blues

It was cloudy at the beach in the morning, always makes
the colours more vivid.

Walked past this jacaranda tree on the way home.

marvellous short animated movie, found on beautiful decay,
Oct 26 post, "Lucia, Luis y el Lobo", it's really great.

rushing by

These 2 altered photos date from stays in Colorado &
near Lincoln on east coast usa. click on image to enlarge.
I nearly wrote enrage, I continue to have problems
with signing in, layout being changed etc, on my blog ~
life's too short for so much fiddling around. If you write
a comment, I'll know that at least you are reading it..

a witty & interesting idea: jan vormann

festivals

Another in the memory series, this is Pushkar. First went to

the huge annual mela in Rajasthan in about 1972, it was

definitely a mind-blowing experience.

Left is an altar to Frieda Kahlo on the Day of the Dead,

in Mexico, another great festival. I went to a concert

in the cone of an extinct (I think) volcano;

right is a scene at Pushkar. This year the dates are almost

the same ~ starts tomorrow .

le divan Fumoir Bohemian for it's surreal match to above.

echoes

Having a cleanup of files, found these.

Like these echoes of nature. Lower left doesn't happen very
often, always makes me laugh, it's something to do with
a frothy high tide, I think. Lower right is sky reflected
in a slick of water at the beach.

Some amusing found object robots

flower power

A friend in mexico sent a link today for talks by Wes Nisker,
I just listened to a good piece about why he meditates.
Made the 'sitting' image a couple of years ago. You'll find more in
that series under labels/digital art, they are available as
limited edition prints. (write a comment/email for further details)

Having trouble last few days, with signing in to my blog etc.

..not a lot of patience for it..

Design & the Elastic Mind at Moma

imagined memories

'Imagined' is implicit in memory, unless of course you are
imagining that you have perfect recall.
What I remember from this time is how special it felt
to dress-up in my mother's old hat (under the tiara)

With this one, I think it was more about the sensation
of being so far from the ground, on my father's horse.
Overlaid with the fantasy & dream world of a 4 year old.

becoming a poet at mobius haiku

walking

Another altered photo, I was in California.

At the water's edge, Stradbroke Island

At the edge of perception, also from Seed magazine,
the breathtaking work of Luke Jerram

altered photos

A few more altered photos. It's easier to do that on the
computer, now. There was also something good about
having a photo in the hand, back then.

Now, it's not so easy to believe a photograph, is it?
Along with quite a few other things.. although
I suppose it's still true: you have to believe it to see it.

Seed magazine a treasure trove of excellent articles

pools

A rock pool. I wonder if those shells are talking as they
move so calligraphically.



Two pools in Mexico; at the time I was altering my photos
by hand, just found a box full I'd misplaced.

curious expeditions

birds

Have you noticed how some trees' leaves look like birds?

The Coucal came back today, I wonder where they go?
They are amusing, (it seems) they hide their eyes & think
you can't see them. It's amazing that a large bird
with such a strong pattern can disappear into the foliage.

The photos of Rachel Sussman .. wonderful subjects, do look.
Really want to see those Quaking Aspens.
& lovely paintings of endangered species by Isabella Kirkland

the view

The view from my studio/computer room. It's not rain,
I hosed the window. We need rain.

on Ted, an amazing woman, Aimee Mullins.

tie die

Have always liked tie die, though I wonder at how quickly
fashions cycle through the same ideas.
It's different, more an art form, in India, Japan etc.
I thought these looked a bit like a tree's growth rings.

Another world at Lucia Guanaes, love the interiors.

folk carvings

There is a splendid ethnographic museum in Hanoi,
lots of carvings like these, don't you like the humour

that shows up in so much untutored art? Maybe it's the
pleasure of playing instead of working?

interesting creatures here too

hanuman

Friends in Bombay led me to a cache of incredible old posters,
which I later sold to help fund a small school for the children
of Tibetan carpet weavers in Dalhousie. Now I think they've
mostly moved to the plains. My Tibetan language teacher
sent the photo of the kids. It's a 1930's poster of Hanuman,
showing his part in the Ramayana.

the travel photographer is always interesting

family

It's my brother's birthday. Here he is with our father & 2 more
members of the family. Zoe is the Irish setter,
Butch is a Great Dane ~ of course, it's long ago. We were
living in the middle of the back of beyond. I played with a few
of our family photos in this way, to look more like my memory.
That is, layered, sometimes obscure, largely imaginary..

The best family photos I've seen are from Jacques Henri Lartigue
If I could buy one print from any photographer it would be
one of his. Probably ~ there's a lot I love.

sugar

Must have eaten too much sugar this week ~
but I think/hope the Ayutthaya buddha is
so marvellously refined, he can handle it.?

