Another big week at Arkaroola!

Flying in a small plane out into the western deserts is not for the faint hearted, or so I found out this time around. For the first time, I actually got airsick.... not just the squeemish tummy but the real throw up in a bag stuff.... oh nightmares! I really thought my number was up by the time we got into the desert..... aaargh! The Piper Navaho tossed and jolted across the skies thrown about by hot pockets of air and small clouds..... but sigh, it was fantastic to be back out there.... once the tummy settled.

This is the 5th trek into the wilderness that I have organised for my artistically inclined friends. Twice a year, I invite people to join me in this wild adventure and it is a lot of fun. It's energetic, focused, free, exciting and inspiring..... Just to get out there in that uranium decaying background seems to reignite the soul and cal, the mind.

Flying above Lake Frome has to be one of the purest joys of life on earth. It's a surreal and majestic sight and never the same..... again this time, it lay resplendent below us swathed in layers and the palest greys and ochres, watercolour washes across the plains. It's not a well known salt lake, but in many ways, I love it more than Lake Eyre. About 600 sq kms in size, it's like being on another world.

The Inspiring Colours of Australia

Australia is a vast island continent that is made up of mostly desert although most people would not know it. The majority of the inhabitants cling to a small coastal fringe around the edges of the continent divided from the bush by long chains of mountain ranges so called the 'sandstone curtain". These dividing ranges not only divide the vastness of the land but also divide the country socially and economically in more ways than one despite what governments would tell you.

As I travel around Australia looking for inspiration for my artworks, I am reminded constantly of how an unwary population is allowing the countryside to be raped and pillaged by big companies. It scares me as I ponder the huge gaping wounds that mining makes, the wide and denuded soils of large agricultural consortiums, the dying and drying deforested hillsides and I wonder where it will end.

My early life on an orchard gave me a love of the land I live in and depend on, not only for food and work but also for inspiration to create my art works. The ways of caring for the land that I was brought up to were more closely connected with composting, planting of nitrogen giving plants between the rows, hand picking and pruning, working with the seasons and the cycles of drought and wet. These practices have largely been replaced by methods that for me, seem disconnected and ruinous. Monsanto and other large corporations do not have a holistic approach but instead use a broad brush that misses the defining moments that make up lives at a very personal level.

I worry for my grand children and what is being left for them but at the same time, I now see a new, young, vibrant and intelligent generation that ask the hard questions and who are taking on the bigger institutions and demanding to be heard. I cheer these leaders of the future on. New ways of lobbying in GetUp and Change.org are bringing about renewed hope for the future.

After 200 years of settlement, I see a new generation that at long last, regard Australia as their home as they embrace not only the mistakes of past generations, but build hope for a brighter future. In some small way, I trust that my environemental paintings will also bring about change and a rethinkng of politics and 'living WITH the LAND'.

 "Pittapunga Lake" (1.2 m x 1.2 m synthetic polymer on canvas) shows aerial mapping of land use in western NSW, the demands being made on failing river systems, the push into salt lake areas in an attempt to farm salt areas, the decimation of forested areas by clearing for even larger farms, the coal seam gas alongside large mines. Can we continue these unsustainable practises in a land that is largely desert? By the way, this area really exists except that the mine is my addition for now.....

Wattle l do!

Had a great day teaching aspirants how to tackle Wattle watercolours! Harder than it looks, it's a real meditation in the studio!

Now it's at the framers waiting for a beautiful frame to set it off! Arh! The decorative arts! Lovely way to be!

The Yin and Yang of the Art World

Do landscapes sell? Are art buyers/lovers really interested in the landscape?

It's amazing every day, no matter where or what I go or do, I find people with differing points of view especially about the art world. I guess, really, everyone's experience is so different, so diverse, that we each have to make up our own mind in the long run.

So just thinking it through today, I realise that in my life I have over 700 paintings of the landscape hanging on people's walls and in their offices all over Australia, the US, China, Japan and various other countries throughout the world. My lifetime has been spent pursuing the essence of landscape through colour, shape, intricacy, abstraction and a variety of techniques and materials. Just this week, I have completed several pieces both large and small, and as I view my studio, there's not much in stock..... so the landscape must still be a winner for many collectors - at least in my experience!

