this sunday in Brisbane: largest fair yet planned by Brisbane Organic Growers Inc

Brisbane Organic Growers Annual Fair is on this Sunday - 4th October at The Peace hall, 102 McDonald Rd, Windsor between 9am and 3pm. The hall is located directly under the Albion Overpass near the Albion Railway Station so wont be difficult to find! Many aspects of organic growing will be present...with over 60 stalls... there's sure to be good food and coffee as well as and a whole host of  "how to" demonstrations. This event is free and well worth a detour if you are going to be in Brisbane Sunday. I know where i'll be at 9am anyway ...beating the heat, getting a look-in first thing! I want to investigate the rare and endangered species and seed-savers stalls! Click  Here  to find out more about this organisation.

Aims

Do you want to grow your own fruit and vegetables without chemicals, hormones, synthetic herbicides/pesticides, and exclude genetically modified foods from your diet? Then our club might be right for you, as BOGI aims to:

• Encourage people to use organic methods in their gardens
• Stop using chemicals fertilisers and toxins
• Care for the soil through composting, worm farming, mulching, re-using and recycling waste and living environmentally sustainably.
• Create a healthy ecosystem so natural predators are encouraged and plants are strong enough to resist attack from pest and diseases.
• Produce healthy plants that will resist disease and be safer for human consumption.
• Encourage native wildlife through reducing the use of dangerous chemicals
• Encourage nature through planting native species to encourage insects, frogs, birds and all wildlife that are part of our biodiversity.
• Ensure that water from all sources is economically used to sustain all plantings.
• Encourage less waste in our garbage by recycling it into compost
• Grow plants with companion plants which deter pests.

This gardener's no fool!

above: passiflora buds - aug 2.09

I have been wanting to share a place I go to for inspiration for a while now. Well..its not close by and I dont actually get to travel there...I'm referring to the wonderful garden fool blog I follow which is mostly a weekends only pursuit for Em who lives in the New York area and has a usda zone 6 garden...such coding I admit to being unfamiliar with!  Em is a biomedical engineering consultant in the medical device industry...a long title that sounds very serious and demanding to me, and the reason no doubt why Em's weekends in her beloved garden are so relaxing for her. Her blog, started spontaneously when playing around one day a few years back, has allowed her to document the exquisite, the rare and the humble and everyday plants in her garden, as well as the creatures that frequent this divine space... from family pets to many beautiful birds, insects, butterflies and bees, the odd rabbit and maybe deer!

Em added a potager this year which looks like its been there forever and has produced abundant vegetables, herbs and such..organically produced and despite great hard work a joy she says to watch growing...and a wonderful route to relaxation. She talks of photography as having given her a new way of viewing the world, shifting her perspective on things and the blog as a means of sharing these photos and experiencing a wonderful sense of community. 

Since I moved 16 mnths ago I have not had my own garden as such...so I love to visit Em's world and appreciate her attentiveness to her the garden she has cultivated and the keen eye she brings to all that is occuring in this space. There is something of the scientist and artist in her approach and her nurturing devotion is always a delight to witness!!!

Em's artistic daughter's gorgeous journal

Spring fractals: may 10, 09 - above: gaillardia 'fanfare' bud

below: maidenhair fern

above: Pink Peony among the grasses  - may 25.09

above: dogwood -  lovely image from May 3, 09

The series of photographs above are of an alium coming into bloom - taken By Em in July last year for her wonderful Garden fool blog when I feel like being thus inspired!

below:  from Em's delightful August 3rd post last year titled -  "small things"

Myrtle Street Studio

I was thrilled to find out about an exciting new venture on my side of town today...maybe not around the corner...but not far away!  Myrtle St Studio  is the brainchild of Jay Dee Dearness who has wonderful plans for this enterprise set to open in the new year. It will be a new ARI -   Artist Run Initiaive. It incorporates a gallery space, a specialist book/print store and artist studio. The focus will be primarily on print and paper based media. Workshops, readings, dialogue gatherings...all to be launched in a few months as part of the serious plans to create a vibrant and interactive art space. I'm keen to become aquainted with what's being offered here. Clicking on the highlighted text above will take you to Jay Dee's blog for the studio and click about to read a full description of what's on offer. If you are in this part of the world I'm sure a visit in 2010 will be a MUST!

