similar

Looked today at Jo Whaley's site, & was struck by the

similarity in our work at a certain time. I painted a lot of

butterflies about 1977, while living in India;

she was or is photographing, & playing with

the patterns or conjunctions with the backgrounds.

I like them a lot. Tell me what you think?

Mine (5 above) began with Chuang Tzu's famous

words, I exhibited them in Sydney, in 1978.

one day old baby (elephant)

peach blossoms

Have lost track of the days, these peach blossoms

were at the farmers' market I go to each week.

wombs, waxes & wonder cabinets

breathing

I like to think of them breathing, don't you?

Helping us breathe. We are lucky here, the air is clean.

Yesterday & all night, I was breathing with a young friend

giving birth , what an amazing experience.

Seems to me it must include a dash of amnesia, otherwise who

would willingly go through with that?

It was a privilege to be there, too

great old maps

trees

Needed to go to Mullumbimby, which I do by bus, so

was looking at the trees while waiting for the return.

They get interesting patterns of lichens

because it rains a lot.

you can't kill a planet & live on it too

play

The palm is from somewhere exotic,

perhaps Madagascar.

The clouds seemed to be playing a game across the sky.

these are fun

nature's

Still from my days away; we walked on the beach

where there is always something different to notice,

though perhaps I do go overboard with photos.

(No, that's not true)

do you like this?

wild

The ocean was often quite wild for the days I was away,

one afternoon we went to one of the headlands, it's unusual

to be able to look down on the waves, here,

more dramatic.

You must listen to this!

space

Stayed a few days at a beautiful house

with people I love,

who have a large collection of my paintings & digital art.

I like to see how they work in a different setting.

The setting can be quite spectacular!

we watched an old movie with this setting

solid, or not

Have you ever noticed how some old trees

seem to grow more solid through time, while others

become lean & spare? Pretty much like people.

The analogy falters, when you see a tiny bonsai growing

in the crack of a rock; except I did once pick up a rock,

& two fierce little .. creatures .. were hissing there.

Nats? Looking at Burma sites, some

interesting bits here.

sunday afternoon

Walked with a friend this afternoon, towards the lighthouse,

except the usual path is closed for repairs, so we went

another way; I like how even coming from another direction

can push it into unknown/fresh territory.

& the dog was so happy!

tony cragg

black & white

Watched a BBC documentary Human Planet

which shows what some people eat, like spiders, bats,

snakes - because that's what's available. So I looked

in my birds & animals folder, & these jumped out.

Though perhaps you have seen them before?

The birds are terns, they do an incredible yearly migration.

I like the graphic shadow of the echidna's quills.

(But wouldn't care to eat one)

I like these drawings, don't you?

shimmy

More from the other day. The river had a huge

Moreton Bay Fig tree at it's edge lower left, big butressed

roots right on the land side. The trees at the lake top were lit

by sunlight bouncing off the water, so it shimmied.

a fun series: dress tents

sea river lake

Out for a few hours, quite cold & wet, but every time

the beach shows a different aspect. We found a new place by

the tidal river - it was low tide - & also checked out the

lake, where it was rough with wind.

gorgeous creatures

poetry

In the late 80's I met a workshop leader who also wrote

poetry, these pictures date from that time, about 1991.

It was winter in Colorado, unbelievably cold outside,

but mostly blue skies that looked like summer

in Australia, it tricked me many times.

I moved between there & Mexico.

Kiki Suarez, an artist friend in Mexico

eighties

These date from month long intensives at Esalen, in the

80's, holotropic breath work with Dr Stanislav Grof.

There is a special celebration this month at Esalen

for Stan's 80th birthday. They were really memorable

workshops, not only for the depth of the sessions, & the

interesting cross section of teachers he assembled, but

especially for his presence: generous, wise, loving.

A great one!

a short video on his early LSD experience