sketches

I've a lot of old drawing books, with small sketches
of ideas that didn't become paintings (yet).
Left is 'tree-ing' , right is 'listening' .
Under middle one is this quote:
"O you who fear the difficulties of the road to annihilation:
it is so easy, it may be travelled sleeping."

Today is in fact the 1st of January, 2009,
I still haven't figured how to change it on heading.

Wishing happiness to all.
My time on the net has mostly been looking for
good hotels or guest houses in Thailand & Laos, as it will
be the busy time when I am there.
Here's a few discoveries, though: one, two, three
four, five, six.

warmer

It's definitely getting warmer, & a big storm
builds up each afternoon, today with hail.

The poinciana trees still have flowers (right);
nature is so inexhaustibly inventive, but also,
sometimes, within a narrow band ~ the flower at left
could have been drawn by the same hand, then turned
upside down, except it's on a vine, not a large spreading tree.

Just checked in on a few friends: Kiki, Zom, Susan, Janice, Mel

north & south

Some very warm humid days, here; hard to imagine cold & snow.
The cold was in Colorado,
the traveller's palm & ginger flower in Byron Bay.
Almost a whole year has sped by. In me, there is a sense that
time is running out, I don't think it's from all the 'end of the world'
thoughts out there. Others believe the beginning of
a golden age is nigh. We just never know, do we?

As you may notice from my links, I love folk art, & so-called
outsider art. More here & here.

boxing day

Not so easy to photograph a book, without an extra pair of hands

a hand could also give a clue to the size (it's A5 page size)
though it could be a very large hand, or a tiny one..

A few airmail copies available locally. Please comment/email
if you'd like to be reminded when the seamail copies arrive ~
looks like it will be early March.

Some lovely handmade books here

dawn

Visited friends & family for a few days

& looked out from the 8th floor for many hours

at the ever changing ocean & light, took enough photos to make
a short movie, each moment seems better than the last,
how can you possibly decide that this is the moment ?
(that is, the best moment for a photograph ~
this moment is of course the best one we have right now..)


Haven't been much on the web, but here's some tasty food

happy holidays

Wishing everyone happy times.

to mullumbimby

In Vientiane there was a man standing beside some Lao temple
drawings, it looked a little like they'd jumped onto his arm.

My first approach to bookstores was yesterday
at Abraxas in Byron Bay where Betty was very helpful & positive
Today I went to Mullumbimby & arranged that our book
is also available at the Bookshop Mullumbimby,
I always like it there.

Otherwise it will be at Isaac's meetings only. There's been
one more hitch, the seamail copies will be late February.
I've just the airmail copies, so won't sell online yet,
just hope you'll check in again. It's AU$28 plus postage
($2.50 within Australia; $12.50 to both USA & UK)

If you like optical illusions, here's some

we have a book

Yesterday I received a finished book, it's fine, I said yes.

It became such a process. Let me warn anyone who thinks
to publish their book ~ if there are any little nooks & crannies
in your habit patterns, this will find them.
Then there are the people you deal with, who have their own
stuff..
Sensations in the body are somewhat ambiguous,
a bit like this old painting.

Excitement beginning to happen.
I get the airmail box today, the bulk will arrive by sea
from China, late January I think. Please check back then
Airmail copies for sale now, locally (Byron Bay).
I'll get paypal at Shanti Press once the books are all here.

distracting myself

Isn't it amazing how we can recognise a whole city
from a few brush strokes ? This is Varanasi
where I stayed for several months, a truly fascinating place.

A rock pool at Yamba, drove there one day with friends.

No, the book still hasn't materialised, lost in some twists of
who knows what. So I'm doing other things.
(.... ******* **** ....)

Bought a gorgeous book, Equus, photos by Tim Flach
& a lovely reunion
& a food tripper

nearly there

This is the intro page of our book
Nearly there...or not.

