He Moved Through...

Parcels and Letters

OH I love getting a real letter in the mail. And a parcel is almost too much excitement for me. My friend Leigh sent me a DVD of Pillars Of The Earth and I was busting myself to get home to watch it and kept thinking what she had written on the back of the package while driving. Thinking it would be 2 hours max, I started at 5pm but it was a mini series and a mighty good one at that. So I have had some very late nights over the past couple of days. Thanks mate, I totally enjoyed it and currently on my second run through. Do yourselves a favor....

My Ironing Career

My ironing career began around 13. It’s so horrific that I've blocked most of it out. Mum, being a professional laundress for many years, couldn't stand a crease, even at 50 paces. So I used to watch how she ironed but after a few lessons was not required to step up. Then she got sick and I was to iron dads clothes for work. It was so nerve wracking but after ironing 5, I felt that I had it under control. The weekend came and I started to iron again and dad asked me if I could iron both sleeves from now on, not just one. Well, I thought I had been.... So being extra careful I continued on till mum came home from hospital by the next weekend.

Fast forward 1980s, and living away from home. Although materials such as Crimplene and Nylon were available they were a bastard to iron because they would melt on the iron. I preferred cotton coz I felt as if I were doing a slow cook in the plastic stuff. Venturing out on my own with an iron and ironing board was a bit scary and I had my reservations. Convincing myself, she’ll be right, Ill set the ironing board up in my bedroom with the air conditioner blowing on the back of my neck to settle my jangled nerves…….. I ironed my first weeks worth of clothes with not too much bother. Well, a few little blisters but they were mainly on my fingers. I hated the smell of FABULON so decided to get an old bottle and fill it with water then hold my finger over the top and damp the clothes down like mum sometimes did when she ran out of spray.

After a few weeks I couldn’t keep up the pace so decided to iron my clothes before work each day or when needed. Looking back now I'm thinking you are an idiot Kim Scott. Mornings were hard because first of all I had to find the clothes, which were chucked in the wardrobe so that every time you opened the cupboard an avalanche of clothes would fall out on top of anyone brave enough to open it. I kept burning myself on the stomach and the inner arms and after a year decided since the scars continued to multiply to the extent where it looked like I had a really good suntan on certain areas of the front of my body, I thought to myself, there has to be a better way to do this. This is a mugs game! I also started displaying Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (not that it was invented back then) because Id come home from work sometimes and the iron had been on all day, although I never actually started a fire with an iron. But still, it’s annoying when you remember at 10:15am that you might have left the iron on and having to ride the push bike home to check. So after a week or so it dawned on me. I had invented a new way to iron or at least a new ironing aid. It worked beautifully from day one and I continue to enjoy it to this day. What you do is you get a mist spray bottle and fill it up with water. Spray it all over your clothes while they are on your body. Bend over with your head down and continue to spray up into the air just behind you so as to wet the back. Don’t do this under the fan coz it doesn't reach the clothes very well. I mean, that’s not an issue if you are only worried about making a good first impression and in that case, just spray the front. So once that’s done you can either just make your way to work or stand under the fan till it dries out. I took the first option because the body heat would evaporate the water within about 10 minutes and had the added bonus of a brief cooling effect while riding or driving to work.

It’s now the 1990s. It was agreed that I could be trusted enough to look after Lauren and Ady Boy while Simmone and Mark were at the Darwin Hospital with Hamishs impending premature birth. I thought the whole thing was going well until a note came home from school with the kids saying their clothes looked like they hadn’t been ironed and that the clothes were very sticky. Mmmmm, I was a bit miffed but thought to give them the benefit of the doubt, I should get the spray bottle and just see if the water was alright. It turned out it was Simmones hairdressing bottle which had been filled up with a watery kind of gel she used on her clients hair. So emptying the gel, I replenished it with water from the tap and it was all sweet from then on.

Id always had an iron but that was strictly for patch working and when I arrived in Canberra in 2004, I continued with the spray bottle method even though the weather was cold, because the iron was in storage in Katherine for a year. When it finally was delivered to me, I thought Ill just see if it works and if not, Ill buy a new one. I heard like a rattling noise when I plugged it in but being a risk taker just continued on. Once it started getting really warm, this swarm of cockroaches ran up my arm and out around the room to enhance the ACTs gene pool. I laughed my head off because dad used to always call the cockroaches in my bedroom, my family.

2006 was a dawning in the fashion industry when the crinkled un-ironed look came into play. I felt like Id finally been validated.

I do appreciate a perfect crease, especially on short sleeves, but only on other people. You know the ones that would poke your eye out if you got too close.

As of today, the majority of my clothes are still ironed using the misting technique. Now I have an obsession with linen, I do have to iron the collars and cuffs under certain circumstances. My current iron has been left on occasionally. The first time I was becoming irritated that someone had been reversing their car (beep beep sound) for almost a ½ an hour, when I realised that it was actually my irons warning system telling me I had left the iron on yet again…..

