist and sculptor Shelia Berger's work, and the personal and creative path she follows as she pursues that inspiration. It starts with a family bereavement and an empty nest found in her childhood home, and builds from there.
Often I wonder "where did that artist get their ideas?" This video reveals so much more than the artist's "ideas." To borrow a much-abused word from reality TV, it truly is a creative and personal journey as she explores nurturing, loss, and the fragility and constant movement of nature, through art.
You can see this and more wonderful "Portraits in Creativity" produced by Gael Towey, here. Gael says her great love is storytelling. The “Portraits in Creativity” series seeks to capture the bravery of artists and artisans, and reveals the visual seduction of the creative process.
Chicken noodle soup (+ links)
How was your weekend? Are you sick too? Everyone I seem to talk to is sick right now, not excluding my entire family. Those roses are a metaphor. And not a very subtle one. But somehow despite our never-ending illnesses, and the exhaustion, and the small fortune in tissues we've been expending of late, my weekend was still lovely, full of sunshine and love.
This weekend, Madeleine said "I love you Mummy," out of the blue, for the first time, making me the happiest Mummy in all of Melbourne. She also said "I miss my Nanna and Pa," which made her the most popular granddaughter in all of Melbourne.
This weekend, my parents came down from Sydney for a visit. The brought with them kisses and presents and laughter and all kinds of handy fix-up-our-house skills and boundless patience with the complete chaos that reigns around here 98 percent of the time and stops us from giving them the time and emotional energy they deserve. Mr B and I went out together for dinner while my parents minded the little ones. Anyone with small children and no regular support knows how rare and how precious that is. We wandered hand in hand through Chinatown like we used to when we first moved here and it was just us, and took a punt on a restaurant based on no other reason than it was there. We had little pieces of Peking Duck wrapped in pancake. The meal was good. The company was better.
This weekend, we all drove down to Bendigo to spend some time with Mr B's family. The 13 of us took up a giant table at the historic Shamrock Hotel for lunch and, when the food riot was over, Mr B bought cakes at Gillies Pies and we wandered across to the park where the kids had pretty much the best time kids have ever had running around and chasing each other and chasing footballs and falling off slippery-dips. All except Harry, who fell asleep on my chest in the Ergo, and I think he thought that was a pretty good time, too. Harry ate his weight in food this weekend, about six times over. He still didn't crawl, but he was probably too full and heavy from all that food.
This weekend was the first warm weekend since... I don't know, I've lost count. Probably April. And I love winter but I am SO OVER being sick and maybe just maybe that Vitamin D could help drive away the germs. It was all just what was needed to cheer me up, after being sick for so long. Do you need a little bit of cheering up? A digital bowl of chicken noodle soup, or hot chocolate, or just a cuddle? Hopefully these links will make you smile.
* Stone-fruit tarts with honey-coconut syrup. Um, yes please!
* This tiny home is just a converted garage. But it is stunning! So inspiring
* Get creative with contemporary collage
* Next time you want to read a book in bed, this adorable birdhouse bookshelf will make your book the roof
* Stop setting fire to the bloggers. Just stop it.
* Chocolate robots. Let me say that again. CHOCOLATE ROBOTS
* So completely in love with these luxury tree houses
* And I've saved the best for last. "The Barisieur" alarm clock brews your coffee to wake you up
Instagram crush - Nectar and Stone
Recently I discovered the Instagram account of dessert designer Donna-Caroline Khoo of Nectar & Stone. I don't think I've seen desserts so beautiful in a long time, if ever! Those pastel-hued Mayan pyramids of chocolate, topped with gold leaf? Stunning! One day when I'm rich I will send a block of those to all of the friends I love, just because.
Whose photos are making you drool lately?
All images are from the Nectar & Stone website, used with permission
Make Admire Join Splurge Plan Plant Mix Eat Start
What adventures do you have planned for the weekend? I am hosting an ice-cream baby shower tomorrow, and the mama-to-be and her baby-bump will have their very own bespoke ice-cream flavour, created by Harry's Ice Cream Co to celebrate International Ice Cream Month (I know right?). The Finders Keepers markets are on again and we always try to get up there if we can. And I need to go shopping for a nice dress to wear to the Epworth Gala Ball next weekend. Tra la la! There'll be some work in there too, because I'm miles behind on my deadlines, and some cleaning of the house, and hopefully in there somewhere some fun family time! Here are some other ideas I had for a fun weekend.
Make: these lovely beaded plant hangers
Admire: these stunning bird patterns
Join: a book club or a gym, or this fun combination of the two
Splurge: on new bedding that makes you want to dream beautiful dreams
Plan: 24 hours in Paris. What would you do?
Plant: a tree. Plant enough and you'll create a forest
Mix: music and munchies, with this fabulous vinyl + recipe subscription box
Eat: lots of ice cream! I love the idea of this ice cream crawl, bookmarking for summer
Start: doing that thing!
Do you want to play along? Let me know if you create a similar list on your blog.
Image is from here, licensed for unlimited use under Creative Commons