Jay Dee setting her new press a few months back

above: a poster from a mid year event

below: a preparation sketch by Jay Dee from her studio work

below: from Jay Dee's work exhibited in May this year

Jay Dee has another blog which gives you an idea of this busy woman's life pursuing various artistic endeavours and extensive travel.

quiet earth

from this

to this

at les-contours-du-silence

You inspire - thanks Fanny!

(what is this?)

I've posted before on (what is this?) a.k.a. parenthetically // an undisciplined record of passing fancies. That's because Angela has a way with words that I find compelling, and when she's not up to her ears in her other amazing projects and actually finds a moment for this blog, then one is generally in for a treat! Today I find she has hunted down some US war-time Govt posters following on from her previous post on such posters from war-time UK. Rather than elaborate here I urge you to click over to "Do with less" posted 27.9.09 and also the previous post "Note to self: Eat Greens, Defend Freedom" posted 25.9.09.

I was fascinated with how topical these poster themes are now...even if the agendas behind the issues are distinctly different. Cheap flights and get-away offers bombard us daily...this temptation for those with time/cash collides with critical global consequences of increased travel. The poster below is a classic...so not of this time! Now a poster might read "get off that plane and when you're at home switch of all those damn lights will you, and the air-conditioning, 3 fridges and 2 freezers, 5 TV's, and clothes-dryer! Well no...that's a bit too cheeky for a Govt poster!

Thanks for the fascinating look at these signs from a very critical time not so long ago Angela!

living, breathing walls

Patrick Blanc's vertical gardens have made the name of this French scientist come artist. Green roofs Australia have a post on his work that includes a YouTube video interview with Blanc in Paris worth watching.

Book available now in bookstores

Marche des Halles in Avignon

These images I found on the always intriguing  Saint Verde blog. Take a peek at theis post of his...and more. His references are exccedingly eclectic and very often quite unique. From there I went to Blanc's website and was enraptured with certain travel and project images.

mystical, familiar, objective and subjective all at once...

Portrait -W-No. III, 1917

Untitled (tent door at night), 1916

Pelvis I, 1944

Untitled (Abstraction Red Wave with Circle), 1979

I chose these 4 images from a slideshow of 15 works by Georgia O'Keefe as I was unfamiliar with them and they offered a fresh take on this artist whose work has certainly attracted attention over many years, even if not always for the reasons an artist might wish for! More than 130 paintings, drawings, watercolours and sculptures by one of the most famous early painters of the 20th century from the US - as well as works from the photographic portrait series of O'Keefe by Alfred Stieglitz -  is currently being shown at the Whitney Museum in New York. The slideshow and a review by Jerry Saltz can be found at  the nymag. 

To quote from this article "O'Keefe produced some of the most original and ambitious art in the 20th century....her ideas about surface, colour and scale are not only daring; they presaged the work of artists as varied as Newman, Avery, Rothko, Louis and Heilmann as well as Colour Field painting, Lyrical Abstraction and contemporary Post Modern Abstraction". The title for this post I took also from Saltz  as I thought it a point to muse on!  I have to say...the watercolours immediately attracted me today.

image from the website of the Georgia O'Keefe Museum.

Click on the artists name in the text above to go to the museum.

Duststorm sweeps over Eastern Australia

The most extraordinary dust storm travelled across the Australian continent over the past couple of days. It descended on Brisbane this morning and we can just see stars coming through again now...  over 12 hrs later. This image above comes from Yuki's Art Blog and is of New Farm Park next to the Brisbane River (on the right). If you wish to see more images do visit her blog. She is a Japanese illustrator /photographer living in Brisbane and her post today - SEP 23 - titled  Sandstorm in Brisbane has other images you can view. I did not get to take photos and was ensconced in my studio with windows all shut to keep out the red dust. Many people reportedly suffered breathing problems and there were huge disruptions to normal services in many centres.

two coats of paint

 Mark Mullin : " A growing time", 2007 Oil on canvas 72" x 72" x 5"

        

Paintings by Sharon L Butler and the icon for Two coats of paint on twitter.