Mistys True Self Assignment

My real self began at conception with my unconscious mind. I am most at home when I am playing or operating from my unconscious. I am more creative, loving, beautiful and true there. Signs come along the way that pointed me to my real self, like the people Im drawn to, books I read, movies I see, music I play, podcasts I listen to and images that make me feel, dreams while sleeping, smells and tastes that produce a reaction and words that stick in my mind. I feel that writing HAIKU as helped me to identify what is going on in my unconscious mind quickly now that I have been practicing it for two years, however using scribble drawings has been the quickest way to access it and meditation the most beautiful. I feel like I’m in the wilderness when I'm operating from consciousness.

And today I went to a framing shop and the lady walked out the back and said to the guy there is an ARTIST lady out there wanting to buy scraps of foam core. This made me smile. She has no idea what those few words meant to me. A validation.....

Owners Lounge Room

There is no greater compliment and sense of achievement than an Artist seeing their work hung and being enjoyed on a daily basis in the buyers home and not just hung up because you are visiting. I very much needed this faith and image to spur me on. Thank you, Toni.

Kids Back Home

Finally summoned up the courage to start putting my paintings in this frame. I was scared that I couldnt make them line up and that the Velcro would tear the canvas if I had to remove it. Well its made me realize that I should not fret over the longevity of my art and just do it. William Dobell used to paint on bits of cardboard and they are still kicking around in the National Gallery, with bits of dog hair mixed up in the paint.

Making Australya Fare

Dillybag Dreaming

This is the 10th time I have captured this object and I really like it. Its starting to have potential. Even just posting this here I can see things I would have done differently. Misty is right about getting to understand things by doing them over and over again. Well that's what I am doing with the chocolates....

MFC

This image has so many subject it can cover, Im thinking of getting a run of cards printed to use as presents. I originally drew this shape with my art therapist to when I was sick with Menieres asking what I needed and this blue image appeared. I interperated it to mean balance. For me it also means mental and physical health and persistance.

Dads Imagination

I have been intrigued so much in the way Canberra-ites carry their coffee around in the streets and even more so in winter. When dad was down last time I pointed it out to him and had done a sketch of it contrasting it with people in Katherine and how they carry their cask of wine around. Today dad mentioned that Canberra people carry their coffee out in front of them like its a bull bar. I laughed so much, but think there is some truth in it too.

Vintage

This is getting down right obnoxious, that I have to type the word vintage after all the images I want to search for from my childhood. Like the sugar coated "VINTAGE" Easter Eggs....

These look like they are made out of fabric but the colour and design are pretty close.

Thanks to Jode for finding the real ones. That girl should be an investigator!

Verge

Love this word. You know how when some thing is growing you up, and it makes you feel like you are on the verge of crying the whole time. Well that's how I feel with this art course. I havent felt this way in a very long time. Today I was explaining to my step brother what happens to me when weird shit happens that I cant deal with- like nearly getting the sack, when your before a judge, at a funeral or the dog just got run over - how I start laughing coz the scene turns into to a cartoon in my head and he said he knew how that happens. Not sure if he was being kind or was just scared. Anyway that whole scene was really funny coz I was pointing to a coke can explaining what shade of red my boss was when she was yelling and it got a bit out of control with the role play. All that doesn't change the fact I'm still on the verge.....

Nespoons Street Art

No choice but to try it. Innovative to say the least!

Mistys Writing Excersise

..............I am the.........................

I am the the between light and dark
I am the the between good and bad
I am the the between water and air
I am the the between pen and page
...........The the in me..........



............I come from.................


i come from wonderful and alone
and creative to the bone
im good at hyping and harmonising
im too deadly at supporting
and sometimes rorting
true blue ive been called
when saving bungie from being mauled
im a real handful
even for myself
and becoming proud
i have the strength to be
my unusual self.

Fecundity

Almost sounds like an Irish swear word.

The Repeat Offender

Being a Kajarine girl, I didn’t experience chocolate till the late 60s. Our Easter Eggs were all the hard moulded sugar type ones. Dad loved the Dark Chocolate and mum would buy him one block a week and we were told not to touch it and dad would share it out when he got home from work while having a beer if he felt like it. Well the fear of doing something wrong lasted right up till I was about 12 and I started sneaking a square, then a line, then a ¼, ½ , ¾ (I was learning fractions the good way) would disappear. This caused major angst in the camp. I think this was one of the indicators that we needed our own spending money. Even though I had pocket money I just used it to vary my sugar intake, supplementing with Coke. Dads chocolate moved from the usual position on the top left hand shelf side in the fridge to down to the crispers, up to the meat tray, in the butter compartment, which added a bit of interest for me. Kind of like a fox hunt situation. Id get home from school and as soon as everyone went down stairs, Id go to the fridge avoiding the creaking floorboards which meant Id have to surf along the servery on my tummy and then gently lower myself down to the floor in front of the fridge. Mum had become quite inventive by this stage and started putting the chocolate in the deep freeze in a pea packets and such. The grand finale occured one day when I knew that the chocolate must be in the fridge because they melt in about 5 minutes if not refrigerated. I developed a checking system where I would complete the check in about 10 seconds covering all the usual spots. This day nuthin……. I’m thinking to myself, can’t be nuthin. Being innovative I thought I would put my view point at the bottom of the fridge and look up. oh yes!!! There was the gorgeous glow of the Cadburys "Old Gold" packet which was thrilling. It was perched up on the edge of the meat tray and jammed hard against the inside fridge wall and the ice from the freezer. That’s the day I congratulated myself and ate the whole chocolate on the spot. After that mum decided that she wouldn’t bother hiding them any more and that’s how I became obsessed with Chocolate.

