The Journey

Designing a Tarot Deck

2011-01-19T22:12:00.000+11:00

The idea in regards to designing a deck of Tarot cards came about in August of 2009, slowly they are starting to be produced. Traditionally Tarot card readers used a deck of normal playing cards and the design of Tarot cards were often left to travelling Gypsies, who would quite literally draw their own deck. Rider-Waite is a combination of a traditional Tarot deck yet using the playing card idea for the suits. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/rider-waite/

A Full deck consists of 56 Minor and 22 Major Arcana cards - 78 cards in all. The Minor Arcana contains 4 suits made up of Ace to Ten and 4 court cards: Page, Knight, Queen and King and the Major Arcana consists of 22 individual cards labelled 0 - 21 either in traditional roman numerals or standard numbering.

I always thought it would be fun to make my own cards maybe with the idea to have them published with a book for others to use. I have said once before that my paintings take on the 'Spirit' of the land I am in and as I reside in Australia, then the feel will represent many of the diverse cultures, landscape, flora and fauna of Australia. The Sun card from the Major Arcana is represents of the Boab tree seen in parts of Australia and the harsh sun, that many of the dessert areas endure.

The idea for the backing of the cards had not yet come forth, that would appear when it was time to contemplate the backing. In the meantime I progressed from The Sun card to The Moon. My affinity with the Moon and the Sun have always been strong. Many of my earlier pictures had either the sun or the moon featured with their reflection in the water, it was like a little trademark of mine. In the Moon, part of it's reflection can be seen in the water below and a slither of the setting of the sun just receding below the moon. The setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon is a very special part of the day spiritually for me, it's a time for closure of the day and time to rest in preparation for the new day upon waking.

From here, I moved to The Star, again I have an affinity with the stars, often starring into the sky at night watching and looking at them. Keeping with the theme produced with the Moon - the water, the slither setting of the Sun and adding the reflection of light on the land as well as Giving the Star and almost spiral movement through the night sky before settling in its place.

I did attempt other cards from the Major Arcana, however, I wasn't happy with the results so they remain un-designed. For sometime I stopped designing the cards and worked on other projects. For those of you who have been following my blog from the beginning, you will be aware that I often take a break from a project until it feels right to return to it.

The Minor Arcana had been troubling me for sometime, as with all Tarot Cards that have a theme - the 'pip' suit cards normally follow that theme, so the standard suit names wouldn't apply to the suits for this Tarot Deck. For now I am sticking with the Traditional names until I have completed the entire deck. So, finally on 8th January 2011, I woke after strong waking dreams with idea for each of the suits from the Minor Arcana. Needless to say out came the paints and the canvases and I have been painting ever since - producing the Aces of each suit and the backing for all the cards.

The first Ace I produced was the Ace of Wands. Sticking with the Australia feel theme - you will see a Homestead in the distance a rather barren red ground, the windmill, bellowing clouds, windswept and bent tree and my version of an Aboriginal Totem, showing the start of the river, flowing onto the river on the land, giving the land life. It should be pointed out that I, myself am not aboriginal, however, for me to deny this part of Australia would be wrong and yet my dilemma is being a non aboriginal using some imagery from a sacred culture also seems wrong. My hope is that this dilemma can be resolved by speaking with leaders and gaining their permission to use this imagery.

From here I moved to the Ace of Pentacles. Much of Australia is surrounded by shipwrecks and water, as well as having coral reefs. Even though Pentacles is traditionally connected with the element of Earth, I was drawn to depicting a shipwreck, coral reef, dolphin, tropical fish and a sand dollar for this Ace. Pentacles are also associated with the physical/career/wealth and the sea produces a wealth of abundance for Australia on so many levels. having the shipwreck shows how fickle our lives can be and all can be lost if we don't take care - "... as easily as it is given, so too, can it be taken away ..."

Before designing anymore Aces, my next painting would concentrate on the back of the cards. The feeling was strong to have a backing for every card and so I wanted something that would encapsulate what was being conveyed throughout the entire deck - namely Australia. As with all my cards, the finalised Deck may appear slightly different, more uniform. Different, as in clearer pictures and more uniform borders. Some of the photographs I have taken make the paintings a little washed out and yet using flash obliterates some detail. So I will retake all the cards in a well light room and then make sure the borders are uniform.

My idea was to share some of the cards now to give people and idea of what the cards will look like and an impression of the Tarot deck. The backing depicts the map of Australia surrounded by water. The map itself depicts the fact that Australia is rich in many metals, minerals and ores as well as being full of spirit.

The above picture of the back of the cards do not depict the shine of the metallic paints I have used very well, such as copper, rose gold and gold, in the final printed deck this will be much clearer. I have decided on the title for the Tarot Deck, Spirit Of Australia.

Once the back was designed I then designed the Ace of Cups. This card shows a drover resting by a campfire, his horse in the background, his dog in the foreground, gum trees, river and mountains in the back as the day draws to a close. The drover has a billy cup in his hands (blue), he is also staring out beyond where he is sitting almost in contemplative mood. You will note as with the Ace of Pentacles (the sand dollar), the cup isn't very large. For me it was about the essence of the theme of the whole Tarot deck telling it's story rather than individual cards telling their story. The colours in this card are a little more washed out than the original painting, so it appears more flat than it is and some of the detail is lost, this will be repaired in the final deck print.

Using Tarot decks for divination purposes having a theme with a story is important, it assists with aiding a reader's intuition for the sitter, as I said earlier traditional Rider-Waite cards depicted the suits very much like playing cards depict their suits and many beginner's reading Tarot use these cards. However, the demand for other decks for intuitive divination is rising. Most stay with the traditional names of the suits to aide all Tarot readers, who have used traditional Tarot decks with their readings. My final Tarot deck will change all but one of the names of the suits again to be revealed in the final printed version.

Why change the names? For me it's about fitting the theme for the whole deck - an overall Holistic view rather than wanting to change them because I have that option, however due to the depictions of the pictures in the suits, the trouble that some readers have when the suits names have been changed, will not interfere with it's divination as the symbols I have chosen are similar to the traditional symbols. Also, there will be a book with the Tarot deck to help everyone familiarise themselves with the deck.

The last Ace to produced is the Ace of Swords. Again sticking with the theme rather than tradition, I have used a fishing spear used to catch fish. To use one of these spears takes great intellect, dexterity, a certain knowing, careful movement and an element of surprise. So, it not only fits the traditional divination of the Ace of Swords but also adapts itself to the Theme.

These are the only cards I am going to reveal to give you an idea of what the full tarot deck will look like, the rest will be revealed in the final published deck, as will the book. I am also considering producing bags for the Tarot deck and a cloth for reading at some stage. Also introducing special collectors editions with the book, Full deck of Tarot, reading cloth, bag in a special wooden box. Possible some special Mercahndise too.

For Now Enjoy the Video of the cards I am revealing music has been provide by DJ Puzzle aka David Donnelly.