So what do you think? Here's my latest work titled "The Ancient Ones" inspired by the many ancient rocks that continue to erode out into the Australian landscape wherever you go..... they can be found in all sorts of places but it's the remote ones I love the best! In an arid landscape, there's nothing quite like coming across a pile of massive boulders! They provide shade, colour and form, beautiful washes of colour, and they 'talk' to you! They tell the story of our fabulous place - our home - Australia!

When I look, I see maybe a couple of female figures laying in repose, maybe discussing 'life' as time passes by..... what do you see?

More on my website!

It doesn't matter what you paint, just continue to follow your heart, eyes and soul and keep painting - "Let it flow and let it go!" (Joy Warren of Solander Gallery in 2011) Thank you Joy for that timely advice. I needed to hear it then and I keep repeating it to myself each day.....

Have a happy painting day and remember, even when sales are slow, it's time to catch up on all those images that are waiting dormant waiting to be born!

More Arkaroola!

Just had to make a little video on Arkaroola and why I head out that way! Looking out my window today, I know exactly why I need to leave Orange in winter - aching joints, limpy leg, creaky bones..... the chilly air brings out the worst in us.... and the cold just gets colder every year.... so of course, now I've been home for 5 minutes, I am wanting to turn around and escape again!

So made a little video to pass away the time..... hope you nJoy it!


As well, have been back in the studio as I have a new solo show coming up at Jayes Gallery at Molong..... opens Friday 19 July at 6.30 pm! cyu there?

Arkaroola Art Tour a hoot!

Well hi everyone!

We're back from Arkaroola and it was as usual, amazing! The artists found inspiration and healing in this very special part of the Ozzie outback - deep in the heart of South Australia. It has to be one of my own very favourite places to visit......

We started by flying over Lake Frome - less well known than Lake Eyre and a gem..... this time, the lake had a 50-75 cm cover of water making the surface like a mirror. We were so dumbstruck by it that we couldn't speak much to the consternation of the pilot who thought that we might not have been impressed. But I assured him that we just couldn't speak at the sheer beauty and ethereal nature of the lake in flood.....

 

Lake Frome

After having our minds expanded in the observatory that night by Doug Sprigg who showed us the starry night sky through his wonderful telescope, we climbed exhausted into bed our sides aching from laughter.

Next day saw us take a gruelling tour of 4 1/2 hours of back breaking chiropractic abuse in the open back of a 4WD across country to Sillers Lookout! But it was well worth the rough ride with everyone sliding up and down the seats into each other!

View from Sillers Lookout

On Day 3, we took a fair hike of just over a km the guide said (hmmm..... it was definitely a lot longer than that!) down through Mawson Valley and to the riverbed where Sharpie, our aboriginal guide told us some dreamtime stories from the area. I think we were all so tired by this time, that we were just happy to have a seat even if it was in the sand! But it was a gentle way for the tour to wind down.

We headed back into the studio, but I feel we all had so many images fighting to emerge in our heads and hearts, that we all found it quite difficult to focus on just one thing to paint..... so we chatted away the afternoon with some people painting hard!

There are more photos on Panoramio and I will load some more as I find time. But in the meantime, consider Arkaroola as a must see destination for the Australian painter! They are friendly, helpful and ready to welcome artists with open arms..... it's well worth the long (fascinating) drive out there! But take plenty of memory cards as they won't go astray!

Looking forward to being able to take more of you on wild painting adventures!

Joy - oh and, we are having a group show at Aawun Gallery later this year! So don't forget to keep an eye out for details as they come to hand!

Wilderness Painting! Come and 'see' with me!

Hi all

Well on my return from the desert trek that Wanda and I took late last year, the place that stood out the most as a painter's paradise was definitely Arkaroola in the South Australian Outback! What a place! IMy heart yearned to return and so after much chopping and changing, I am on a roll and getting back out there!

But wait! You are invited to come and paint with me! This is NOT a camping trip, oh no no! This is not 'roughing it' in the desert! This is a lovely comfortable week at a wonderful wilderness sanctuary in the heart of the North Flinders Ranges that has a highly regarded reputation in the eco-tourism industry! A gem in the bush!

Owned by brother and sister, Doug and Margaret Sprigg, this amazing place will host our painting tour. There's several 4WD treks to take, an aboriginal elder who will guide you through some of the area's dreamtime, not to mention the most inspiring landscapes to get you painting and 'seeing' like you have never seen before.

It was so inspiring that on my return I painted "Flying High" in a whole new range of colours. My own sense of vision has been heightened by going out there and seeing Australian as if seeing it for the first time!. This is truly a wonderful experience (and comfortable and cosy!)

I would love to see this place through your eyes! And see what you come up with in paint!

 Violet ranges with acid limes and yellows, hourly changes of colour, like driving through a 'living painting'

 Some of the landforms are quite strange, new shapes and hills, a fascinating array of colours in a rugged land.

There's an 'ah!' around every corner.... a place begging you to stop, the contentment you feel in this awesome place...... aaahhhh!

If you would like to come along with me in May, then go to my newsletter for more details!

The Joy and Life of being an Artist!

The Year of the Rabbit has left me quite exhausted! There has been so much change, hopping about and so much to do..... so many little ends to tie up, so many decisions to be made and so many new forces to be considered. This last year has left us all a little dazed and I find myself thinking what will the Year of the Dragon bring.

So I am starting early to consider the year ahead. With a very full month ahead of me and an important solo show next April at Aarwun Galleries, it is time I knuckled down to serious work in the studio.But whew! What a year and still some to come.

This morning I was driving, no....cruising along the highway in my comfortable car, looking out over the hills and valleys of this wonderful landscape I live in; abundant growth everywhere and warm sunshine after a week of non-stop rain. I noted that the rivers were full to the brim and wonderful puffy white clouds building up in the bluest of skies overhead. I am always happiest in my car, free as a bird listening to music and cruising the landscape. My heart sings! Or in my studio, paint everywhere.... love getting all messy and seeing what works with what.

I have just had lunch with my dear friend Karrin, wonder woman artist from Lightening Ridge and a true Ehulii woman spirit. She looked marvelous! You can find her art work on her website. We always enjoy sharing together the various stories of our respective lives. True friends are great treasures to be enjoyed while we can so these are special moments when we connect with our soul sisters.

We both are acutely aware of the damage being done to this sacred land we live in and we worry for the delicate deserts and waterways being disturbed by an ever increasing mining presence. It might be that Australia will be uninhabitable in time as awareness of being in touch with the land is eroding in the face of an increasing greed. It is another invasion happening - perhaps the last! I remarked to Karrin that lately it is the aboriginal people that are buying my artworks and not the European descendants. I feel that is a privilege and shows my connection to the land is being recognised by the original land owners. But with it, comes a responsibility: a responsibility to reach out and make others aware of the 'pain' the land is in.

I hope I am up to it. Still Canberra is the place where my next show will be so maybe, just maybe I can make a small contribution to raising consciousness. I certainly hope so! So look out for "LAND /MARKS" in April!

"LAND /MARKS - abandoned" Mixed Media on Paper 52 cmx 70 cm

This painting depicts an abandoned homestead block in the western desert.Man has tried for over 200 years now to conquer the inland of Australia but marks such as these home sites left long ago show the harshness of a desert that we still have not learned to live with.

Forbes Town - what a hoot!

Well, this last week saw some of my works shown at Forbes Town Hall some 150 kms west of Orange where I live. It's always interesting to take your work into another town, especially the smaller towns and see what the exercise brings! I'm not sure about anyone else, but I had a fabulous time..... the people of our Ozzie country towns are really the 'salt of the earth', super friendly and welcoming!

One very special lady I met called Lee wrote a poem about me and she has given me permission to put it here for you also to laugh at enjoy! Lee also liked my hand painted shoes (grand-daughter's art) so much that she was inspired to paint her own..... now that's my sort of person!

"Limericks de Joy"

To Forbes came this artist extraordinaire,

Environmental from her feet to her hair.

She was surely inspirational,

Her paintings quite sensational,

Yes, Joy, your a lady with flair.

Came this talented artist from Orange,

(which doesn't rhyme with anything)

For her spectacular paintings to bring

All that nature does impart

Painted right from the heart

Glorious colours that make your soul sing.

