GLOBAL

I've have been painting lately. And I am happy. My only problem is that I have not had the paintings photographed professionally and my own attempts are never pleasing especially with large works. That said, I have uploaded this image. Trust me the painting is better in the flesh. Photographing paintings is a problematic area. I think many not-so-successful paintings can look much better in a photo and a great painting cannot have true justice done to it. Makes one think about the difficulty of preselecting art for competitions etc from photographic images. How many great paintings never get through and how many second rate ones do?

Over this weekend I have been attending one of the most interesting conferences I have have ever been to. It is the GLOBAL ACTION TO PREVENT WAR: A COALITION-BUILDING EFFORT TO STOP WAR, GENOCIDE, AND INTERNAL ARMED CONFLICT conference which is being hosted by the Australian Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Queensland. The speakers are world class and indeed come from all corners. Check their website out @ www.globalactionpw.org Today I heard and learnt about violence/conflict in Central America, and East Timor. Yesterday I learnt about guns control and arms dealing/movement. I heard about the latest efforts of the UN. One speaker called war a disease and maybe prevention should be treated just like disease prevention. So much to think about and to hope for.

The guest speaker last night was a man called Steve Killelea founder of Vision for Humanity and the energiser for the development of the “Global Peace Index and Delivering Peace Dividends” . The role of business in peace and the benefits of peace for business are core elements to be understood. Check out www.visionofhumanity.com

I was also alterted to Ranan Lurie's [the famous cartoonist] Uniting Painting which is installed at the UN in NY. The concept is to make it a continuous painting which moves throughout the world. Check out www.rananlurie.com An amazing man and family. Plus the Uniting Painting is fantastic to look at and in concept.

One thing I am very pleased about is the obvious understanding that art has a place to play in the Peace process. It is acknowledged by academics, UN reps and people who work on the ground.

Into My Galaxy Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm