Valentino Haute Couture

STIRRING THE SENSORIUM

Into The Sensorium Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm

I am writing this on New Year's Eve, and like many people am pondering upon and wondering about the decade past, and the new one which is about to commence. Also, as I write this much of Queensland is flooded, with many towns evacuated, farms water sogged with submerged crops, mines full of water and/or cut off by flooded roads. I have just heard from a friend of mine that Rockhampton airport is closed and will not reopen until well into January. For many people this New Year's Eve is devastating, and my thoughts go out to them.

The beginning of a decade is like a doorway into possibility. When I was a child, my brothers and I would talk about how old we'd be in certain years into the future. I remember at the ages of around 12,10 and 8 in the early 70s, we thought 1990 was just SO far into the future and we'd be SO old!

NEW PAINTINGS

The painting above 'Into The Sensorium' speaks of that place, I imagine inside the vortex core, where stillness enables us to listen to things we did not know we could hear, see things we did not know could be seen and feel things we did not could be felt. Sensorium means 'the sensory apparatus or faculties considered as a whole' [Oxford online]. With this meaning in mind, I 'see' the vortex core as a place where sentience is about simultaneous knwoings, where we can absorb all and BE still with ourselves, and all of humanity.

Regular readers will identify my transcultural/religious tree-of-life motif which 'speaks' of life on Earth, and beyond to cosmological realms and spiritual worlds, both vast and intimate. The spiral of colourful leaves draws the viewer into the painting...the leaves are simultaneously moments and eons of time. I like the way they 'kind of' dance!

Into The Sensorium will be in my Februrary show 'Vortex: Seeking Stillness At Its Core'.

                               Glimpsing The Truth Oil on linen 30 x 30 cm

Glimpsing The Truth is again my vision of being inside the vortex, at its core. Yet, a bit like Dr. Who's Tardis, once inside the vortex core, one realises that size, distance and perspective are no longer relevant...or at least how we humans judge them with our limited line-of-sight. This painting refers to another recent painting called Multiverse, where I have painted a tree with intermittent small portal like 'holes' or 'vortexes'. Each one of them suggests the possibility of other universes and new dimensions. Glimpsing The Truth is like a close up of one of the small portals in Multiverse.

Whilst the idea of other universes 'out there' is exciting and stimulating, the search for 'universes' can also be about discoveries within our psyches and souls, both individually and as a human race. Indeed, a search within, reveals that size, distance and perspective have no limits, and thus might need to be conceptually and spiritually re-negotiated...and in doing so reawakened 


22 Feb-6 March 2011, Graydon Gallery, 29 Merthry Rd, New Farm, Brisbane

If you want to see more than one painting at a time, I am gradually uploading images for my exhibition at http://www.twitpic.com/e/v3x Twitpic reproduces images really well.http://www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com/


Cheers and Happy New Year,
Kathryn



Glimpsing The Truth will be in my February show 'Vortex;Seeking Stillness At Its Core' .

Friday Feathers - Brown Creeper

My first sighting of a Brown Creeper from last March. I actually saw another one earlier this week but didn't get any shots of it. It was still a thrill to see one again!

Here is a LINK to what they sound like: Typical voice of Brown Creeper

Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. ~Lao Tzu

Pink and dipped in hundreds and thousands

Just before getting injured, I was crazy busy at the deli. Functions here, fruit cakes there and one fabulous little party to cater cupcakes for. Jemma asked me to make some mini cupcakes for her little girl who loves pink and some adult cupcakes for the parents!


I jumped at the chance to use our Cupcake Wrapper Co wrappers and go wild with the pink. I want to share with you how cute

Sedum Spectabile (31 DEC 2010)

Sedum Spectabile seemed to appear out of nowhere as they were in parts of the garden that I wasn't bothering to water. In the summer they had jade succulent leaves with red tips and flowers which turned baby-pink in the autumn. They seemed overcrowded, stems growing out sideways with just a couple upright, so I split them and planted them temporarily in five more places to give away as presents.

Using His Tail

I see woodpeckers using their tail this way - but this is the first time I've seen a Blue Jay use it like this.

Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. ~Michael Jordon

Bead "camp" Workshop

My friend who works with orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia, asked me to teach some young ladies in her program. So we had a week of bead camp over the summer holiday break . Here is what they made. Good work girls !

Lucia

Meet Lucia , one  of our  ceramic bead artisans.  Lucia is an orphan, yet persisted in completing her grade 12 a few years ago. Quite an accomplishment in Namibia where after grade 10 many students do not pass the exams to continue school.  Because Lucia could not pay her exam fees, she still does not have her grade 12 certificate. This has hindered her from quite a few opportunities so far, but she just learned that orphans can get a waver on the no pay, no certificate, rule.

Lucia is very smart, and I hope to see her running the ceramic bead operation in a few years time.

Wings on Wednesday - Two-gether

I thought a Flashback to Summer was called for after all of the SNOW. I miss seeing the lovely butterflies and interesting bugs. I was blessed to capture these Tiger Swallowtail butterflies together last year.

Happiness flutters in the air whilst we rest among the breaths of nature.
~Kelly Scheaffer

OK TAEC-YEON

Ok Taec-Yeon (born December 27, 1988), also known as Taecyeon. He is a singer and main rapper in the Korean boy band 2PM, and actor. Taecyeon and his family emigrated to Bedford, Massachusetts, where his parents and older sister still currently reside and where he lived for seven years before returning to pursue his career in Korea. Taecyeon was educated at Gel In High School in Seoul and studied Business Administration at Dankook University.