I have to say, I was wined and dined in style, Pam and Tony made me very very welcome and the last night party! well, what can I say except that 2 days later I am still recovering! Yes Forbes, you are going to be hard to beat!

I had to add a photo of one of the many floral arrangements that the Forbes ladies put around the show....... the colours of our bush flowers are really beautiful aren't they? We all just love those blue gum tips and bright red bottle brushes. I thought this would make a nice painting..... hmmm....

The Town Hall is really quite stunning inside with a colonial architecture that reflects our rather British heritage so the show looked quite good in the space provided. One hopes that the Forbes Council learns to encourage the arts further and support the hard work of their local people. Maybe an Arts Prize or an Aquisition from the regular shows that the people of Forbes voluntarily put on.It would be good to see these country councils participate more fully and engage their arts communities by building local collections of Australian art.

So this week, I'm off to Coffs Harbour, a trek of some 800-900 kms north and to the beach! Yay! My paintings will once again go on display only this time at Opal Cove Resort - so let's see if Coffs can come up to Forbes standard! It'll be a challenge!

Can't think of a thing to paint? Overcoming the blank mind!

This year has been the most amazing year for me with so many things happening, things to see, journeys to do that I often feel quite saturated and not sure where to start. You all know the feeling: there's either too much going on in your imagination or not quite enough! It's hard sometimes to find that cruisey neutral gear that allows you to roll through the next painting with ease!

Added to the grief of having a mental block, or an avalanche, there's the continual interruptions to one's day / week from a variety of competing concerns / jobs. And so life goes on... so how does one get into the right mindset to just start?

Some of my tricks are: 

To just do it! Get in that darned studio and pick up the brushes! 

Look at those shoes your grand-daughter made for you, put them on, dance, jump and run around, get free again! Remember the joy of painting when you were young and unencumbered!

Sometimes the best results come out of sheer frustration and trying something completely new. I like to run with a few new techniques and just throw paint around- see what comes! Here's one I did with a business card instead of a brush - just for fun!

That's all well and good if it's a sunny day and warm outside but what if there's a chill wind blowing....? 

I like to promise myself a great cup of coffee from Moshi Moshi with 2 of the nicest young creative people around, Lotti and Dan! After seeing their cheery faces and getting one of Dan's neck rubs, topped up with Toby's (great coffee) I head off cheerfully into the chill wind...

Another is to flick through my photo album and print out a couple of inspirational landscapes- you know the ones that turn you on!

But recently I came across a marvellous creative soul who gives away so much information to us arty farty folks on how to be businesslike and break bad habits. Mark McGuiness of Lateral Action is one of us so he really knows the problems we wild children can have trying to do the adult stuff! His FREE book is available online at http://lateralaction.com/creativeblocks/ and well worth the time to read! Co-author is Marelisa Fabrega.

The Year of the Rabbit has hopped around wildly for me but the lessons I have learned along the way have all helped me to maintain focus, overcome 'painter's block' and keep on that journey towards my 'self'- the 'real me' at the core of my being! I reckon it's been a great year with so much still to do! A wonderful end to the year is looming steadily and I'm sorry, I have to get back to my painting! What about you?

Ruminations of a frustrated artist!

You know the saying "Just do it!" Such wise words, so hard to follow but today I did! I did it!

I think finding this website "The Flinty Hard Road" and reading it made so much sense to me and brought me back to the place where I know I'm not alone..... the arts is a hard career choice.... probably the hardest! I really related to the heading "Fabulously successful, penniless and deranged" particularly the 'deranged' bit!

Lately I've been well, let's say "occupied" but today, I bit the bullet and "just did it!" and boy does it feel good. I went to the studio and prepared all those canvases that have been patiently waiting for me. There they are now, all virginal white, covered in that clean clear pure pristine coat of gesso. They wait for me now to pour forth all my energies onto them..... sigh! What a good day's work!

The weekend saw another exhibition of works open to an assembled throng of art lovers, purveyors of fine art and wine, some really decent and genuine people amongst them..... the wallets remained firmly locked and who can blame them for today's economy sees most people worrying about their retirement plans as their super funds vaporise before their disbelieving eyes. Not so for us artists, we don't have the luxury of retirement plans. We'll be painting until we're blind and hanging around hopefully for a sale.

