PERPETUAL BEGINNING

Perpetual Beginning Oil on linen 80 x 120 cm

Change gives birth to beginnings as it heralds and oversees demises of pre-existing conditions and structures. But, aren't we in a space of constant change? Nature provides perfect examples of ongoing change and new beginnings with its cycles and beauty, plus its mutations and adjustments. Beginnings don't necessarily have to be good! Adjustments such as climate change, erosion, desertification etc are not the kind of beginnings we or the planet benefit from. Now we find ourselves in a place where we want, and need, to deliberately affect change, to help the planet. How do we do that? Look to the past to learn lessons? Look to the future with imagination and hope? Indeed, multiple perspectives are necessary, because the existing perspective of current paradigms is prone to regurgitative processes.

In 'Perpetual Beginning' Mother Nature hovers at a portal like place. The flames of a burning tree have multiple possibilities from death and renewal, providing light and energy, to concepts of eternity and spiritual connection, plus returning to the gates of Eden. The spirals quiver with energy and indeed Mother Nature embodies the spiral as she is embraced and energised by it. My much loved age-old  transcultural/religious tree of life offers itself as a symbol of life and hope. As regular readers know, I am interested in exploring how to visually represent the tree-of-life in a way which is meaningful to us in the 21st century. Its core symbology is eternal, and how we represent it releases meaning. Thus, I am interested in untethering the tree-of-life from past visual representations, which meant something to our forebears, but perhaps not to us in the 21st century, apart from being recognised as historically significant.  

Today, in the 21st century we are confronted by major ecological and environmental issues, which compound into social and economic minefields. The tree-of-life, I believe, has the capacity to 'speak' to us today, if we explore its potential as an age-old symbol. Indeed, being age-old certainly qualifies it as a harbour for meaningful knowledge.

Last Friday I had my first experience participating, as a presenter via Skype, in a Sustainable Resource Management class of 86 students from the Technical University in Munich. Their lecturer is interested in stimulating students to seek knowledge and inspiration in myth, music, art, symbolism, poetry etc. Great fun to be involved in something where environmental issues and the arts can inter-connect in ways which hopefully scaffold sustainability!

Indeed, the future is signalled in the past, but time has to pass to see it. Art is the witness.

..................................................................................................................

MY BOOK!

FOR EVERYONE: Words and Paintings

Avialable as a boo and an e-book.

FOR EVERYONE- PRESS RELEASE

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/11/prweb8930218.htm

Here's the GOOGLE preview FOR EVERYONE where you can see the first 5-7 pages.  http://tinyurl.com/3uomgvy 

You can BUY FOR EVERYONE from Balboa Press -

http://bookstore.balboapress.com/AdvancedSearch/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=brimblecombe-fox

You can BUY FOR EVERYONE from AMAZON too!

http://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Words-Paintings-Kathryn-Brimblecombe-Fox/dp/1452536902/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319755578&sr=1-1

................................................................................................................

MY WEBSITE

Please check out my website www.kathrynbrimblecombe-fox.com

I have made some new 'galleries'!

................................................................................................................

DIRECTORS' CUT

And please check out the Directors' Cut [Blake Prize] online exhibition. My painting Compassion was selected. It is for sale too!

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

Cheers,

Kathryn

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

KNOWLEDGE OF STILLNESS

                                  Colour of Stillness Oil on linen 100 x 60 cm

I uploaded a detail work-in-progess shot of this painting a couple posts ago, but here it is finished. The previous post can be found at http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010/10/in-stillness.html

This painting continues a number of interests of mine. Regular readers will be able to see them immediately. I have used my much loved transcultural/religious tree-of-life motif, the spiral/vortex and colour to play again with perspective and distance...literal and metaphoric.

The vortex is one of my latest interests, however, I do have some very early paintings where I have painted spirals. So, these early works are heralding from the past! The vortex and spiral interest me because they suggest an energy of the quivering kind that never stops. Both are spied in the universal world and the subatomic. Galaxies are spirals with black hole centres, and the DNA double helix propels life forces. And...for those of you who are regular readers and know of my interest in water...well how does water go down the plughole? I grew up on a farm and I loved whirly winds as they danced across dusty paddocks. Here's a link to some other posts I have written about vortexs...Oh! and my next solo exhibition 22 February - 6 March 2010 is going to be called 'VORTEX'  http://kathrynbrimblecombeart.blogspot.com/2010_06_01_archive.html

So, to this new painting 'Colour of Stillness'. As I have previously written, I imagine that inside the vortex there is a place of stillness, where we can hear things we did not know we could listen to, see things we did not know were there, and feel things we did not know could be felt. By finding this stillness we learn about ourselves and our relationship to others, the world and the planet. This is knowledge gained by self reflection and letting go of the turmoil of the outer vortex, its distractions and materiality.

If you look closely, there is a figure standing inside the vortex. She is painted green and seems to be floating in a cascade of light. For me, this light, is the reflective process which is revalatory. The light emanates from the pinnacle of the vortex errupting in a tree...a tree-of-life/knowledge. This tree then seems to bloom with seven smaller trees, each one a different colour. These colours are the seven colours of the rainbow, chakras and they represent further knowledge. The tree at the bottom of the vortex reflects the trees above, beckoning the beyond and its knowledge. The circle of leaves suggests a new portal, or the cyclical nature of life, or letting go what we are not and welcoming who we are...it's up to you. The blue background dances with the secrets of the universe.
The process of self reflection assists us to find out who we are not... so that we can know who we are. Colour, as knowledge, is both good and error...not evil. It is about how we negotiate the distances between knowing who we are not and who we are. In this understanding new perspectives hopefully mean we are more compassionate towards ourselves and others. This is important if we are to live locally in an increasingly globalised world. And, where does that place us within a universal existence, where in the future humankind may need to venture beyond our planet to survive?

PAINTINGS ABOUT REMARKABLE WOMEN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
By Elsie Brimblecombe----MY MUM!

Maleny artist, Elsie Brimblecombe, is exhibiting her zany and colourful paintings in an exhibition inspired by a book of poems, ‘Fanny The Flying Housewife and Other Stories’ by Brisbane poet, Ynes Sanz.


The poems are about remarkable women including Australians, writer Dorothy Hewitt; the Australian Mermaid, Annette Kellerman; founder of Meals on Wheels, Doris Taylor; war hero, Irene Drummond and Blessed Mother Mary McKillop. O...ther inspiring women from elsewhere in the world include the genius, Gertrude Stein; the pilot, Amy Johnson; the singer, Kathleen Ferrier.

Elsie Brimblecombe’s exhibition PAINTINGS ABOUT REMARKABLE WOMEN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY follows her successful 2009 exhibition ‘Invisible Cities’ which was inspired by a book of the same name by Italo Calvino. Elsie’s new paintings reflect the off-beat, brave and remarkable lives of women who have helped make history.

PAINTINGS ABOUT REMARKABLE WOMEN OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY opened at Maleny’s Upfront Club on Thursday 21 October at 6pm. The exhibition will continue until Tuesday 16 November.
http://www.upfrontclub.org/
31 Maple St, Maleny, Queensland, Australia
07 5494 2592

Here are two paintings from the exhibition:

Motor Power-Isadora Duncan, Acrylic on canvas

                               Gipsy Moth-Amy Johnson, Acrylic on canvas