Two coats of paint is a 'must see' blog for those interested in painting. Sharon L Butler created it in 2007 and you can read more about that at the top left side of the blog. Basically she talks about the fact she was very interested in reading art commentary and reviews over many years and decided to share this pursuit  and significant store of material with others she felt may be interested. And yes, people were found to be very interested and the blog continues to prosper, not that any money is made from maintaining it she points out. Rather it has become a place where the dialogue and thinking and even emotional growth  has proved considerably rewarding.

Here are 2 posts from Sunday:

 Kandinsky's influence - Posted Sunday, sept 20, 2009

Heidi Pollard, "Honey"  2005, oil on canvas,  48" x 48"

Pollard's painting is included in the Kandinsky post, a very good read for those interested. After the show I saw yesterday this painting caught my eye straight away. The Peter Plagens slideshow from Newsweek -  "Kandinsky's Heirs"  features Terry Winters, a favourite of mine, amongst a series of other painters. The painting at the top of this post by Mark Mullin is also from this Newsweek slideshow of painters.

The other post from Sunday, 20th sept, 09: "I think once I stopped caring quite so much about where I fitted in, and whether it made any sense to be painting, I started getting more and more absorbed in it".

I think this is a familiar kind of reckoning that occurs for one wishing to continue painting long term but facing severe doubts. If this registers with you...READ THIS POST! The quote comes from Cecily Brown and this is her painting:

Cecily Brown, "Indian Tourist", 2008, Oil on Linen

Lost Bees in the Biosphere

Art installation: Lost Bees in the Biosphere by Anna Cooke and Rozina Suliman

Rozina Suliman with the booklet put together by the 2 artists to accompany their work.

Today I met an innovative young artist,  Rozina Suliman,  who co-ordinated Brisbane-based Environmental Art Collective's  ART / PLAY  / SCIENCE 2009 - a  4 day Art Exhibition at White Canvas Space at 26 Church St, Fortitude Valley. If you are in the area you still have till 6pm Tuesday to see this show...2 full days viewing left  (10 am - 6 pm MON & TUES). The space itself was wonderful and the show freshly conceived with a concentrated effort over some months of meetings with artists to develop a dialogue out of which the work was realised. This produced some noteworthy results avoiding it  becoming a mish mash of random works with a unifying title. Instead Rozina's co-ordination and curating skills are to be praised for successfully bringing viewers a rewarding experience, well worth  the effort of seeking out this rather new art space.

Discussing the process behind the show itself as well as Rozina's work was most engaging. Anne Cooke, her collaborator with the installation, is a PhD student in Social and Environmental Psychology. Lino printing is just one of the art forms she works with and has utilised in this work with Rozina who focuses on media and installations in her art practice as well as being Art Curator at Brisbane venue Top Floor.

Around 16 artist were involved in this show...I would have liked to mention the work of these artists as well...unfortunately ...early start in the morning!

Paint: the language UNA REY

The title above is from an article Una contributed to Art Monthly Australia in July this year whilst completing post grad studies. Una has managed art centres at Haasts Bluff,  Milikapiti and Balgo. We met at Newcastle University when she was half a year into her studies and I was starting out. Dialogue with Una is always layered and rewarding, grounded in the gritty experiences of a well-lived life far from the cliched images of travel brochures and ads for the 'good life'. This was the kind of dialogue I was seeking through post grad work. Before the year's end events had catapulted me into unplanned changes. Reluctantly a few such connections went by the wayside due to interstate relocation - but not for long with Una - ever the communicator, skilled at poignant one sentence emails ...the conversation flowed. Today  I wish her well for a wonderful opening night of her Final show on completion of her study.

More of Una's work can be viewed through Place Gallery, Melbourne and through her newly launched blog.

