An Uncomfortable Model

Later this year, my creative efforts and I are off to Bush Christmas - an exhibition showcasing the work of rural and remote artists and artisans, held in Toowoomba in December, and I'm pretty stoked to announce that yours truly is to be the Featured Exhibitor for Day One of the exhibition.

What that means, is that I'll be there, set up with some goodies from my studio, ready to chat with anyone who is prepared to stand still for a minute, and share the delight of colourful, fun materials. There is potentially going to be a product addition to my offerings this year... There is a book in the pipeline! But more about that, later.

For now, the fabulous Bush Christmas organisers need photos and information to update their website and begin promotion. 

This is my least favourite part of this job. As a model, I make a good cook; and I agonise for hours over what to write about myself that people will find interesting to read. Thankfully, my daughter-in-law, Caitlyn, knows her way around a camera, and proved skillful in sneaking some shots of "the artist at work in her studio" that didn't leave me feeling awkward. 

I think she did a great job, and I particularly love this photo, with DO IT NOW on the inspiration board behind me. Not only because the kick-in-the-pants directive is helpful; but the focus is off me! 

When our "photo shoot" was finished, I bit the bullet and wrote the 'about me' piece to accompany the profile picture:

In between knocking up mustering smokos, doing budgets and bookwork, and managing the office for our Central Queensland family farming business; I create artwork, write, and prepare art journaling classes for people who are keen to flex their creativity, but aren’t sure where or how to start. I believe every human possesses an innate desire and capability to create, and have made it my business to help others unearth and explore that desire. Their eyes light up, shoulders loosen and they smile. A lot. I have a passionate belief in the transformative power of creativity.

Gleefully abandoning an art teaching degree in the 80’s to marry my salt of the earth farmer, my city upbringing gave way to the adventure of country life, where I’ve spent thirty years raising three high spirited sons, while fine tuning my skills in fine art, photography, writing and textiles. Ironically, the art teaching I was anxious to flee from has become a source of delight and fulfilment.

I have a tendency to think a lot more than I speak - there’s lots going on in my head. I have a thing for funky cowgirl boots, yoga, and soulful conversations; and my grandbabies think I sing the best “Incy Wincy Spider” the world has ever heard. Others might disagree.

Over the years, Bush Christmas has been a catalyst for a lot of amazing opportunities for me, along with the many other talented artists and artisans who exhibit there. You can follow Bush Christmas on Facebook for a look at some of the clever work happening in sheds and studios all over rural Queensland, and New South Wales. 

I'm off to the studio to get busy... safe and secure in the knowledge that I won't need to smile for the camera for a couple more years!

Breeding

Until fairly recently, our family's focus has been solely on breeding cattle. These days, the human breeding programme is escalating beyond any ones expectations.

I was touched when the youngest of our princes - Keelan, and his wife Madi, asked me to take a few pictures of them in the last days of her pregnancy, to commemorate the bump. This picture was one of the last shots, taken while furiously whirling knobs and dials on the camera - adjusting aperture, and shutter speed, and all kind of things to try and catch them in silhouette, with that amazing sky. Thankfully, they took care of conveying the tenderness part that this shot really needed - I could hardly see them through the viewfinder, and was, at that point, laying flat out on the grass in a most bizarre and undignified position. I'm probably not going to tell you how many shots it took to get this one lovely one. Suffice to say there were more than one on the camera that were immediately deleted because they were completely black.

This precious bump will be Grand baby number three for us, and another one, due in a couple of months, will make four, in just over a year. People around us seem to think this is some kind of amazing turn of events - I guess going from no grand kids to four so quickly doesn't happen to everyone!

It's a tremendous joy and privilege to watch our sons make their families... and this grandparent thing is the sweetest gig ever! I have to confess though, that while I adore these little babies, there is a part of me that's itching to paint and draw and create up a storm with these tiny humans... right now though, Payton, who is 14 months is only interested in eating the sidewalk chalk, and Levi, at 4 months is a long way from even being interested in it at all... so I guess I'm going to have to be patient, and make the most of the wonderful photo opportunities in the meantime. Looking at this photo is occurs to me that this would make a fantastic stencil/mask for a journal page. I'll work on that just as soon as I've sung Incy Wincy Spider with Payton (complete with actions)  and snuggled with Levi until he wriggles to a spot with his nose in my armpit... it's his favourite position - go figure!

