NORTH SOUTH EAST WEST

At The Firey Gate Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm

I am continuing to explore ideas of Mother Nature with paintings that behold the feminine essence of our earthly, cosmological and spiritual lives. This exploration expands on my concerns for our immediate environment and my interest in the distance between the vast and nano, whether it be spatial or temporal, physical or spiritual.

At The Firey Gate suggests that Mother Nature is suspended at the gate to Eden/Paradise? Have we sacrificed her? She is us, she is all, past-present-future. What do we need to do to pass through the gate to return to Paradise? Fire, as a purification symbol 'speaks' of change, which can be either forced upon us or actively sought. Surely the financial mayhem, climatic and environmental turmoil we are experiencing at the moment, screams for the need to make fundamental changes to the way we live and operate.

      

North South East West Gouache on paper 30 x 42 cm

North South East West is titled without commas between the words, because I want no borders or barriers to exist by implication. Punctuation can subliminally suggest border/boundary and thus difference. Yet, each point around the 360 degrees of the compass is a direction. In this painting the female figure, Mother Nature-the feminine life force- extends her reach in all directions, with the vascular-like tree-of-life pulsing within and beyond. She is connected to her physical world, as well as her inner world. She is me, she is you, she is us.

LATEST E-UPDATE:

Please have a look at my latest e-update at this link:

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=859313615340691f5af3cc94b&id=5f60afa09b&e=3cd56fce49

 

FOR EVERYONE: Words and Paintings

Available as a book or e-book!

My book FOR EVERYONE is available from Balboa Press at:

http://bookstore.balboapress.com/Products/SKU-000458938/For-Everyone.aspx

or from Amazon and other online stores, plus ask your local bookstore.

And, there's a GOOGLE PREVIEW where you can see some of the inside of the book

http://tinyurl.com/3uomgvy

NEW 'GALLERIES' AT

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

QUIVER

http://tinyurl.com/3vqc9ak

MY WOMEN 1990-PRESENT

http://tinyurl.com/3vabc39

UNDER $1000

http://tinyurl.com/675tjeh

Please also check out the DIRECTORS' CUT- BLAKE PRIZE- ONLINE EXHIBITION

My entry into the Blake Prize, was shortlisted by the judges but was not chosen as a finalist.

The Directors' Cut Exhibition is a selection of those works which were shortlisted.
The exhibition is online until 31 January.
You can see all the paintings at:

http://www.blakeprize.com.au/galleries/directors-cut

Cheers,

Kathryn

www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

TWITTER http://twitter.com/brimblecombe

MEETING PLACE OF THE MIND

Meeting Place Of The Mind Oil on linen 100 x 70 cm

Click on the image to make it enlarge.

Meeting Place Of The Mind is a new painting, which I have been working on for many weeks. After creating the background I placed the painting in a spot where I'd see it as I went about my daily activities. I did this because I had too many ideas and could not work out which one I'd focus upon. By having the painting in sight I could sift through my ideas more easily, until just one seemed right.

I knew I wanted to paint an image which did not cover over the entire background. Why? Because I actually think the background is quite beautiful. I created it through a controlled accident, which is how I create most of my backgrounds. There are normally a couple of layers of paint involved, with each of these needing to be dry before the next phase happens.

The image is a man and woman, who seem to morph into one being. There outstretched arms reach forward erupting into cascading trees. The vortex/spiral enclosing the figures is like a spring of energy, suggesting that the man and woman, who are at the centre of this energy are... conduits, the core, the essential element, the stillness that is replete. The moon, in its phases, represents time and the energy of push and pull, an innate balance.

Regular readers will note that the trees are my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life motif. They will also note that the spiral/vortex is another of my recurring visual guides. I wanted to create an image which 'spoke' of mind, thinking, intelligence...all in their broadest senses from nano to universal, from human to divine. The trees, figures and the spiral in Meeting Place Of The Mind have an almost synaptic appearance, which I am really pleased about, because it references interconnectedness and the life propelling nature of systems. I have previously written about systems. Here's a link to a previous post. http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2009/10/majesty-and-order.html

The synaptic appearance has pleased me because synapses enable the passage of signals to be passed in the brain. These signals are pretty important for life propulsion! In Meeting Place Of The Mind the trees take on a dendritic appearance, but whilst references to the brain are obvious, in this case the 'dendrites' are seemingly connected to the universe. As the phases of the moon remind us of it's push/pull energy, the quiver of the spiral dances to the rythm, the vibrations of life forces.