Everything painted helps to improve and sharpen my skills

2011-01-06T13:20:00.001+11:00

Whislt I paint on a fairly regularly basis, not all my paintings reach the satisfaction bar, however that doesnt stop me putting the paint brush down and leaving the painting well alone. I critique my own paintings, always striving to improve on a particular technique or to get a better effect. The more I paint, the more I practise, the more opportunities for situations to arise for me to critique and improve.

Some of the paintings, I put to one side because I get too precious about them and fiddling with them will only make the painting become the disaster I'm trying to avoid, so they get shelved till it's ready to bring them out and complete. Others are completed but haven't quite made the grade for me. I recently painted a "Fairy Castle-esque" type painting and whilst I liked its composition, something about it urked me.

I like the concept and the floating Island idea but for me the castle is more squat then elongated, some shadows are missing, the ligtening is not realistic enough, it may sound like I'm nit picking yet these things are important to me. Perhaps I will revisit this painting.

Some paintings I have created have been very monochrome - so using just one colour and various degrees of that colour, however, they have turned out to be quite washed out and not quite how my mind envisaged them.

This one for instance is a dessert scene, with water very faintly to the left hand side of the picture and higher hills behind the darken dunes in the distance, plus some sand swills. The concept is there and there is room for improvement on this one. This painting was created at a time when I had not painted for many years, so lie the painting my style was very barren. this has been put away for at least 3 years.

Again after putting my brushes down and returning to painting with a more relaxed style of meditation painting I created the following painting:

This is a scene at sea and whilst I am not entirely unhappy with its composition, its still a bit wshed out for me - perhaps that's part of its charm. Perhaps this one will stay like it is.

Other paintings have been created for cathartic reasons, for instance I needed to shed some anger, which is an emotion that grates on me heavily, whilst I recognise it can be a useful emotion, for the most part it is a negative and destructive emotion and in this case it needed to be turned and churned out of me. The reason why I was angry is unimportant, getting rid of it was a challenge. So, I decided to use my Art and Photography as therapy tools and took a series of photographs of me screaming at the camera.

The screaming helped release the tension and I ended up laughing ... think about it ... you're in your living room, camera on a tripod, facing towards a mirror and screaming at the top of your voice, a deep elongated grunting screams, very tribal, very raw, emotion screaming at you and then you photograph it ... timing is everything ... and keeping your throat from getting sore is important ... yet this primal screaming exercise worked. To finish I furiously painted my portrait in blood red based on one of those photographs. Here's the painting ...

Here's the photograph it was based on ...

This is still unfinished, I chose vampire teeth as that side of things have fascinated me for some time and the hair will change, I think this is due to be finished. the eyes are skew deliberately as being angry had thrown me off kilter and they are slightly bloodshot to go with the feel of tremendous anger.

So, whilst all my paintings aren't as I like them to be, they are not entirely on the cutting floor, they can be amended, adapted, altered, changed, manipulated to make them more akin to my original concept and that's one of the things I love about art. Even better each painting helps with the evolution process and growth for me as an artist, just like my photography helps with my art skills too.

Evolution of a Creation : Final Picture

2010-12-26T22:37:00.000+11:00

I have finally completed the Elephant/India style picture I have been creating, so here it is ...

Transferring of Skills

2010-12-26T13:13:00.000+11:00

For sometime now, I have thought about teaching others to do what I do - create paintings through Meditation, however, it was an intuitive feeling that this may work and had not been tested to see how this would translate.

Initially the idea was to have a workshop over a week or 7 set days over 7 weeks. It wasn't till I attended a one day workshop for painting that I realised how limiting and frustrating, as well as needing to commit time and energy into such a workshop, that the idea to offer one day workshops in Meditation painting came about - like a taster session.

Again, the idea was put on hold, as I had decided that doing a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment would assisst me not only in how to Tutor students but also look at areas I hadn't considered or even if this could be translated into a certified course. In short doing the Cert IV TAA would help define other questions in preparation to setting up the Meditation Art workshops hopefully without loosing its holistic approach.

Fortunately, during the Cert IV TAA I met some wonderful people including someone who was willing to learn about what I do, they were also willing to be the student for my Assessment assignment in Cert IV TAA, which would essentailly be about Teaching and Assessing Meditation Art. This would be my test to see how it would be possible to transfer what I do, teach to someone with little or no knowledge and have them produce a painting in a day. It turned out for the purposes of this exercise that two paintings would be produced.

So along came my willing student to trail this course and ready for her first session in Meditation painting. Tennielle had some background and underlying knowledge of Art from her school days and had worked with ceramics, as well as a healthy curiosity for learning Meditation painting. Tennielle was also looking to find a creative outlook in her very busy life.

Prior to the first one day workshop, I asked Tennielle to collect images of things that inspire her and that would become her focus for the meditation. Tennielle brought me this ...

When I asked Tennielle to explain her inspirational collage, she talked about primary colours, such as Reds, blues, greens, yellows, second life, her personal life, supporter of Collingwood, Black and White, contrats, chunky vintage Jewellry, as a Cardiac nurse - patched up hearts, twiggy, loving to laugh, twighlight and the sea dragons.

Then she followed my guided meditation and saw an image of a V-shaped character, zooming in and out, with wings, her as a marionette with like a blood red background. I then went on to exlain about how to create and build a picture with acrylic paints.

I mentioned about creating the background, the mid-ground and the foreground and then finally adding in the detail. So we set about mixing the colour for the blood red colour Tennielle had seen in the background. Once that had beem mixed and applied we then considered the V-shaped image she had seen and decided to research the internet for some further influences paying particular attention to Tim Burton.

We took our influences from Tim Burton's; "Nightmare before Christmas", "Edward Scissorhand" Concept drawing and "Blue Girl" for the entire painting. The idea was to use these influences to create new images based on the orginals.

We also decided to use Tennielle's idea of colour and contrast to create a unique painting, so in stark contrast to the blood red background black would be applied to the V-shaped character and the marrionette. Before adding the V-shaped character or the marrionette, it was important to create the moon and clouds to add a dimension to the painting.

Tennielle used a natural sponge to create the moon and stencil brush with a swish/swirl movement to create the clouds. Next came time to create the marionette character based on Tim Burton's concept drawing of Edward Scissorhands. I explained to Tennielle some ways of re-creating figures including a proportion grid to assist with creating the image more precisly. This proportional grid has been used by Artists and Architects for many centuries to re-create exact images either in a biiger scale than the original or a smaller scale.

So we divided up the Tim Buton image into 1cm squares and kept the same ratio of 1 cm square grid on the painting ...

Tennielle then altered the image, making the character female ...

Whilst everything was looking a little flat at this point, the idea would be to lift the images with colour at a later stage. next was to create the bones of the V-shaped character ...

Then some more definition to that character ...

Next was to work on creating a marrionette-esque feel or attachment between the v-shapped character and the female character ...

Tennielle felt at this stage the character's were still disconnected but then we added more detail to them and more connections ....

It was then time to add some more detail to help with completion of the painting, a portal, a moon face for the V-shaped character, yellow/green hair for the female character and grass at the bottom ...

This was the final painting and all completed within a day. This was Tennielle's first venture at Meditation painting, the second venture will use more detailed techniques and was based on themes I had given Tennielle to find inspirations for and to Meditate on the next time we met.