Interesting technology here

&, for a sister who soon starts a job with
an ngo in South America, here's two heroes:
Sebastiao Salgado & Wade Davis

signs

part of a sign in a nearby small town


& another that has since been sprayed by some
no-talent tom cat.

Speaking of which.. but no..
& cats are fine, they are totally upfront about their motives.
(Had to come back & edit this: so angry about something.)

Some interesting stuff here, - check out the FM 100 Hue test.

drawings

I came across this group years ago, I think in the
SF Asian Art Museum, & made several drawings. They were
a honey coloured timber, with remains of painting, & had
an endearing aliveness ~ life size as I recall, so it
felt like the figures were looking back & even commenting.

I'm in magical thinking mode, perhaps.

Don't you think it's fascinating to see what was happening
in other places, at the same time?

& then there's the timeless..

china

From my trip down the Yangtze in about 1982 ~ I can recall
a man coming up to me & saying ' You must be 40 at least',
he didn't seem to get that it wasn't a winning
opening gambit. The river, & especially the gorges, was
truly fantastic. & August unbelievably hot.

The book..seems to be taking the slow boat..

I like these papercuts,
& this artist has some awesome works

storms

Stormy weather. Not just outside.
If I was lightning, I'd probably strike someone.

wrapped eggs

I painted these wrapped eggs in mexico, on the hand made paper
that looks like Australian paperbark trees. The wrappers they
used in the San Cristobal market were the outer leaves of
corn cobs. At home I'd put the eggs in a glass of water ~
if they float, they're bad.

..This excruciating waiting trip continues..

as a tourist

Expecting some visitors today, from abroad, & wondering
what to suggest. Will they like the beaches best, or driving
around; the small towns, how green it is, the tropical bits,
or will it be the idea of mango trees leaning over the fences?
Impossible to know even what another sees..

I'm waiting, with trepidation, to see a second proof of my book.

Far away, in new york, some interesting portraits

black and white India

Top line is Kashmir, then Ladahk, & Dalhousie ~ again,
I've only damaged contact prints; that's what happens with
a hundred moves, along with other unforseen factors.
The children are at the school/day care centre I helped start.

I stayed for months in Varanasi. Having decided to go north,
I was waiting for the train when the loudspeakers
announced an 'indefinite' delay, so I returned to the
small hotel. A fascinating city. I'd walk each morning to the river,
once there were these large boats, it felt like a slip in time,
as it often did. Photos are another form of time travel, no?

Look through all of this site, great photos.

india

Awful news from India today (it's actually Nov 28, posts always
say one day earlier, don't know why) I scanned them from small
contacts, negs got lost in the mail, I think, long ago.
From Kashmir & northern India, where I lived for 5 years.
I travelled in the south for the winters.

I enjoy Stephen Huyler's site, he clearly has
such rapport with many Indian crafts people & artists.

frost bird

I woke to this cold, frosted window in Colorado, & wanted to fly
away to somewhere warmer.
Looking through notebooks I found this quote from Octavio Paz:
La luz es tiempo que se piensa.(Light is time thinking about itself.)
That's better than any link I can find today.

china

This was at a Singapore temple, wonder what it means?
Have the digital proof of the book, & don't know
what that means, either: it does not inspire confidence in
the finished result, am waiting to find out why it's so.. off.

Lettering artist here

the view

This was part of the view from the house I rented in
the mountains in India. It changed constantly with rain, mist,
clouds, seasons, & never failed to captivate. At that time,
there were many Tibetan refugees living in the area,
I loved to meet them on my walks.
Perhaps now it is like that Italo Calvino story, with houses
& people crowding in all directions..

Here for a short video of Tibetan yogis.

gold Buddha

The most beautiful Buddha image I've seen,
it's a solid gold statue in a Bangkok temple; it brought
tears to my eyes when I saw it this year, such a presence.
Apparently it was covered over, long ago, because
of invading armies, & then forgotten until quite
recently, when the outer casing broke.
I want him here today because a family member
is having a healing; & also the book proof arrives.
May your day be blessed , too !