PARK(ing) Day

Brisbane PARK(ing) Day is on this Friday, 18th of September. I was sent a Newsletter from Bliss Ecowear today, a great local store in Paddington, full of eco-friendly clothing and accessories, from fair trade sources and local designers....like the talented thea and sami ...hi Thea!

A group of local stores is getting together on friday to claim some parking spaces on the street and have comfy seating, coffee, food, magazines, free massages and free bicycle safety checks available from 7.30 am onwards. I wonder where i'll be friday morning for an hour or so! This event is taking place all over the city and locations are marked on maps, plus  all the details you will need available on the website...just click on the magic words at the beginning of this text!

I love hearing from artists I find on my travels on the net..

Last night I really should have been tucked up in bed... B u t ... a series of stepping stones led to too many wonderful places for me to even begin to share them all with you! My good friend Una Rey is about to have her final show at the close of her PhD. That needs celebrating with a post ASAP...and I want to tell you about the fabulous Slow Muse before this week's out!

But quickly...while the last layer of paint I applied dries ...I just had a lovely email from Linn Meyers whose work I added to my post on Data Is Nature last night. Here (above) is an image I particularly liked from her website and below is the artist at work. I noticed Linn has connections in both East and West Coast US cities... and seems to be engaged in some fascinating projects. 

See Data Is Nature in 1st post I did for Wednesday 16th, 09!

I've still got my first Derwent colour pencils...

But I dont think Jen Maestre does... I imagine they may well have ended up in an art work and be long gone. Then again...its curious what people save - I should talk! Here is a sample of what  Jen does with off-cuts from her work as a sculptor. I found her on the Data Is Nature blog feature on the post below. When she returned my email she reported having visited Australia 10 years ago and said she loved being reminded of the Indigenous woven forms she had seen then when reading about the 'Floating Life" exhibit I posted on 3 days ago currently at Brisbane's GoMA.

Sunshine oculus pencil pendant  shown at  jenmaestre.etsy.com

Artists the world over are often to be found innovating something in their studios that is a sideline to their main Art Practice, making the most of left over material where possible, or utilising hard won skills into something streamlined to sell at affordable prices. Its a bonus when the by-product of the larger work bears fruit in this way...and does not diminish, but enhances the other work. There is a strong element of fine craftsmanship in producing work over a life-time and sometimes the application to producing smaller fine works can be the discipline that can add significantly to an Art Practice - of course depending on the nature of the work and artist's intention.

Perhaps in one's student years, when cash may be in extremely short supply - corners are cut - but it is gratifying to see the shift in awareness of materials that is part of the Artist's maturation process, despite the ongoing need for thrift that is often the case for a great many practitioners..

dataisnature.com

Found at DATA IS NATURE this evening via the wonderful BibliOdyssey:

Pencil Point Creatures - Jennifer Maestre

Aurora - Jennifer Maestra   - Posted 13.5.09  undulating sculptures reminiscent of anenomes, sea urchins and starfish utilising sharpened coloured pencils as a medium.

Post: 17.7.09  Flickr Fruits # 29 -

Tree foregrounded in a Soap Bubble by Richard Heeks (richard.heeks photostream)

Below:  Geom III - Re:void Flickr - Gwen Vanhee's photostream

Below:  Feildlines: toxi's photostream

Post : 29.4.09  Linn Meyers - Undulation, interference & turbulence

Linn Meyers produces complex organic geometric drawings. If you go to her website and click on drawings look at number 8 - spectacular! Below is an untitled ink drawing on the wall at the Morgan Lehman Gallery, NYC, 2009.

And last of all a post from 9.4.09 titled:  Twittering Machines

Here a fascinating connection is made. Ponder this - to quote Dataisnaure: "any excuse to post a picture, and reference, one of Dataisnature's favourite Paul Klee drawings is always welcome".

Twitter Visualised - Scott Templar       &       Twittering Machine - Paul Klee

There is so much on on this amazing weblink to explore...but for now...its time to go!