The themes I gave to Tennielle were;

Western Australia
50’s
Vampires
Music
Nature
Christmas
Childhood Memories

Tennielle decided upon Western Australia as she had lived there, this is her concept/inspiratinal board for painting two ....

The concepts were; city skyline, beaches, pinnacles, everlasting flowers, Perth Glory, seafood, Mum's dog and the sunsets. Tennielle then mediated on this theme and saw a sunset with foamy waves crashing on the beach.

The background this time would initially start with a very pale yellow and then work on building in the water. When painting water, it is always painted straight the curves are added by other points like the landscape or things dipping in the water, rocks etc.

To create perfect straight edge using masking tape carefully measured assists in this process as well as painting in long brush strokes. This technique would also be repeated to keep the clean lines for the sunset on the horizon too.

Whislt most acrylic paint is appllied after each layer is dry merging the paint can be tricky as acrylics can dry very quickly, so using more water assists with blending, this would be vital for creating the sunset. Tennielle first applied straight lines of colour before blending ...

It was then necessary to use some water to help blend the layers of colour and use a fairly flat sweeping technique.

In using the flat sweeping technique it allows for the creation of sunset/cloud sky and using the masking tape helped with creating a clean horizon edge. Next was to add definition to the water; depth and movement ...

The sweeping technique here would help create some movement in the water, though this would not be seen in this form once the next technique was applied. Next was to use a natural sponge to add different splashes of colour ...

Once this had been applied the dge for the shoreline needed to be added with the foaming waves, again for the foaming waves the natural sponge would be used ...

A pale sun was applied and more depth to the sea, finally the evrlasting flowers would be added. As this was a triple stretched canvas, the flowers would go round the edges of the painting ...

Then the final painting ....

Teaching someone else to do what I do was not only fun but very satisfying seeing the joy they had in creating two amazing paintings and learning from the process. Imparting my knowledge is what I love to do most and that was one of the reasons for starting my blog ... to share my joy, to explain, to demonstrate ... the blog has also enabled me to connect with others and find out the joy it brings to them.

Evolution of creation - Part two

2010-10-22T20:58:00.000+11:00

So, as promised, I have returned to the Elephant creation and thankfully I am no longer precious over this. I have been playing with 3D paints and felt that this painting needed it. So with that said and continuing with the lotus flower replication in various forms, it was time to break out the 3D paints for another exploration of the Lotus flowers.

Interestingly enough, one of my friends, who has been watching this painting unfold has reminded me that the colour and lotus is representative of the sacral chakra - swadhistana chakra, although it hadn't fully evolved at that stage. I have since added 6 further lotus petals. Though often you will see the lotus flower evolved on many levels, so the sacral chakra could still apply to this creation.

The energy and feeling of the creation certainly rises from the root chakra towards the sacral, so there is definitely an evolution being replicated in the painting. There is still more to be done with this painting, so this blog too will evolve into a 3rd part, to show its completion.

Here, is the next part of the journey -

Using 3D paint to evolve the Lotus petals

As you can see the 6th petal has not yet been finalised, sadly I ran out of Gold 3D paint, so this will have to wait to be finished. Each outer Lotus Petals has a different pattern inside, the idea shown to me was based on the fact of demonstrating uniqueness of the individual within a community. So whilst we may have similarities on the surface, we all have a unique make-up that makes us who we are and the way we think. The individual lotus petals pays homage to our differences within the wider community.

Having added the 3D Gold paint the rest of the painting now looked flat, so with that in mind it was time to raise other areas of the painting -

Peacocks and Central Area raised with 3D paints

The central area felt a little bare still and needed further definition. There was a need for the peacocks to have ripples below them. It has often been said that peacocks, fan out their feathers when it is about to rain, so the idea of blue circle ripples under the peacocks felt right. The blue dots are the connects we make to all things in life, the ebb and flow of those connections and how the bloom and grow within us before moving on.

Outlining the peacock's fan with green 3D paint, just accentuated their presence within the painting, the grace and beauty of the Peacock for all to see, to acknowledge its display in all its glory and to recognise that all things in life have a purpose. In the case of a peacock, not only to show off when in the throws of courtship but also to warn those that are aware of forthcoming rain.

Enjoy till the next time we meet ....

Getting Precious!

2010-10-11T14:58:00.000+11:00

Dang! It's happened, started getting bogged down by the detail of the Elephant painting and so I have had to put it to one side for now and return to it when the flow is working. So, the part two update on this painting will be delayed until that time.

Getting precious, is like hitting a brick wall at 100km/h, you become immobile and detached from the piece, specially when working in the meditation mode. So changing the focus and moving away from the painting helps to wipe the slate clean and rebuild the energy to do the painting again. In many respects it's like a writer's block, not knowing what comes next or wanting to do something with the piece just because you feel you 'have' to. There are no 'have' to do anything in artistic creation, not even with a deadline looming.

When the 'have' to moment arrives in my mind then if something is added to the painting, the painting as a whole looses its heart, its soul, it stops flowing and there is a heaviness and clumsiness about the work. Sometimes I am not aware I have taken a painting a step to far until I step away and then its - ooops - "step away from the canvas, put down your brushes, lock away the paints and go do something else.

So what did I do this time, popped in Facebook, thought about my next moves and decided to write on my blog. Thoughts are now surrounding Owls, the painting I haven't touched for nearly over a year now and Geckos. Owls were pulling me quite strong a few days ago, however, as ever life goes on and my life that is had other greater pulls to be done - like assisting with the organic raised bed vegetable garden, shopping - basically the fabric of life.

My mind does wander and pull to the painting from over a year ago and not yet complete, it's like its tapping me on the shoulder and saying, "hey, come on finish me" lol. As for Geckos, well I have had a love of those beautiful creatures for sometime, even had a Henna Tattoo done of one, when I was in Ibiza on Holiday. The biggest call seems to be the painting from over a year ago.

The painting from over a year ago

To me this feels unfinished, at first I did feel I had completed it but as time went by the realisation that it needed to be altered came to the fore and so as I wasn't sure what needed to be changed, I left it until the time was right to paint again. This time has come.

Getting 'precious' about a painting isn't a bad thing, it just allows you to move away, focus elsewhere and come back, when you and the painting are ready to continue. Forcing the issue, will only bring more frustration and that's something an Artist doesn't need unless they are painting angry pictures.

So much emotion goes into and is connected with the paintings I create that getting 'precious' with some will happen, by pulling away, it allows the painting and I some breathing space. I never want to paint something that doesn't feel right for me, the painting must have the feel of a soul in it, to be able to evoke an emotion, to 'switch' on a mind and interact with its viewer. That for me is my Art.

Evolution of creation

2010-10-07T22:26:00.000+11:00

Last time, I said we would look at how my Photography helps my Art and Visa-versa, however, being a fluid, flexible, creative spirit this blog will look at a journey of one of my latest creations. This will more than likely be a two -part blog due to the intricacies of the creation.

Each morning, I am awoken with 3 images in my head, each image relates to a different creation, so far that's surmounting to around 60 - 100 creations. Why 60 - 100? Well, that's because some of those images will probably produce more than one creation based around that image theme.