But we do have the luxury of filling our lives and walls with wonderful art that others can only dream about! Not for us, those dreary prints and commercial crappy decorator pieces, don't they make you cringe!

 At least 3 people promised to buy work.... ah that's nice and I remind myself that despite the current downturn this year, I have had some sales and offers that other artists would be glad to have.

So to get into the studio today and back to my virginal white canvases was a joy! My mind started to focus immediately as I imagined the images starting to appear. I could feel the paints calling to me from their tubes to squeeze them and spread them luxuriously across each virgin in turn. Ah what a pleasant day!

It's going to be good year after all! There's so much to do and so much opportunity lying right here at the doorstep.... it reminds me that "everything you need, is right there in front of you!" So watch this space as the year rolls on.....

"Flooding of Twin Lakes" Oil on Canvas

Here's one that I would like to see painted up into a large work...... hmmm.....

So keep painting out there!

Dreaming of the Kimberleys!

Waking up this morning to sub zero temperatures, I stick my head back under the blankets and begin dreaming of the Kimberleys again! I see myself bumping along looking out the window of the 6WD at what has to be one of the most amazingly beautiful landscapes in the world. 

The colours just bounce off each other, the shadows, the light, the blue blue sky, those limes of the spinifex and oranges of the rocks....opposites on the colour wheel, they dance around each other forming their own magical music! Songlines the aboriginal people call these places/ridges/ranges and to me, they definitely do 'sing'!

 

 "The Bungle Bungles at mid morning"

I go to my studio and prepare my papers to start but it's so cold, the paint won't dry so I head off to the art shop. Staggering out more exceedingly poor than before, I am happy with the colours I've found....quite a different palette to the one I am used to. The grey cold wind whips around my legs as I huddle into the car $200 spent. OMG! This is such an expensive 'need' of mine! 

I am reminded of poor Gaughin in Tahiti writing to his dealers asking for money to buy paints! Like him, I also rely on my dealers and gallerists to keep me going but this year, I keep getting told that sales are slow. I'm afraid to say, it's been my own sales that have kept me in paint and paper. The GFC has bitten deep!

"Echidna Rock"

I take out my colour notes from the journey. I have to burn that blue blue sky into my deepest psyche so that I can recreate it perfectly. I could not believe when I looked up, just how wonderful that deep blue sky was above the tones of oranges and limes. This was indeed an inspiring journey......which reminds me, I am in the running to win another but to Uluru! Hmmm wouldn't that be fantastic!

Over the next few weeks, I'll be putting my field notes (small works on paper), my explorations (large works on paper) and major works (large works on canvas) as I develop them in the studio from my memories, studies, diary and photos so keep an eye out. Here's the link as I paint away the days!

 So happy painting to all of you out there or happy collecting - or both!

EXHIBITION OPENS SUNDAY 14 AUGUST 2 PM AT JAYES IN MOLONG NSW -
Everyone welcome!

Back from the Bungle Bungles! WOW!

Hi everyone!

Well I'm back from the trip of a lifetime!  The Top End of Australia in the the Kimberley Region has to be one of the most colourful landscapes I've ever been in. Truly painter's country!

The variety of colourways runs through the violet, orange and lime green ranges and form the most wonderful and inspiring landscapes I've ever had the privilege of seeing. Definitely a 'must do' in this lifetime so get out your bucket list and add it if you haven't!

However, I must warn you, you need to be fit, able to put on your runners sitting on the ground, climb and walk in wobbly circumstances - definitely no broken or wobbly ankles!

 

The Bungle Bungles - awesome, huge!

 

Me in my muffties! These clothes took a beating! and I look a bit worse for wear as well!

Ngumbun Cliffs - we had a forced stay in this beautiful spot and Thank You!

 

Moon over the Osbourne Range near the Bungles!

I'll be having a small showing of my field notes, photos and sketches plus a couple of larger works at Jayes Gallery next month, August so just go to my website for details of dates of the opening! Love to see you all there!

Gotta get painting!