A Country Ramble

Hi everyone!

Well I've finally made it back here to write a few thoughts down and show you a few highlights of the last few days!

Imagine my surprise and delight to see Jessica Watson in her boat coming through the Spit at Southport the other day! I had just taken a walk along the beautiful beach, dreaming all the while, when I noticed how busy it was. I thought "Isn't it great that people use this spot?" But no, they were gathering to see Jessica return home. And here she is!

I said to a couple of nice young men with their surfboards next to me "She's a hero you know!" and they replied "She's definitely our hero!" It brought a tear to my eye to see one so young make such an impact on us all with her bravery! Well done Jessica!

And here's a shot of the beach - amazing shades of blues and greens - so fresh and clean!

The contrast between the Moree Plains and the wide ocean are wonderful to experience within a few days of each other ..... makes you think and feel ...... reminds you of what a wonderful place we all live in! How wide and free, remote and sparse, how diverse!

The colours of Australia make you want to paint, to splash about in the studio and create great big canvasses! Check out this Moree sunset!

and here's a colourful view of the Glasshouse Mountains along the way! It was a lovely journey, 2100 kms by car all on my own with some wonderful friends and dinners along the way! But today, well, I'm back at the desk doing what artists do....surfing the net and writing up their blogs hehe!

Happy painting! nJoy

New adventure - oh Joyous!

Well hi,

It always seems a little weird, sitting here at my desk, pondering the outside world......they tell me that computers make you antisocial......not sure whether that's right in my case as I seem to get about a fair bit......yep, even at my age!

Just lately, I've taken up the new role of arts editor for Style Magazine......"the essential lifestyle guide for rural and regional NSW". And just this week, the first edition came out with my glamour shot, editorial and feature article in it! Couldn't be more thrilled really.....amazing what glossy white paper and crisp clean print can do for one's words. I have cleaned up OK for the photo.....am amazed at how good Diana's photography is. Either that or she has a fabulous camera that should be gold plated!

See what I mean! Hmmm! This is going to be a good journey for me, I feel it in my bones! And it's always good to be able to write about the thing that inspires you the most in life and for me that would be the arts! All those wonderful images and objects that people create...there's always something new to look at, wonder about or trigger something deep!

So anyway, the adventure begins.....who would of thought that at my age I'd start yet another new journey and one that will inspire me to grow more! Life just gets better!

Joy

2010 - Faster - Weirder!

Well, it seems my paintings have made it to Bologna for the "Small Treasures" exhibition in May at the Galleria de' Marchi.

 Above is the painting I executed for last show which didn't make it due to the economic downturn and now this time around, we have the volcano in Iceland doing it's thing.....just a reminder of my current theme for painting - Climate Change.

I must say I just love it when Mother Earth behaves badly! Just as we hear that there's a One World Order creating Carbon Credits to bring climate change under control (? what's that about), ol' mum lets off enough pollution to remind us just who is charge.

Of course if you live in those big battery sheds called cities, you hardly ever get out to see how awesome nature really is and so you can imagine in your mind that man is really in charge......for those of us however, that live out in nature, just one summer storm reminds us to be on the lookout.

"The Eye of the Eagle" exhibition at Jayes in Molong went really well and was received with interest by all who came along. Many were surprised at how positive the show was as they were expecting something gloomy but really, I just paint the beauty of the earth as I see it and despite what we do to her. I focused on landscapes from an aerial perspective as seen by the eagle in flight. As I googled my way across the earth daily, I found amazing patterns and places that inspired me to put paint to canvas in the brightest of colours trying to capture the eagle's pentachromatic vision.

Here's one that I did for "Small Treasures". I was inspired by the recent flooding of our inland. I think this one is called "Flooded Outback" but can't be sure, such is the state of my thinking this year! If you look close, you'll see the little farmhouse caught in the middle of islands between the floodwaters with all the roads closed.

It has been such a busy year and so far, too much to do and think about. The floods have been amazing though and right across our land bringing relief to our drought stricken land which is the 'boom and bust' nature of Australia.

I just love this place. It's so amazing to be alive here and now! and to be able to see it all from Google Earth - what a fantastic invention!

I wish you all the best out there in lala land! Keep sane amongst the madness of it all!