The images received, either during my dreams, upon waking or through meditation usually determine the theme and composition. The latest creation demonstrates this well. The initial images was Elephants and lotus flowers and the theme being suggested by these was one of an Indian based theme. When starting this creation, the flow or where it was going was uncertain. Maybe it was going to have some Intricate Indian patterns, from fabrics and Henna tattoos but the actual detail hadn't been decided.

One thing I was aware of was that the process would be long, detail was definitely going to be included and it would be a challenge. So far the journey with this creation hasn't disappointed me during its discovery and unveiling stage.

The background colour had been determined by the time I was ready to begin painting. The process between seeing the imagery in my mind to its discovery and journey on Canvas can take anything from a day to a maximum of 3 weeks - it's almost like waiting for a green light on the road. Once ready the process of start to paint on canvas to absolute tools down can be quite quick - average time two days. However, it's not unusual for this second phase to take even longer.

'Getting precious' on a creation can often delay its finality. This means I have started to over think and the whole holistic approach has been lost at that moment. So, I quite literally, "Step away from the Canvas" and distract myself with other worldly matters. I have one such painting I have quite literally stepped away from for over a year now and its getting closer to re-approach the painting again.

The 'preparation' phase is where I allow the imagery to play in my mind, it's like a pre-painting stage and my mind is the canvas, the joy with this is that erasing the composition is very easy. It plays out like a dance or a film in my mind, creating and changing along the way.

The state of 'readiness' is at the point where putting brush and paint to canvas is at its optimum moment. This state of 'readiness' is where the images have fully formed in my head and are bursting to get out. At this point, I'm usually at my most excited but also at my most nervous. It's time for the imagination to come out and play, dance upon the canvas and reveal itself in all its full glory.

To settle in, I put on some music and get into a rhythm whilst painting the background. In many ways I feel like a director of a play, awaiting for all the characters to come forth and play out the scene before me. At the same time, I never know how it will end or what twists will occur but the evolution of the creation is a fascinating process to go through.

So, now to looking at that evolution of the latest creation, starting with the Elephants and the Lotus Flower:

Here you can see the red background, the placement of the marked out Elephants within the lines of a Golden Lotus Flower

From the picture above, the shape of the elephants and how they will look are quite undefined, it was more just to gather the flow and placement at this stage. The Lotus Flower, although an outline at the moment may indeed change at a latter stage. This creation was actually started on the 1st October 2010. In fact it took two days from doing the red background and the Lotus Flower design to adding the Elephants, so this picture was taken on 3rd October 2010.

Once the Elephants had been marked in then I was ready to add a bit more definition to the Elephants:

Elephants more defined

Here, the idea was to give me an idea of some movement and position of each Elephant and definition to their tusks, to allow for further development and intricate detail to be added to the Elephants face, trunk, body and feet.

Adding a little pomp and circumstance to the Elephants was tricky, however it was important to get quite a bit of detail in

By this stage, the gold was becoming more prominent, as well as pale yellows and orange, however there needed to be a bright stark yet complimentary colour to all of these, to help bring 'punch' to the Elephants, so using an Aqua colour felt like the best choice - a delicate yet pleasant on the eye and in line with the rest of the composition.

When painting holistically - it's being drawn by what pulls you the greatest, what 'sits' well and intuitively going with that flow. Knowing something needed to be placed in the middle yet at the same time being unsure what delayed the creation once more. Again the idea of the Lotus Flower repeated was a big pull yet it also needed a difference. It was then the idea of using Peacocks in all their glory came to the forefront.

Peacocks are beautiful creatures, however, I am normally weary of using Peacocks or their feathers based on the old tale of they are 'Bad Luck', what I discovered by way of an Internet search is that they are actually not considered a 'bad omen' in India and they just happen to be India's national bird. So, the idea of the Peacock fitted with the current theme beautifully.

There is also a story in India, the god Murugan is often accompanied by a peacock. Murugan is a popular diety in the foothills of Western Tamil Madu. He is identified with Skanda, Shiva's son. Skanda's brother is Ganesha (although legend says Shiva was not his "real" father), the Elephant god. Muragan rides a peacock. Murugan is popular as a "clan" or family god. Skanda, as Skanda-Karitkeya, and Murugan both rode peacocks. Murugan's brother was Ayyappan. They were both sons of Shiva. http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/Peacocks.html

So, with this in mind the Peacocks would form the petals of the Lotus Flower:

Peacocks, unfinished added to as Lotus Flower petals to the centre

The centre still felt empty, so it needed something extra, yet at the same town adding further Lotus Flowers may possibly destroy the composition, so far, so time to think about an Indian pattern, also for some reason the need for some squareness to be added:

The full view with the intricate Indian pattern in the centre

Closer view of the pattern

Choosing the colours almost became a 'precious' moment, thankfully it didnt and so using the Aqua colour on the Elephants, the yellow, orange and now introducing some copper colouring. At this stage, I noted that some tidying up needed to be done in certain areas, as well as finishing off the peacocks.

This last photo was taken on 5th October 2010, so its taken five days to get this far and there is still a long way to go. It was at this stage a rest was needed t think about next steps.

to be continued .....

Creative Photography

2010-09-23T09:12:00.000+10:00

There has been some debate in over the years as to whether photography can be Art and with the onset of the digital age and plethora of digital software, is there any skill involved with creating these digital images like there is with an Artist and his painting? Interesting point but that then begs the question, what is Art? Who decides what constitutes Art?

I won't attempt to answer the big question - What is Art? However, I would like to address the issue of 'skill'. It is fair to say that with the dawning of the technological age and the plethora of software available, it is now easier to produce 'Art' without using traditional methods, however using the technology is a skill in itself, maybe not to the exacting standards of the High echelons of Traditional Art but none-the-less it does have some skill.

Also, as with some Photographers using digital software or what is referred to as a digital darkroom assists in altering a photograph to bring out the best in it - either by colour, framing or by small adjustments as in removing an unwanted item in the photograph by a variety of techniques. We have all heard of model air-brushing to remove blemishes and soften features, the same is often done to many of the most amazing photos taken.

My photo's receive mostly a small framing tidy by cropping the picture to improve the main subject, others have nothing done at all but a small few are digitally transformed by a share-ware program I and many other photographers use called IrfanView which can be found at www.irfanview.com. Its a simple program that allows me to use some photoshop techniques to alter my photographs. Other software programs that can be purchased offer far more than IrfanView, including cropping individual items in a photo and replacing them with another or rendering different coloured backgrounds or changing the colour of a specific item.

Below are examples of some of my photo's that have been digitally altered:-

Top Left: A log taken in King's Park, Perth Top Centre: Different section of King's Park Log Top Right: Different section of King's Park Log
Middle Left:Different section of King's Park Log Centre: Tree taken at Night Middle Right: Lichen on a treeBottom Left: Jellyfish Bottom Centre: Stormy clouds Bottom Right: Clouds made to look like oil painting

These were altered by adding in one or two special effects, changing the whole outlook of some of the photos. Take the Lichen on a tree most when they see the photograph think its an aerial shot of coral beds in the sea and very few guess what the four wood pieces are originally, even the jellyfish has most stumped. I used Irfanview for cropping originally and then later discovered what else I could do. Most of these are a result of a happy accident of fiddling around and seeing what happens rather than trying to create new pictures.