On ashes & milk, a piece about a huge & wonderful felt..pelt

waterlilies

These are water lilies, I've been thinking of lotus (another
great symbol from Asia) but can't find my photos quickly.

How to grow lotus.
Great brush strokes from Shinichi Maruyama

it's a boy

A new person* made his entrance into the world, this afternoon.
May he enjoy a beautiful life!

(I feel I should mention: the buddha, to me
is, above all, a brilliant symbol ~
whether you agree or not, surely you can appreciate
the sublime beauty of the sculpture above left.) Yes? No?

*I wonder where his road will take him?

On the ABC today, a talk with Glen Murcott & David Malouf

busy streets

I enjoy to see different posters/ads/signs
( & I like the re-use of a lot of signage, bags, etc in Thailand)
all that busy-ness can add to the excitement of a new place..

but then.. it can suddenly seem all too much,
like when an obsessive line of thinking takes over,
& you just want a stretch of calm country.

( such as: if we have to grow 70% more food in 2050,
for the extra billions of humans, where will the food be grown?
& since there are already millions starving.. ? )

tracciamenti ~ terrific alphabet dresses.

illusory

There's at least one Thai temple with free range chickens &
concrete animals. One in Bangkok has a very large collection of
gold buddha statues, mostly behind glass;

it may be for security, but perhaps it's more
a sub conscious cue re the illusory nature of all things: the glass
acts like mirrors in certain lights, or angles & the figures
multiply, it produces an altered state.

bertrand salle, & one of his links chloe poizat ~ fantastic!

altered

Although I altered this photo today, have been so
engrossed with a new picture, that I
didn't quite recall it.. didn't have to change much,
I took it because the figures were just about there.

Intuit & Avam for outsider & visionary art

sardhu

Don't ask me why these sardhus came to mind today ~ it's
the same as trying to trace a random thought, or dream.
Sardhus are an amazing phenomena in India,
probably always have been. It means something like renunciate.
There's a story that Alexander, when meeting some, decided
not to conquer India.

In Varanasi, I used to sit with this sardhu,
at Dassashwamede Ghat, & see pilgrims from all over the country.
He wore an incredible mala, it looked like fossil beads.
There's a big variety of sardhus, some were holy men,
a few were women, & a few were completely off the air.

Dot Krause is a digital & book artist/printer I really admire.
Take the time to go through Yuniko Samiro's site, his work
has such a happy feel.

old prints

Saw quite a lot of old wall paintings & posters during my
trip this year, usually with very low light &/or glass or varnish
on top.Liked these 2. I think they're more naive than kitch, &
remind me a little of Mexican retablos.

Some surreal collage from Eva Eun-Sil Han
& more by Balint Zsako

mix

Kind of a miscellaneous day.. that's a shop window in
Mullumbimby: the mirror reflects both the vintage mannequin,
& the street & sky. At right is a large silkscreen currently
in my living room. I made it for a table, didn't get that far.

Susan Porteous & Jennifer Khoshbin - interesting book artists

fixing stuff

Had to visit the dentist unexpectedly.
Watched The Red Balloon (1956), so delightful.

some days

Some days are dark, some are light..
weird how we sometimes find ourselves wanting
things to be different, isn't it?

Chris Pell. Seems like a great crop of students at Brighton.

gardens

Garden looked lovely this morning, dust washed off, refreshed,
so good to see rain again.

Printed this on a tshirt, a flowery buddha
made from old typographic borders.
It's available as a giclee print ~ contact me if
that's of interest, by writing a comment.

Like Sophie Alda's work & site
also Rikka Sormunen's blog

four

Having some minor problems with the computer, makes it
hard to find files, so these were chosen at random from a
Sukhothai folder.That's one of the old capitals in Thailand,
I liked it very much.

The Nonist may have finished, but there's still all these
hidden corners of erudite meanderings.
A post on sculptor Gerhard Demetz.

geckos

Feeling a little strange today.. days of winds? full moon?
too many people in town?

Errol Morris, Elsita, Design Observer ~ lots of interest
& .. I'd love to see Anish Kapoor's show.

symbols

Elated to hear the voice of my sister ~ safely home.
She said that first there was the sound of rushing water,
enough to alert them to move quickly to deeper ocean.

Sarnath in India always seemed an especially peaceful place.
It's the site of the Buddha's first sermon after enlightenment.
I added hibiscus to the pagoda because the shadows looked
like flowers, but it extends the symbol of a pagoda, too.

Michael Wolf's photos -see the real fake art series.
Some great posters at emek

dates

It's a funny thing about dates, what is a cause for celebration
for one lot, can be a horrible reminder for others..

Tibetan sand mandala video