A Watery Challenge

Have you ever really thought about how remarkable water is? Being a farmers wife, I’ve always known how important it is - without water there is no life. So, it’s utterly essential. But, I have to confess, it wasn't until I started this Photo A Day Challenge with ABC Open that I’ve ever explored just what water is really capable of. Never really spent much time contemplating the many possible faces, facets and characters of water.

It can be peaceful, serene and soothing; as it appears here at sunset over Bell Lagoon Dam. This dam has featured here before - it is frequently the home to a pair of black swans, a pod of pelicans, or a raft of ducks - do yourself a favour and do a google search for the names of groups of things - fascinating stuff! Did you know that a group of Owls is called a Parliament? 

Water can also be dynamic and exciting - filling a balloon with water and bursting it, trying to catch the explosion of water, requires a very willing, waterproof helper; at least 6 water filled balloons ready to go; a camera set on continuous shooting and a good dash of persistence. The result, though, when you finally nail it, is thrilling. Or is that just because it started to thunder and pour rain right as we stuck the pin in the last full balloon, thus adding to the sense of urgency?

Water can also gush, as it does here, out of the hose off the water tanker that my baby (OK..so he's 23, but still, he's my baby!) uses when he’s spraying crops. He’s not into wasting water though, and this is just the bit of water held in the hose after the taps are turned off. I had to be really quick to catch this one - though he did kindly help me out by pressing down quickly on the hose to push the last bit out in a gush.

All this attention to water has reminded me of the importance of attention, of noticing, of really seeing. It’s also given my creativity a much needed kick in the butt. Spending a little time each day contemplating how to make something as mundane as water coming out of a hose look interesting and visually appealing, while at the same time considering the technical requirements of actually getting the photo, has been surprisingly challenging and stimulating. 

The biggest challenge so far though, was “A fish swimming in water”. I have no fish. I live a long way from anyone with fish. Short of dumping a frozen fillet of flounder into a bucket of water, I was stumped. I was discussing my dilemma with my girls (they’re my sons wives, technically, but they’re still ‘my’ girls) and Leah quickly had a solution. Little Payton has a pair of floaties with an inflatable fish on top - terrible floaties for a small person, but you can cut the fish off, and send him swimming! Crisis averted. Not sure it will win any prizes for creative photography…but it kind of makes me smile.

There’s still a few days to go - and a quick look at the topics for each day reveal some more challenges ahead. Do you suppose cleaning the shower counts as “water sports”?

 

I've just made a disturbing discovery. Sometime last year, in the middle of some epic convivial confusion, the email address used for receiving notification of your comments here was closed and I neglected to change it in the bowels of the settings here. So... Some of you have made lovely comments here, and it would appear you have been ignored! My most sincere apologies! I love to receive comments here. That glitch is all fixed up now, and I promise if you use your precious time to comment here, that I will respond!

 



 

For the month of February, I've accepted a photo-a-day challenge, run by Lisa Clarke from ABC Open. The theme is - can you guess?

Water.

That's a fun one. Lots of scope for getting that camera off auto and testing out what it can really do.

This was day two's challenge - Water Coming Out Of A Tap. This was taken with a really fast shutter speed to freeze the movement of the water as it shot out of my garden tap.

What's great about a challenge like this, is that it stretches you - makes you look at things closely; differently - and kick starts that creativity that may have become a little sluggish. ABC Open is great for that. They have projects on the go all the time - writing, photography and video - from all over Australia. You can get inspired by other peoples efforts, or jump up and create your own. Go check it out.

 

 Right now, I'm off for a walk to take today's photo - A River. Luckily, there's one a hundred yards or so from our back door, so locating it wont be a problem. Coming up with a creative way to take a picture of it, however, may be another matter, but, I'm up for the challenge.