Here are some more examples of digitally altered photos:-

Top Left: Partly leafed Tree taken at night Top Right: This was originally a sunset photo at St Kilda Beach
Bottom Left: Origially a Vodka bottle but was being used as a water bottle Bottom Right: Moreton Bay Fig Tree

Most of the above are obvious what they are, bar the sunset photo taken at St Kilda Beach, Victoria. Here's the original sunset photo:-

Sunset at St Kilda Beach, Victoria

The digitally Altered version of the photo above

Some prefer the originals others like the digitally altered photos, as I said I just like to play with the program, just like I do with the settings on my Camera. Digitally altering photo's is not the only way to be creative, you can also alter the angle , as well as the distance and framing at which you take the photograph. Have a look at some of the examples below :-

Remember this? Its the top of a fence post at Ringwood Lake Park, Ringwood, Victoria most people think its a nut when they first see this

Looking up at the peeling bark of a Tree at Sky High Mount Dandenong

Using a rock in the foreground, focusing on the rock to left in the background to create an almost 3D effect

Using the foreground of the beach grass to frame the setting sun on Gunnamatta Beach

When your camera doesn't have the zoom power of the higher priced cameras, take the photo at normal distance, then use the crop tool on the digital software to zoom in on your subject, it makes for clearer sharper pictures

Again a simple crop to highlight the Duck Menage a Trois

So, as well as providing fuel to add to the debate about digitally created images, digitally altering a photo with a simple crop can enhance your experience of a simple point and shoot, digital camera and turn Okay photos into great photos. Remembering of course to utilise and play, the different settings and alter your view of the subject matter to add a little creation.

I will leave with one final photograph that was simply shot by changing my angle and a small crop for framing purposes:-

Water play on the Crown Esplanade, Melbourne CBD, Victoria
Here the droplets of water pop out on the page when enlarged

Next time we'll take a look at how photography has helped my Art and Visa-versa .....

Eureka Moments with Photography

2010-09-23T00:21:00.000+10:00

Eureka moments, I have had a few more through taking a picture again and again and fiding that golden shot or one that strikes a chord with me. Seeing the picture through the small LCD screen of my Nikon Coolpix S210 point and shoot camera has not always been easy. Since my first Eureka moment with the Julia Caesar Tablet in Israel, it has been stuck in my mind to take the picture anyway.

Photography for me is more than just taking a photograph, its a way of spreading the joy of nature, the passion for the world I live in and connecting with others, a way to hear their stories, to interact, to engage and who knows what else may happen. I may indeed only pass through this world/place only once and in taking that one photo brightens someone else's life, gives them hope, then as the saying goes, the picture (really has spoken) more than words.

What Inspires me to take a photograph? Hmm .. good question. The beauty and power of Nature, the wondrous sights in the places I live, an evocative feeling, when I see something that draws me in, encourages me to take its photo or even if I have a painting project on the go. Like my paintings its my love of the dramatic, the joy of seeing someone else's creative process - whether that is in a building, a piece of art or even in child's play and also something that just makes me smile. Also other photographer's and Artist inspire me to push myself further, one of my favourite photographers is Ken Duncan, he uses his photography to inspire others with inspirational quotes on some of his pictures, whilst at the same time sharing his incredible knowledge through courses to those who want to learn more.

The most valuable lesson I heard, whilst on a swim with the dolphin's trip was ... "of course you can be so busy trying to get the perfect shot that you miss the real beauty and joy of the moment. You forget to watch and just enjoy." It reminded me of one of my Philosophies - to stop rushing here and there, to really see, feel, hear, smell, taste and savour the moment, we often forget this and it takes someone else to remind us to be present. That memory remains imprinted on your mind and heart for a very long time and in my photography I try to capture that essence - the thought/emotional provoking memory.

In photography you capture a moment in time, some of my favourite captured moments with a Nikon Coolpix camera are those taken one year at The Australian Open, Melbourne, Victoria and being able to capture reasonably well, some amazing tennis poses, specially as the camera isn't an SLR camera, just a simple point and shoot one. Here's some of my favourites:-

Note how the player doesn't have any feet on the ground

Fully stretched and ready to run

He looks like he may fall over as he serves

Look how far down his back the Racquet goes as he serves

So even with a standard, simple point and shoot camera you can get some amazing shots, just take lots, being digital you don't have to develop them all before you find a good one. I love happy accidents too one of my favourite photo's when I first arrived in Melbourne, Australia was one I took whilst waiting in the car during a rainstorm.

When enlarged the water droplets look like they are just sitting on the photograph

This was taken through the car windscreen of a palm tree - with a manual camera you would either focus on the Palm tree or the water droplets. The Nikon Coolpix had options to set to macro or micro (Landscscape or close up), I chose the micro version to highlight the water droplets on the window screen and to blur the Palm tree. At the time I had no idea how great this one was till I printed it out in Large format and saw the 3D effect of the water droplets.

One of my other happier moments again with water was on a trip to Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. I took a walk along a stretch of Coastline by The Nobbies, the day was wet n' wild and the sea was crashing on the rocks below, capturing that 'smack' can be tricky and capturing a dramatic 'smack' without getting hypothermia is even trickier, nonetheless it was achieved.

Sea Spray near The Nobbies, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia

I have recently entered this photo in the Ted's Camera Competition along with other photo's, I have been back to the Nobbies a few times but never been able to recapture this amazing photo. So it really does go to demonstrate right time, right place, right conditions and take when given the opportunity, first time every time and shoot, shoot, shoot. You never know you too may get a Eureka moment.

Of course some of the most difficult to see shots are those taken towards the Sun over water, the glare makes it difficult to assess the quality of your shot on a LCD screen of most standard Digital cameras, nevertheless, just go for it and shoot. Here are some of my Sun/Water shots :-

Whilst not over water I just love the shards of sunlight
This was actually taken from a moving car, on the road between Cowes and The Nobbies,
Phillip Island, Victoria

Sunset on St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia
Here I used the dusk setting on Nikon Coolpix S210 to cut out some of the glare and sharpen the picture

St Kilda Beach, Victoria, Australia.
On this shot I used the warmer setting of sunset and covered the lens with my transition lens glasses as an extra filter
shows some colour spectrum on the sun shards

Similar photo to the one above, same sunset setting no transition lens glasses in front of lens

Same photo as the previous ones, this time on dusk setting, no transition lens glasses in front of the camera lens

You can see from the three photo's taken on St Kilda Beach, that using different settings can change the view, depth, tone of a photo without the use of even a photoshop software program. Also adding in something like transition lens glasses over the camera lens, it acts like the traditional Filters. The settings on the Nikon Coolpix S210 camera such as sunset or dusk/dawn settings also are like the traditional filters - adding more red tones to a picture on the sunset setting or more blue tones on the dusk/dawn setting. The aperture of the camera lens is also increased or decreased according to these settings to.