He originally auditioned for JYP Entertainment in New York City to become a model. Taec was also in the same audition as Junho and Chansung for the show Superstar Survival, but was the first contestant to leave the show. He featured in "Yes I'm In Love" by Bada on her fourth album and Baek Ji-Young's 2009 song "내 귀에 캔디" (My Ear's Candy). He formally hosted SBS's music show Inkigayo with Wooyoung, and was a permanent cast member on Family Outing 2 before it got canceled. He debuted as an actor in the 2010 KBS drama series "신데렐라 언니" ("Cinderella's Sister") alongside Moon Geun Young and Chun Jung-myung. His second drama is Dream High that will be released in January 2011.

2010 in a nutshell

Got a new DSLR camera and a ring light, which every other female blogger is using now too. Gave Pumpkin away. Had my biggest advertorial client of a total of 7 posts from Essential. Got married.

Wedding day

Went to London, where I watched Wicked and ate at a 1 Michelin Star restaurant. Removed my tongue stud. Did plastic surgery on my eyes - made no difference so I started wearing eyelid tape.

Newly cut eyes

Gave a presentation to over 300 people in the Canon Symposium. Went to Bintan for Gillian's birthday. Flew to Dallas, Texas in May, and in December again where I blew up fireworks for the first time. When to Kuala Lumpur in May for a press conference, and again in August for a shopping advert.

With my favourite KL girls Cheesie and Audrey

Got on Shin min, Cleo, Style Weddings etc. Nanolove passed away. Started to be a skincare freak. Started on invisalign to get straight teeth.

Wearing my aligners for the first time

Went to Tokyo where I had the best ramen I've ever eaten and shopped in the famed Shibuya 109. Made a video with top female youtube star Michelle Phan, which was the top freaking viewed video on Nov 10, 2010.

Invited to Tbilisi, Georgia, to give a talk about vlogging. Started learning Japanese. Painted a self portrait. Invited to the awesome Pixar studios in San Francisco with 15 vloggers chosen worldwide to watch Toy Story 3 before everyone else; met director Lee Unkrich.

With the director and producer of Toy Story 3

Went on a sponsored trip to Phuket with Mike, where we stayed in a villa like royalty. Flew to Los Angeles to watch Rapunzel, a Tangled Tale and interview Mandy Moore and Zachery Levi.

Why hello there!

That about sums up my year!! Can't believe I got out of the country (if you don't count JB) 10 freaking times! Madness! 2010 has been a great year for me. :) There were probably some bad stuff that happened too but I can't remember most of them coz my memory is super bad wtf. I think it's some subconscious ability to forgot the shitty.

If you are bored you can click the links if you haven't already read them all.

Hopefully life gets even better come 2011!! :D

How was your year?

The LAST Italian painting

This is the last painting in the Italy show. It's a modest thing...but I noticed that I'm looser and freer w/ the paint than when I started. I've learned a lot from doing this exhibition.

There is much to be thankful for in executing such a show over the period of a year.

I learned tons about greens, and distance, and texture, and glaze. I find it completely energizing to paint in acrylic now.

But..... I am anxious to get going on the Everglades-- and to deal solely in watercolor for a while.

This is one of the only acrylics with sky and water. Well, except for the Arno paintings....


Will post the final painting later in the week.

Italy 199
acrylic
24" h x 24" w
2010
first state

Miley among the Highest Earning Celebrities of 2010

Miley Cyrus has been ranked #18 on a list of the highest earning celebrities of 2010. According to Forbes, Miley earned $48 million.Miley's success in 2010 was anchored by her movie The Last Song and her new album Can't Be Tamed.Miley also placed #13 on the Forbes "Celebrity 100" which ranks celebrities based on pay, along with other media appearances.Oprah Winfrey ranked #1 on both lists, with

Snow Queen with Snow Beak

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring - these are some of the rewards of the simple life. ~John Burroughs

Christmas Weekend Raku

 I spent some time Friday, Christmas day (waiting for my sister and niece to arrive) and Sunday doing some raku firing. It is not fun in the cold...I do it out in my shed. I was even worried about the thermal shock to the pieces, going from the very hot kiln to the cold air. But everything turned out OK. These pieces are slowly going into my Etsy store. I did about 36 pieces total. This weekend the temp is supposed to go up near 50! Maybe I should have waited...well, who can predict the temp in OHIO?

New dragonfly design..carved into lino then pressed into clay




Beautiful cobalt blue and copper



This one is really SHINY and I need to get a better photo

This has a wonderful matte and shiny copper finish on the tree

The Mum and the Chef - Strawberries

Strawberries are just screaming out summer and during the week with all this gorgeous food going into our bellies I don't think one more little dessert is going to hurt is it? Fellow food blogger Mish from Mish Delish and I have decided to join forces over the next month or so, and each devise a recipe with a seasonal fresh ingredient.


It will be a little like cook and the chef where Mish a

Really REALLY early watercolors

I spent the week at my brother's... for Christmas. He showed me two of my earliest watercolors-- framed and hanging on the wall. The cow and the landscape.

I must have done them when I was 12 or 13 in Junior High.

Aren't they precious? I get a kick out of the quality of line and composition.

They seem young... and hopeful.

I'm glad he has them. They were given to him by a family friend.


Cow and Landscape
watercolor, pen and ink
7" h x 4" w
1967 or 1968

And With the Snow Came ......

........a snow bird! A Dark-eyed Junco. I only see these guys in late fall/winter and see them much more when there is snow falling. Here is a link for more info and to hear their typical voice: Dark-eyed Junco from All About Birds

My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather. ~Terri Guillemets