Hanging On

These drawings from the unconscious always amaze me how many things come to the surface days after.

Puff Balls

Online Course

This online course is giving me a real work out, I'm so emotional at the moment. This is only the first of the five week course and I'm wondering just how fractured Ill be or how whole Ill be by the end.
Major things I learned this week is light dark and medium tones. Loose drawing makes things look like they move. Oh and Ive had to censor my art which means Ive been grown up seriously.

Ive also managed to write my first zine this weekend, which I feel good about and taken a couple of gorgeous snaps.

Imagination

"Imaginations is a most secret power that is as much of a cosmic force as of a phycological facility" Gaston Bachelard.

Ive been blessed with an acitive and vivid imagination. Over the past 5 years Ive learned to embrace it and encourage it. I think also that by me slowing down and expanding my inner life of creativity has helped me stop looking outside myself for fixes. Ive always believed we have everything we need inside of us but didnt alsways know how to access it. Especially for healing. We were created to maintain homeostasis. Something has happened along the way of civilisation that disconnects our self knowledge in certain areas. And I love love love to dream......

Twins

Only our mother could tell us apart.....

Joan Miro

"Poetry and painting are done in the same way you make love; it's an exchange of blood, a total embrace - without caution, without any thought of protecting yourself. "

"The painting rises from the brushstrokes as a poem rises from the words. The meaning comes later."

Just discovered this artist a few days ago and he works from the unconscious mind as well. He appears to have lived a humble and quiet life and after posting that image yesterday the top quote really resonated in me. This is the first time in art Ive had to deal with censoring and I asked Mistys opinion before I posted it on the Flickr site that the course group use. It wasn't till after the image was finished that it occurred to me that this might cause a hostile reaction. Well now Ive experienced that uncertainty, Ill sit back and see what comments come my way. It was an essential step up. I love experiencing the felt sense.

Art For Today

The picture at the bottom appeared from a scribble drawing and was quite confronting. Im naming it "the birth of an idea"

Art Class With Misty Mawn

I decided to join the online class to see if it takes me up to the next level. Im having alot of fun. Part of the class is to draw the same thing for 5 weeks and Ive already drawn it twice and can see an improvement so I think it will be worth the 100 notes I parted with. Here is a doodle and here is the original dilly bag and my impressions so far.

And tonight I saw my first 3D movie "Tangled" thank Godde it was a kids movie because I was struggling with the reality of it all, ducking and weaving and shielding my eyes from water spray like a cone head. It was confronting and very much fun.

Consumerism

Im disturbed that the Easter hype has already started. I feel like screaming, GIVE US A BREAK!

Crook

Laid up with a Menieres episode Friday night. Man, they are like getting drunk and suffering the hangover. I suspect the poison was a preservative in the Italian Sausage I had. Its so embarrassing when after you just eaten and then announce you have to go home right now because of sickness. So a day in bed with constant conversations on the big white telephone. Today my head. eyes tummy and throat are very sore and sensitive, feeling like I'm in a fog. Managed to have a swim early this morning because my back is stiff from laying down for a full day. Back to work tomorrow. mmmm unconscious mind is a powerful thing.

Treasure

Found this today at VMART and it evoked so much emotion that I had to have it. Reminding me of my own typewriter I got for my 15th birthday which was a green colour. I cant remember what brand it was. When I started typing, I was quite surprised the amount of strength I needed to make the marks. Then I had to slow down as the striker was getting all bunched up. The noise was Divine and brought back to me the song Yellow Rose Of Texas that we used to do our typing drills to. oh and the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.... This machine allowed me to operate in the writing world as I committed the keyboard layout to my unconscious mind and was able to copy very fast. I used to type up the race guide every Saturday morning for my boss Paddy Fitzgerald's betting shop. Feeling this machine will be used for more personal arty writings.

Let The Bodies Hit The Floor

Love the way he sounds out floor.

Garlic Chives

Ive recently pondered the resilience of Garlic Chives. No matter how much I neglect them or cut them off at the knees they come back beautifully. And they taste so nice on freshly scrambled eggs.I live in a one bedroom apartment but grow all sorts of things to eat and it makes me feel responsible for my own nourishment.

A Day Of Gallery Visits

Happy New Year Everyone

Translation of the cushion I got from VMart.
" It is not enough for poems to be beautiful; let them be tender and guide the listener's spirit wherever they wish. As our face smiles on those that smile, so does it cry with those that cry. If you wish me to Carry, you yourself must first feel grief. Then, Telephus or Peleus, your misfortunes will hurt me! But if your language is not suitable for the circumstances, I'll sleep or smile".

Glad these lovely words are in my lounge room.