Why are settings so important on a digital camera, well in the traditional manual camera's you would have different kit to create same effect - wide lens, zoom lens, standard lens, filters, flash, even convex and concave lens filters - adding or adjusting these extra kit pieces would alter the effect of the shot taken. Now digital cameras, simple point and shoot, give everyone the opportunity to take shots as close to using a manual camera with extra kit.

I learnt what each one did by playing around with them and taking the same shot over and over, working out which one was best for each situation - hey it's digital I can do that now and not worry about developing costs. The camera manuals will tell you so much but really the only way to learn, is to take shot after shot and ask yourself, when you see them - How could I improve that shot? Have a little jotter pad with you so you know how you took a particular photo, what date, weather conditions etc, its a great learning tool.

Next blog will look at having fun with creativity photography ....

The 2 Brighton's in my Life

2010-09-21T22:59:00.000+10:00

Before coming to Australia, I used to live in the East Sussex town of Brighton in the UK. Just before, I left to move permanently to Australia Brighton, East Sussex became a City. The place as many happy memories for me, including the many wonderful friends I made and my some of my family members, who still live there. The architecture in and around Brighton, UK is so varied and amazing that I couldn't help but be mesmerized by it.

Brighton, UK has a unique charm about it and is quite a bustling seaside town. Dr Russel made it famous in the Victorian Era with his notion of 'sea air and bathing boxes' being good for rude health. Also making the town famous was King George IV, his love for Princess Charlotte, the Royal Pavilion and the Dome. However, it was the architecture that grabbed my heart strings first and one fountain in particular that still resides in the Old Steine.

When I was studying history at secondary school, we were taken to the Old Steine to draw objects of buildings and Decor - oh what a glorious day that was combining my love of history, architecture and art and it was only a stones throw from home. Here are some photographs of the Fountain, The Dome and the Royal Pavilion:-

Old Steine Fountain,showing the 3 Dolphins, the heraldic animals on Brighton's Coat of Arms

Part of the Dome and the Brighton Museum, which used to be the Royal Stables in the time of King George IV

The side of the Royal Pavilion, Brighton UK designed by John Nash

The Royal Pavilion, Brighton UK, at the time undergoing some renovations, inside it's extremely ornate

There is also one pub that I always loved from the outside - The King and Queen - still quite close to the Old Steine and on the main London to Brighton Road. It's designed in Tudor style and when growing up in Brighton, they would have Jazz evenings. Outside they have a courtyard and an aviary, where families would sit in summer eating a pub lunch and enjoying the summer sun - yes, contrary to popular belief, the UK does have some sunshine!

The King and Queen Pub, Brighton, UK the King statue above the door way is Henry VIII not too sure which wife of his
is on the otherside

The King and Queen Pub, Brighton UK, entrance to the courtyard and Aviary

Brighton, UK, technically is also the seaside town with 2 Piers - I say technically because one has been destroyed many times and sadly now is a burnt out structure. They had talked about saving the West Pier but after the last fire all hope seemed lost. The other Pier used to be council owned and known as Palace Pier, it eventually, like all things became owned by a company and is now known as the Brighton Pier.

The collapsed and burnt out shell of the West Pier, Brighton, UK - oh and Pebbled beach

In contrast, The Brighton Pier thriving with amusements, arcades, restaurants and bars

Summer evenings were always my favourite in Brighton, sitting out having a drink with friends on warm evenings and watching the sun go down, I guess I cherished these so much as our Summers weren't terribly long.

Sunset over Brighton Marina, UK

Sunset, over Brighton Beach, UK

Of course there are a few differences between the two Brighton's, the beach in the UK has many pebbles on and no sand and the Beach Boxes that Brighton, Victoria, Australia is famous for, exist down by Hove beach in the UK, which is a little further down from Brighton Beach, UK. Another difference is yup the weather, one Christmas, I was working in the Town Centre when it started to snow, my Australian Colleague was so excited that she requested to go outside and look, naturally, I went outside and snapped a photo.

Snow at Christmas time in Churchill Square main shopping area of Brighton UK

Now no talk about a seaside town would be complete without Saucy seaside pics

So Brighton, So Saucy

The Whirling Waltzer Woman ready to send you into a spin

The Beach Boxes and Sand at Brighton Beach, Victoria, Australia

I love going down to Brighton beach, Victoria, Australia and seeing all the Wedding Parties pose in front of the boxes during the summer months. It's quite gorgeous to see all the limousines parked in the car park above and watch the brides daintily walk down, dress in hand to the beach, Groom in tow. I have spent many a happy summer's evening here watching the sun set and cooling off in the water.

Sun setting on Brighton Beach looking towards Melbourne City, Victoria, Australia

Looking out to Sea whilst the Sun sets on Brighton Beach, Victoria, Australia

Sunsets and sunrises are one of my favourite subjects of Photography, more to come in future blogs ...

Mode Meditation

2010-09-17T16:37:00.000+10:00

So what is mode meditation? Well, put simply, I go into a meditative state and see many amazing images, at some stage, I then bring myself to a half way state, partly in meditation and partly conscious and start to paint having pre-prepared my materials and tools beforehand.

The pictures produced this way tend to be more ethereal, impressionistic, less depth and all of this depends on how close I am to being fully conscious. So, some can be extremely bright and colourful if I am more conscious and aware. there is another technique I use, especially when asked to paint for someone.

The other technique is designed to ensure the painting is unique to the person I am producing the Art for. Sometimes they give me a theme to work on, yet at the same time to make the Art work more personal, I also ask a few questions on likes, hobbies, interests and a few quirky questions too. Each person is asked different questions. If no theme is given, then just the personal questions are asked. Each painting is quite unique, even for the same person or family.

Once the questions have been answered and sometimes before the questions are asked, I meditate on the theme and/or personal answers, its quite amazing the visualisations that literally 'come to mind'. For instance, for one friend, she was Piscean, loved Japanese culture and was very fond of the yin-yang symbol. In my Visualisation I saw 2 Koi fish, black and red/orange in the Yin-Yang position, so that's what I painted. Whilst I knew pisces was represented by fish and the Koi fish was Japanese, at the time I didn't realise that Koi fish, black and red/orange represented the Yin-Yang symbol in Japanese culture. It wasn't until after I completed the painting and did an Internet search that I discovered this to be the case.

Yin-Yang Koi

I have seen them represented in other colours, like blue and orange, white and black but this one seemed to be the most traditional way of representing the yin-yang symbol. This was not my first meditation painting in Australia, my first was produce by the mode meditation of simply going into meditation and then starting to paint.

What is interesting about the method of mediating and then literally 'going with the flow' and painting are the different paintings it produces and that I have no idea what it will be until I stop. Also when people have seen some of my Art work produced in this way, some immediately feel a connection to a particular painting and say "you have painted that one for me" or "it reminds me of ... I like it, thank you for painting it for me."

The first painting I produced in Australia started off as one thing and ended up as something else, as so often happens with my meditation paintings. the two examples below are of my first painting in Australia and a painting I have produced recently.