The meeting place of 'the mind' is a wonderful concept...I think anyway! It conjures up things like collective thinking, compassionate energy, innate intelligence, universal consciousness. I deliberately did not use the plural of mind ie: minds, in the title, because I wanted to suggest something march larger than the mere sum of its parts...a gestalt that takes our thinking to places beyond compartments to stretch our imaginations. Paradise!

NEWS

WEBSITE

I have made two new 'galleries' on my website... Paradise and Landscape.

Paradise has some images of paintings I am considering for my exhibition Paradise in Melbourne in September.

8 Sept- 8 Oct at Purgatory Artspace, 170 Abbotsford St, North Melbourne.

http://www.visualartist.info/visualartist/artist/subpage.asp?ex=gallery&I=1690&sub=5777&artistId=1292&PageId=1690

Landscape has some paintings I have created over the years that are landscape inspired.

http://www.visualartist.info/visualartist/artist/subpage.asp?ex=gallery&I=1690&sub=5796&artistId=1292&PageId=1690

If you are interested in buying, you just have to click on 'make an enquiry' which appears on each page.

And, check out my 'quiet activism' gallery Water and Gas

http://www.visualartist.info/visualartist/artist/subpage.asp?ex=gallery&I=1690&sub=4325&artistId=1292&PageId=1690

ART AND INSIGHTS

WORKSHOP

After two successful Art and Insights workshops, Gabriele Engstrom and I are planning more!

Here are the details for the next one!

DATE: Saturday 16 July

TIME: 9.30 am -12.30 pm

PLACE: QUAKER MEETING HOUSE 10 Hampson St, Kelvin Grove.

PRICE: $75 per person. Numbers are limited to ensure individual

attention, so please book and pay prior to the workshop.

Payment details will be sent to you at booking and a receipt will be issued upon payment.

If you are interested in attending let me know either by commenting [which I won't publish] or through my website www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

This dynamic three hour group workshop, where art insights meets vibrational healing, will give you the opportunity to reveal and remove unconscious blocks, discover how to access gateways to new ideas, learn new and fun ways of problem solving that invoke your deeper wisdom, and learn simple tools that you can use every day to revitalise body, mind and soul.

The workshop is a powerful experience, which involves creative activity, experimental art [drawing], vibrational therapy, meditation and the ancient Chinese practice of QiGong. It does not matter if you consider yourself an artist or not, you can access greater insights and higher wisdom through art.

The underlying quest is to discover the power of your own symbolism. The journey is yours.

Cheers,

Kathryn

TUILLE SKIRT AND OTHER THINGS

Detail of work in progress

                               Detail of work in progress-taken at an angle

The two images above are details from a large painting I am currently working on. My thoughts are about the creation of the Universe, or maybe seeing another Universe...with the idea of 'Universe' being about our external physical world, as well as our internal emotional/psychological world. Regular readers will identify with my play between the distances of the nano and universal, intimate and vast, macro and micro. In whatever case, my VORTEX ideas are propelling me. The VORTEX gives me the energy to tunnel in all directions! I have written about my VORTEX ideas previously...here is a link that will also take you to other VORTEX links too http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/10/knowledge-of-stillness.html

But, before I leave the VORTEX...just a reminder that my solo show opening 22 February 2011 is called VORTEX. As you can see from the images above, my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life is my visual conduit into the life propelling realms of the VORTEX.

IN MY STUDIO
In this post, I have decided not to dwell too much on ideas, theories...heavy stuff. Instead I thought I'd upload some images of my studio and me.

Here I am in my studio where I paint my works on paper. I share this room with the hot water system and the fuse box. It is actually a kind of non-room, so it's perfect for making a mess in.

Here are some works on paper in progress. Regular readers will possibly see that these are the beginnings of some of my 'water' paintings. That is if they don't end up ripped to pieces because I am not happy with them!

http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/10/water-gallery.html

Here I am in my studio where I paint my oil paintings...well... it is actually the garage and I share it with a lot of other things, but not the car because I have a carport for it. As you can see I do not have any flash studio furniture. Indeed an old washing machine suffices for a bench! The good thing is that I don't have to be 'precious' about anything.

And, here I am loading a big painting onto the roof racks of my car. Needless to say I do not travel long distances with paintings on the top of my car. However, around Brisbane it is ok, except when wet! Of course, on the odd ocassion I have had to collect my children from school, with a painting atop the car, I have been a complete and utter embarrassment! No-one elses mother has something as conspicuous as a painting wrapped in bubble wrap atop her car!

