growing ideas

Both images are of thriving community gardens in Newcastle, taken several months ago

Its great to see so much activity happening around the revival of growing our own food in our communities, and not just in our own backyards. Artists have long celebrated the garden and table, shared plates and conversation---frequently in their art as well as in life. When visiting friends in Newcastle several months ago I loved seeing all the permaculture gardens being planned or well underway in friend's backyards. The 2 images above however are from community initiatives that are open to all to visit and work in.

I went with friends Will and Maureen to the Wickham community garden (pictured at top) one grey and chilly Sunday. Everyone was very welcoming and the wood-fired oven was turning out fabulous pizza for volunteers to lunch on. This was very pleasant...all the greens of course straight from the garden. Not only was the garden lush and well cared for, but it was a most visually pleasing environment in an area that is a little bereft of lush gardens all around. It is however next to a large park full of magnificent trees where a market takes place weekly I think. There were children playing in and around the garden, some in a purpose built playground, others digging and planting or talking to the chooks! 

That evening over at the house of other friends I was taken on a walk in the dark with 3 generations of this family...all of us carrying umbrellas...to the local community garden to pick our salad for dinner. That slight drizzle of rain only added to the anticipation of enjoying such a fresh salad. Jen (in the second photo) dressed in coat, hat and umbrella proudly showed me this delightful garden in a rather prominant place that is being nutured by locals and remains untouched by interlopers even though it s not gated or fenced off and is close to the ocean and areas that draw large crowds constantly.

I thought I would add this link below to a local Brisbane initiative  ECOBOTANICA by Linda Brennan. She is conducting workshops in Brisbane at the Roma St Parklands in the midst of the CBD and also at the Mt Coo-Tha Botanical Gardens focusing on the requirements of this  this particular sub-tropical climate. Linda also designs and implements food and herb gardens for homes and - something I think is a brilliant initiative - for workplaces. A friend Chrissy sent me this link this morning and I thought it well worth sharing! Ecobotanica's website is under construction but if you click here  it will lead you to the site and to the excellent brochure full of workshops. Linda Brennan is currently president of the Qld branch of the Australian Institute of Horticulture. Her workshops on growing fruit for the local sub-tropical climate sound particularly interesting and are based at the Botanical Gardens. I did like the idea of the workshop 'Thai garden for busy cooks " though! I'm very keen on the herbs one associates with the cooking of South East Asia.

oldest living things in the world - at The Long Now

Published September 29th, 2009 on The Long Now blog was a post titled Oldest Living Things in the World which is the name of the blog by photographer Rachel Sussman, presenting the fascinating research she conducts  travelling the world to document the oldest living things. Got to her blog to learn more on what her concerns are.

The Long Now foundation (quoting from About Long Now) 'was established in 1996 to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. This foundation wants to provide a counterpoint to today's "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years'.

Interestingly the name was coined by Brian Eno, one of the founding board members upon moving to New York where he found that "here" and "now" meant "this room" and "this 5 minutes" as opposed to the larger here and now he was used to in England. The foundation adopted 'the long now' as their title as they try to stretch out what people consider as now.Great reading for anyone interested in these ideas!

Brian Eno's 77 Million paintings 

the time will come when my pictures will be understood...

I found this work by artist Emma Kunz first on Data is nature , then came across it again tonight on butdoesitfloat.com . Kunz lived from 1892 to 1963 in the German speaking part of Switzerland and was recognised in her lifetime as a healer, though she described herself as a researcher. Her reputation as an artist is perhaps more substantial now than when she was alive. Visit this website  for details and more images of the work of this quite remarkable artist for her time.             NB:  Both Data is nature and but does it float are sites worth visiting at length.

breathing out...

Slow day today...a quick post...it's been a very busy week or two...so full that today I am looking forward to sitting somewhere to breathe out for awhile, with a delicious coffee maybe (i'd like this one right now actually!) ...and then...a swim would be nice....although it wont be this favourite pool of mine which I had to post another photo of just now. Looking at this makes me feel lighter! This is from the Ocean Baths where I used to swim before I moved to Brisbane last year. It was a truly divine place for relaxing...the ocean vista...the size, moods and colours of the pool.

I've not yet downloaded photos from Botaniqe ...Soon!  Last night I did get to see the film 'Julia and Julie' which suited my mood perfectly. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea...but with the blogging angle of this story...it had that extra note of interest ! Anyone who understands the long, slow effort to produce a a truly worthwhile body of creative work would perhaps relate to aspects of the stories of these 2 leading women...especially the older of the two!