First Painting in Australia

Blue Angel

The first painting started off as a sunset, however others have suggested it looks like a bushfire when seen the way it is represented here, it does depend on how you look at it to what you see. 'Blue Angel' started off as a Shipwreck and then turned into this ethereal image of a female. It's rare I label a painting that's because in labelling I find it narrows the viewer connection to the painting, I would rather the viewer see what they believe it is rather than impart my preconceived ideas to the viewer.

As time has gone on, my paintings have become a reflection of the country in which I live, Australia. The most iconic of these has become the spearhead to my 'Spirit of Australia' collection, which features a Boab Tree. The Boab Tree is one such tree I feel very connected to. Trees do feature in many of my more recent paintings, as do Sunsets and Sunrises. Other features in my paintings are the moon in various colours and water.

From "Spirit Of Australia" Collection

There are variations on this one that have been painted for others, who have requested them and each time a feature changes slightly. Have a look at the ones below:-

The last 2 were painted in Western Australia for my brother and sister-in-law and were a part of 6 individual paintings that made up a whole painting. So, even where I paint, time of year can alter the style and feel of the painting.

Below are examples of some other paintings I have produced via the mediation then paint process:-

The following paintings have been created for people based on a theme or with a theme in mind but for no one specific. Currently I have 22 themed projects to create, 4 collections to start, collate and finish and working on a commission. I am always happy to continue doing commission work and this always comes first but most importantly, I love that I have a job doing something that not only gives me joy but joy to others.

So that's mode meditation.

Mixing Art and Photography

2010-09-16T21:19:00.000+10:00

Initially my Art and Photography were 2 separate hobbies and I hadn't even considered them as useful tools to improve my eye in both Art and Photography - that realisation wasn't stumbled upon until I moved to Melbourne, Australia in November 2004. I know took me long enough! I just needed some inspiration for the penny to drop.

When I am asked what inspires me to paint or photograph the simplest answer is Life itself. I love nature, architecture, travel, music, drama, theatre and going slow. "Going slow?" Okay, let me explain:- often we can go through life, head down, blinkers on, rushing here and there, the sun rises, the sun sets, moon rises we sleep and off we go the next day on the same routine.

How much do you notice in your life? Take a moment to think about it. Can you name buildings, roads, remember the colours you see, the smells on your journey to work? My epiphany on this one came when I was diagnosed in 1997 with epilepsy and was told that I would no longer be able to drive. I loved driving, especially through the UK country lanes but now I was to have to change that routine and travel by public transport. I didn't realise how much I was missing out on by being the driver, sure I saw traffic lights, people, country lanes and changing colours of trees and sky but what I missed out on was all the other quirkiness.

Things like weird names of pubs, steepness of hills, knowing when the weather was going to change by feel rather than sight, flowers opening, newly born animals and much more. Its amazing how much you can see on a walk. I have also been lucky enough to travel and experience many cultures.

Other Cultures fascinate me and their different approaches to life and living and in a way people too. Although my photography depicts nature, landscapes and inanimate objects and hardly any people, it's what drives people to live the way they do that intrigues me, why they dress the way they do and the foods they eat.

Rituals are also a curiosity for me too; like tea ceremonies, cooking and even Feng Shui, the idea that everything has a place and an order, a rhythm and that is reflected in society and nature. At the same time I like things and people who go against the order of things and follow their heart without question, those that don't care about what other's say or think about them or what they do. Drive in people and society is a curious nature and its fascinating to sit and watch life unfold in front of you.

If you have never done this, go to a cafe, sit, order a drink and watch people and the world pass by, it's quite an amazing experience, make sure you have an open mind. I was once told by a teacher at the age of 6, that the ones who sit and listen learn far more than those that babble a lot in class, I was needless to say a quite child in class but perhaps too quiet, sometimes talking is important to gain understanding, I soon learnt to ask questions.

In asking questions, the learning curve has sharpened and aided my mind to probe and like a 2 year old child, the "but why's?" churn out a dozen times a second. So then, to quieten the mind once more and return to mode meditation. This is where the creative process really gathers speed and where reality meets fantasy to then have it pushed back into reality and then form of creation.

That form of creation has altered according to where in the world I am and the mode meditation is one that has been developed in my own way rather than a prescribed method. It has taken many years to tweak it to one that works in harmony with my painting and I have now started to utilize this indifferent areas of my life to gain more clarity before starting on a project.

It's great to see my paintings take on the Spirit of the land I am residing in and so living in Australia, I can be bold, different and express myself through my work. If you recall my blog on my previous photography Eureka - Et Tu Brute? - and how I had decided take a picture no matter what, well when I first arrived in Australia, within the first 3 months I had taken over 3000 photographs on my Journey through Victoria.

I would like to share with you some of my favourites:-

Melbourne Shot Tower,
Melbourne Central, Victoria

The Nobbies,
Phillip Island, Victoria

The Wooden Chair, Secret Garden,
Sky High, Mount Dandenong
Victoria

Sea Spray on the Rocks,
Phillip Island, Victoria

Sunset on Gunamatta Beach,
Mornington Peninsula,
Victoria

Windmill on Churchill Island,
Phillip Island,
Victoria

Wooden Post at entrance to Ringwood Lake Park,
Ringwood, Victoria

Tree at Sky High,
Mount Dandenong, Victoria

Point King
Portsea, Victoria

Water Play,
Crown Casino Esplanade,
Melbourne CBD, Victoria

Palm Tree through Car Window,
Oakleigh, Victoria

Melbourne CBD at Night from Rialto Observation Deck,
Melbourne CBD, Victoria

Flower from the gardens at Sky High,
Mount Dandenong, Victoria

Colours of Autumn,
Daylesford, Victoria

So, as you can see not only do I enjoy taking photo's, I also enjoy taking photo's in an Artistic way; different angles, framing, shading just to make the photo more interesting and yet at the same time the photo's taken inspire my art through their colours, light shade and construction.

More on my Artistic photography in another blog ....

Tiny steps

2010-09-16T19:52:00.000+10:00

When I started using meditation and painting together, I initially used Watercolours. The first group of paintings were very faint and for some reason I wanted to make the edges round. The paintings being extremely faint and with no camera to take a photo of them, I opted for the then new colour copier machine at my local newsagent.

This proved to be an interesting task in itself, as due to the faintness of the pictures, photocopying them became a time consuming task and not all of them could be copied. I still have all of them with me today in a folder. Even taking photo's of them today has proven to be difficult.

I believe they are faint due to the meditation process I used to produce them and noted that different levels of consciousness resulted in lighter or brighter, stronger colours.

They are mainly landscape/dream state pictures, the quality of the photo's sadly don't do them justice, if I can improve them I will.

Top Left: Sunset over City Top Right: Sunset over Rocky Bridge

Bottom Left: River round hill Bottom Right: Inlet Sanctuary

Top Left: Sunset on Water Top Right: Dessert

Bottom Left: Waterfall Bottom Right: Inlet Sanctuary 2

Top Left: Pencil Drawing Inlet Sanctuary 3 Top Right: Blank space

Bottom Left: Blue Boat Bottom Right: Rugged Garden

Pictures conveying a 1000 words when you cannot

2010-09-16T18:03:00.000+10:00

One of my deepest connections with Art and indeed my reconnection to it after my teenage years was when I went through a bout of depression. The depression was so deep that I couldn't even express what was happening to the Dr's and nurses treating me.