And now to a photo to show that I can 'glam up' a bit too. Here I am in an outfit, part of which I made! The black top is actually a gorgeous corset which I bought. It 's meant for underwear, but I thought it was beautiful enough for outer wear! [Now I won't go into what my kids said about that!] The tuille skirt and shawl are both made by moi. The shawl was easy. Just a length of tuille with little pink bows randomly sewn all over it. The skirt took a bit longer, because it has layers of pink and brown tuille attached to a lycra band, which I also made.

So that's it for today. Some lighter-note things, which I hope people enjoy seeing.

Cheers,

Kathryn

COSMIC DUST

                                Cosmic Dust Oil on linen 120 x 160 cm

This new painting above has been in my mind's eye for awhile. I wanted to create an image which exposed the possibility of the nano and vast at the same time. So, whilst I had in mind an image of the Earth in space, I wanted to pose the possibility that it was not the Earth, but maybe a sub-atomic entity or, at the other extreme, even a whole Universe. The latter obviously suggesting that multi-universes potentially exist.

I have recently finished reading 'Just Six Numbers' by Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. In this book he analyses the six numbers that explain the sensitive balance of the Universe we inhabit. Whilst reading this book I could not help but think about some of my previously expressed ideas on perspective, and more significantly on the need to learn skills in 'seeing' multi perspectives simultaneously. To understand not only our globalised world in which we live locally, but to appreciate the 'world' beyond our sky, beyond our galaxy and even further, we need to 'see' the accelerating distances in the nano and the vast. If we 'see' them we can understand why preserving life and our environment is important ...because the human race may not have anywhere else to go!

In Cosmic Dust   I have painted a circle with two trees...yes my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life. These trees meet at their trunks. One tree is painted in cool colours and the other in warm colours representing change through cycles. The 'tree ball' is encircled by a glimmer of white light, which denotes anything and everything from atmosphere, to reflected sunlight, to divine light and more. The background seems to move with suggested light and colour, depth and space... substance of existence?

I have used my tree-of-life, as regular readers would know, to represent life in all its systematic processes. The tree, in an instant, can be read as the vascular-like force of life whether it be at sub-atomic, atomic, human or universal levels. It can be read as any kind of system with an impulse to create and sustain life.

As I painted Cosmic Dust I found myself constantly moving back and forth to examine the image from close and far distances. I have written about what I call the 'artist's dance' before, commenting that it could be a metaphor for how we need to view our world [local, global and universal]. We need to move! My mother has just seen Cosmic Dust and I was very pleased to see her doing the 'artist's dance' too. She even commented on what the painting looked like when she viewed it up close and then from a distance. And, I did not tell her to do this!! I like to think the 'artist's dance' is a clue to the artistry of living life to its fullest.

The title Cosmic Dust signifies that subatomic, atomic, human, planetry and even universal entities are the dust created in those nano seconds after the Big Bang.

B AWARE exhibition

I have had 5 paintings chosen for this exciting exhibition: Here's links to 2 of them:
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2008/07/earth-for-sale-120-x-160-cm-oil-on.html
http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2007/07/thank-goodness.html

'B Aware' is a curated exhibition organised by the 8GG, Eight Goals Group, which is a group of concerned Anglicans raising awareness of global issues surrounding social justice and poverty as outlined in the UN's Millennium Development Goals, 2000.

 Dates: 8-21 October 2010. Daily 9.30 am - 4.30 pm


Opening: Friday 8 October 6.30pm. To be opened by Archbishop Dr. Phillip Aspinall.


Free entry. All art is for sale.
Artists selected for 'B Aware' include Proppa NOW group artists, Gordon Hookey, Jennifer Herd and Richard Bell: Young refugees from Brisbane's Milpera High School...Plus...Glenda Orr, Clinton Cross, Karen Kaese,Vincent Serico, Cernak Cernak, Meryn Jones, Jennifer Andrews, Kerry Holland, Kathryn Brimblecombe-Fox, Michael Baartz, Joe Nalo, John Suine and many more. Artists are from PNG, Indigenous and local communities. The curator is Joan Winter.
The UN's 8 Millenium Goals, agreed upon by 189 countries in 2000, focus upon eradication of hunger and poverty, achievement of universal primary education, gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality, improvement of child mortality, combatting HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, ensurement of environmental sustainability and the support of a global partnership for development.


http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/event.php?eid=114955445225116

Cheers,
Kathryn.
http://www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com/