Holidays

As soon as school was finished for me on the 7th of December, we hit the road for a week's break at Noosa. It was lovely and just what the doctor ordered, but of course time went by in a flash. Picks taken on the Noosa River and Lake Cootharaba below:

Then the MOTH and I spent another 3 nights away at Springbrook to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary. Also good for the soul to disappear into the rainforest and commune with its creatures for a while, even if it did include the odd leach. It was cool and damp and of course I could have stayed there forever, but now I am back in the real world. and it is full steam ahead till Christmas. I did come back with lots of ideas for art work, but not the time to implement any of them! On Tuesday, which was actually our anniversary, we went in to South Bank and took in a number of exhibitions at GoMA, including Matisse. All very good, but I will save that for the next few blogs.  For now, hope you have a great Christmas!

Springbrook:

Christmas

Well, it is upon us once agian. Christmas. Isn't it difficult to separate the meaning of Christmas from the foil wrapping and tinsel? My journey has led me away from the patriachal Christian Church to an extent, but I still believe in the man - Jesus - because he was clearly an egalitarian. He seemed to favour women and I think the women in his life - his mother Mary and the Magdalene have far more significance than we in western Christianity have ever been allowed to believe.

Anyhoo I could do with a shot in the arm of some kind of Spiritual Energy. Feeling a tad deflated and flat at the moment. Maybe its just end of the year burn out. Maybe its just middle age. Whatever, I hope that the Christmas season proves to be a time of renewal and refreshment for me and for you. Merry Christmas all.

This is my piece, Genesis, a nod to the feminine side of our creation. I am hoping for a Genesis at this Christmas time : a new beginning of creativity, sprituality, hope and happiness. And I wish that for you too.

Have a great Christmas and an even better 2011.

Where to from here?

I don't know about you, but I find it alarming to wake up one day to discover that suddenly and without warning, Christmas is about nine weeks away. How did that happen? The department stores are already gearing up which aside from following along with the blatant commercialism is actually quite good from my point of view - I find wonderful treasures for my art amongst the decorations and lights.
The alarming thing is more that what has to be achieved at school and other places between now and then hardly bears thinking about. I am itching to get into the studio, but I just don't seem to get there and the thought of cramming assessment, reporting, and other boring things into the remaining weeks is quite exhausting.
On the up side, I went to the craft fair in town the other day. It is such a lolly shop for people like me who are excited by all the fibre, fabrics, beads and other luscious stuff. Of course I spent too much money, but now I have these wonderful bits and pieces to inspire me.
I just wish there was some time to focus on the inspiration and follow through with the work. I have been looking at some of the fantastic work on other blogs - very inspiring, but also a bit depressing. Right now I am weighing up whether to have another solo show next year or not - am I going to have time to do it justice? On the other hand I don't want to give myself over to just working on curriculum and lesson plans 24/7. Will have to get my act together and get on with it.