As a consequence of that I withdrew to my hospital bedroom and became stuck in a world of silence until I reached out and ask for my watercolours, pencils and art pads. These tools became my voice and opened up an opportunity to break the wall of silence.

During my time in hospital, I was also taught Tai Chi and meditation, it was the Tai Chi that helped me to focus my mind, so that I could meditate as previous attempts had been invaded by the mad, mad world I was trapped in. Due to this breakthrough, I was then able to focus on the painting to paint what was in my mind and cathartically begin the healing process and regain a sense of normality.

Initially the paintings were of masks, whom I saw as my tormentors, controllers and gatekeepers to my mind, soon they became depictions of how I was feeling and eventually signs of hope. During this time, I also wrote a diary and some poetry, these to help rid my mind of the mess it was in.

I hadn't heard of Art Therapy at the time but that's exactly what I was doing using Art in a therapeutic way, along with meditation and Tai Chi and that helped me reconnect to my love of Art - something so simple, so tactile, that it was able to help me heal myself and become whole again.

It is because of that amazing connection between Art, meditation and Tai Chi that my approach and methods to producing Art throughout the years has developed into what I know call 'Meditation Art'.

Angel Of Peace
This was actually a design on my bed cover in the hospital

Et tu, Brute?

2010-09-16T16:31:00.000+10:00

Vivitar 110 Camera

My progression into Photgraphy came, when my father bought me a Vivatar 110 camera and a visit to the Holy Land, Israel when I was 16 years old. At the time I bought 16 rolls of 36 exposure film not expecting to use them all and buy some more during the 10 day holiday over Christmas period.

The camera was to be used to record our Family vacation and some magical moments, initially some typical Family photo's but then I started to become more creative and taking pictures without people in and at odd angles. This was a Multi-centre religious holiday, so we would start in Jerusalem and follow the Journey of Christ in a haphazard way, the passion of Christ, his Ministry, to Bethlehem to visit the believed birth place of Christ on Christmas Eve and even a mass in a shepherd's cave outside the city of Bethlehem.

We journeyed past the Dead Sea, into Jericho, through the Golan Heights, onto Cana where the water was turned into wine, Nazareth, somewhere in there Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee eventually to Tel Aviv. It was during this Journey towards Tel Aviv that we went to an archaeological site, which had some stone Tablets that proved the existence of a Julius Ceasar, when Jesus was giving his Ministries. Now here is my Eureka moment which sold me on photography forever.

When we arrived at the site it was late afternoon, the light was fading fast and unlike the digital cameras of today, taking photographs on precious film in poor light wasn't considered the best of decisions. Our group consisted of many nationalities including one American family, the son was going to take a picture of the tablets with his flashy camera, that had a detachable lens, when his father stopped him to check the quality of the light, the conclusion, it wasn't good to go and so the photograph was not to be taken.

I on the other hand, being a precocious 16 year old (as my father would call me), decided that I probably wouldn't get a chance to photograph the tablets again, so I was going to take the photograph! It was this blase attitude that meant I had not only used up all my 16 original rolls of 36 exposure but had also purchased a further 16 of either 24 or 36 exposure depending on what was available.

I took the photograph and we continued on our Journey and it wasn't until we returned home, many months later that I was hooked by the amazing world of Photography - that photo, which shouldn't have come out with a flashy camera due to poor light was quite amazing, when taken with a simple point and shoot camera with no flash. I had the one photo that few would have and the name Julius Caesar could clearly be seen etched into the stone.

This has spurred me on to my photography philosophy today and now with digital cameras the possibilities are even more endless - I take my camera everywhere, take photographs of the weird and mysterious, from all angles, lots and lots of photo's, nothing goes to waste, not even the bad shots, everything is a learning curve and even better my photography now compliments my Art and visa-versa.

In the beginning ...

2010-09-16T14:49:00.000+10:00

My journey with Art started in my formative years. I can recall being at Secondary school in the UK and being about the age of 14 years old. This was the year that Art took a hold of me and in many forms, from painting to sculpting and even Technical Drawing. Though why it took hold of me in these years is quite mind-boggling considering the construction of Art during these years was to pass an exam.

We had many teachers, who instructed us on perspective, shade, tones, light and different media. They also taught us about some of the Artists through the ages and about the many forms of Art. In hindsight, one thing I never remember them telling us is that Art not only has to be a part of you but also that in learning the many ways of constructing Art, the form our Art took didn't have to be to a prescribed format.

In a subtle way, I guess they were trying to show us this, through other Artists work however in the end what mattered was passing our exams, so our Art became construed in form by a prescribed format destined to give high marks for exam purposes. This is now what I refer to as soulless and mind-tampering Art, it serves one purpose only to demonstrate various learned techniques and strips the individuality of Art away.

Prior to my exam year and still at the age of 14, my Art was influenced by genre's such as Sci-fi and Fantasy, as well as the fields of Dance, Drama, Music and even technical pictures of Trains and motorbikes. Music was an odd one as I didn't really follow music in my childhood, yet the Artist with a flair for Drama and Fantasy caught my eye, people like Steve Strange from Visage, David Bowie and some of the New Romantic Bands.

Steve Strange from Visage

Also heavily featured in my life at the time were the Periot dolls, which was strange as I found and still find other clowns very bizarre and odd. I guess at the time I was going through my Fantasy and Facades period, fuelled by my love for drama and the dramatic.

To this effect my favourite medium - inks (Windsor & Newton) added to my fervour of the dramatic and fantasy, whilst they gave a watercolour effect the pigments gave a far more drama in the picture than I was able to create using watercolours. The inks would allow me to create magical, fantasy art using leaf shapes to draw and design mystical creatures and Faerie Castles perched high on precarious rock cliffs.

I loved these fantasy paintings but then one day, one teacher came along and crushed my creativity, giving me a reality check that was quite harsh for a 15 year old to take in. I was told that whilst my painting was 'nice' and looked 'great' it wouldn't under any certain terms help me pass my exam and at the end of the day, passing exam is what it was all about.

I sat befuddled for a moment and collected my thoughts and asked, so what will? This took the teacher by surprise, I guess he didn't think I would be interested, so he turned and looked at me once more, gathered his thoughts, smiled and preceded to tell me that I needed more realistic paintings, learn to do still life, use perspective, shade, tone, lighting - all the things we had been taught in the last year and a half.

So with that in mind, I turned to my Technical drawing expertise for inspiration - steam trains it would be, my love of Architecture, Victorian Railways, my love of books, meets railway children and viola I would have a painting that even Robert Stephenson would be proud of. For still life, I did extra classes and studied Renaissance Artists, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci for form and inspiration. Happily I passed my Art Exam with a Grade B, however the defining moment had been the Art Teacher crushing my creativity and my passion for Art had been tempered so much so that the only purpose for Art in my mind was now firmly transfixed as for passing exams.