introducing my new site - sophie munns studio archive

It was slow coming but I finally worked out what approach to take for a weblink  to my own portfolio of artwork. In part I was prompted to put this together for those visitors to my blog wanting to see my work in a place of its own, rather than interspersed between posts on the all the wonderful people and ideas I like to document and share. 
I must thank quite a few people for continuing to prompt and encourage me in this way... Una  in Newcastle, Carolyn  in Melbourne, Rachael  in Brisbane, Lucy at nourish me  in Melbourne ... I feel bad about actually forgetting some of the other encouragers I wish to thank!
I would never have started blogging if it wasn't for generosity of Chrissy   and also Karin . Plus I must thank Marilena Stanton (who does not blog, but should) for some great inspiration, ideas, contacts and singular encouragement!
Months of blogging has brought so much to my attention, extending awareness of certain things exponentially. Its ideal the way a blogging component  can now combine so easily with a more traditional website to keep things current, interactive and refreshed.
I have borrowed and adapted what I thought was a great idea from Steven Alexander, an accomplished abstract painter and academic from the US, who manages 2 blogs - one formal, non-interactive blog for his own work to be added to over time - simply titled  STEVEN ALEXANDER STUDIO ... and an interactive weblog STEVEN ALEXANDER JOURNAL  which is very focused and clean, streamlined to enhance quite precisely his particular career focus. He provides a most consistant aesthetic and tone to his 2 weblogs and in this way I think it works admirably as a website. He does not appear to have a traditional website in fact!
With the availability of numerous paths into web-land and the endless array of templates, methods and moods to employ - it was time to make a start by keeping it simple! I do thank all for the wonderful encouragement that comes my way! There will be no space for comments on this studio archive blog... it will be straightforward, not needing to be managed apart from adding more work! But you are always welcome to email me or leave a comment on this blog anytime!

Botanique at Mt Coo-Tha Botanical gardens next week

nb: click on this invitation to enlarge for viewing!

For several weeks now my studio has been covered in cloth, paint and seedpods as I worked on my contributions to Botanique:Wearable Art Show at the Botanical Gardens on Tuesday, 13th of October and Bazaar Botanique - the follow-up event which runs from Wednesday, 14th through to Sunday, 18th of October at the Randall Studio in the Garden grounds. Organised by the wonderful and capable Bettina Palmer, Botanique has become a popular feature on the Garden's annual calender of events. Those unable to come to the Parade tuesday evening have a chance to visit the 5 day Bazaar. Guest speaker on the night will be Diane Moon who curated the immensley well received "Floating Life" exhibition at GoMA. With about 9 days left to go its a MUST SEE. Even the catalogue produced for this show  has sold out .

For the fabric I spent considerable hours printing on cloth straight from the seedpods. In the past I might have worked with Lino-printing or a mono-print surface, but since collecting pods on my walks over the past year or so these have ended up in my work one way or another. 

My first real purchase on commencing a proper job as a 22 yr old just finished study was a sewing machine. For about 6 years I exhausted the possibilities with this trusty machine then it got shelved as I went OS to live and travel. A few years later, settled in Melbourne, I picked up again...but not making wildly creative clothes as I once had, instead concentrating on producing textiles for table cloths, wall hangings, cushion covers etc. I lived in a wonderful 'decaying mansion' of a house with enclosed verandahs where I could spread out long tables to work on fabric when I wanted a change from the more detailed and much smaller drawing and painting I was doing.

Fortuitously meeting Bettina Palmer when volunteering at the Gardens months ago (on the 'Seeds for life'  project)  coincided with starting to look again at the textile work I'd once done. I was quite excited when Bettina mentioned her project and invited me to participate. This project has allowed  for a fresh approach to subject matter and and opportunity to play with and extend visual ideas that feature in my painting practice. Below are some printed fabric works, some of which have been fixed to canvas stretchers.  The process was so enjoyable that some developed quite unintentionally into paintings. I have (tentatively) added my 'Poinciana seedpod dress' here - with front and back views - which will be worn by someone suitably gorgeous next week at the parade in the Japanese Garden.  I imagine there will be some seriously accomplished pieces keeping my little poinciana frock company. What fun!

section of printed work

Image above from an ABC TV gardening show (07.10.06) where presenter Colin Campbell referred to Poinciana trees as as the most defining tree that's shaped the character of inner Brisbane's oldest suburbs. Native to Madagascar, its bright orange flowers herald the beginning of summer and the start of storm season. The large bean-like seedpods are presently hanging in masses from trees all around where I live. I have been watching for changes to occur for some time...seeing the green pods turn a leathery brown and before too long transform yet again! When the pods start to open they can be prised apart and some can be used for printing, but many are far too curled up to make that feasible. The seeds are relatively small for such a large pod. I have seen jewellery made from them, but printing with seeds would pose a challenge!

These photos above are a little unreliable colourwise. I was avoiding posting a larger image which would have actually been a far more sensible thing to do as all the details are not evident here. The collaged fabric pieces...all the torn edges and stitching as design feature, subtle colour variations in parts...and the large oval shaped pocket for seedpod collecting! The beads also feature 3 small pods from another local tree. Oh well... if you click on the image you will  perhaps see more detail! A  few pieces to complete...and then it is done.

Two of the six fabric printed works I've mounted on stretcher frames. Other works have employed quite different colour palettes.

Transition: Rachael Lee

'Traffic' 2009 Acrylic, ink and pencil on linen 30 cm sq

'Fusion'  20007  watercolour pencil on paper, 35 x  22 cm

'Traffic' is a work from Rachel Lee's latest series which will be shown in a Solo exhibition TRANSITION opening this Friday night, 9th of October in Brisbane at the Doggett Street Studio. See more here on Rachael's website about the opening and her work.I met Rachael recently at the

  Brisbane Artists Development Co-op  which is a "creative hothouse of like-minded individuals committed to growing professionally and artistically through active membership". Its a lively group of individuals who will no doubt be out in force for Rachael's show this weekend which promises to have some wonderful new work to go and see!