More about Thai temples

painted walls

Just now I scanned these photos of an LA mural, &
only afterwards paused to wonder about the subject:
the title of the painted movie is The Fall of Icarus...

Related, kind of, in the way we make up stories for ourselves.

waves

Perfect morning for a walk on the beach, reminded me
I haven't for some time. As I don't drive,
it's harder to slip out for half an hour.
The phenomena called 'schoolies', where really a lot of kids
descend on a place after their final school exams, is upon us.
Locals in Byron Bay go early into town, to avoid the crowds.

Lovely short movies: Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche was in retreat
for many years; such a beautiful presence.

blue again

We've had a lot of rain, & some big storms this week

The blue sky after a week of rain is so very blue.

Still organising various things for our book, & anxiously awaiting
the digital proof early next week.

The sites about books I most enjoy are
book by it's cover, 5b4 , bookcoversanonymous,
caferoyal , mendelsund , nytimesbooks .. there are lots.

running around..

There's an expression in Australia: running around like
a chook (chicken) with it's head cut off. Not quite accurate,
but I've certainly been running in past 10 days or so,
to get our book print-ready, plus all the other details that implies.
It went to the printers yesterday.
Could have a digital proof in another week. Seamail copies
will be early next year, maybe I'll get a box air freighted
just before christmas. I'm linking another blog, with a few
pages from Burning Questions, & finding the best way to
make buying easy. (Wont be selling till copies arrive here.)
see some of the 46 full colour spreads on the new blog
(also at top of right hand column)
Above is one of my altered photos, a rooster in Darjeeling,
with friend..

shops

Shops are also often distinctly of that place. Here's 2 from Chungking,
2 in India, lower right is in Ladahk.

2 more in Leh, & a shiny tea stall in Malaysia

I've never yet seen anywhere as vividly coloured as
Rajasthan. These I took at the Pushkar mela in 1971,
even with the saddlemaker hand coloured, my eyes still
read those super bright colours.

Be warned: this site can take you away for hours.

how we recognise

Don't you find it interesting that we know this is english,
or at least europe, just from that green..

Here might be Spain, though in fact it's the beautiful
Posada Carmina, Mexico, where I stayed two summers,
&, right, a country house in Chiapas..

This is ranch land but it's not quite the idea you have of Mexico,
is it?

In Chiapas there are two wet seasons, it has a unique ambiance.
My computer room, now, looks onto a tropical yard.
Storm coming. A link to that foreign country: the past.

a big week

A corner of my courtyard

Mount Warning from the main beach at Byron Bay.
I've been looking at short term accommodation for overseas
visitors, extraordinary prices! Am embarrassed to add links..

This week I was at the computer a lot, getting an
ISBN number, barcode, seeing the pre press guy,
feeling nervously excited ~ because: it looks like
my book is going to happen.
Stay tuned ! I didn't have time to set up a separate
site, it will link to this one. You'll be able to buy the book,
probably not before January 2009
as the main delivery will be seamail. Some pages soon...

next step

It's an Illawarra flame tree.
Yesterday, I took the next step for Burning Questions,
& expect to be busy for several days, finalising details..

More when it's definite.
In the foreground is a grass tree, some can
grow taller than a man, & have a very sentient presence.

green light

There's a lovely wet radiance today, reminds me of
the green light in these shots, at different places.
Plus there seems to be a metaphoric green light
happening ~ shall see how it unfolds.

&, just because I love watching, here are dolphins again.

curves

These two were on top of the 'to scan' pile, today.

I went to a park in Melbourne, & laughed out loud
when I saw a large flock of black swans grazing like
sheep on the grass. At the time I was exploring whether
the road of excess really leads to the palace of wisdom.
I think that phase has passed.
In India, some palaces teeter on the edge.

mornings

Got up even earlier on Thursday morning, looking at my
little garden, then to the farmer's market, where I also
got this gorgeous orchid.
In case you're not already spending too much time on the web..