Slowing Down...

Gosh... what to write about when it feels like life is taking off without you?

What to say when you've been unwell, in pain and couch/bedbound?

(nothing serious and I will recover but boy oh boy!)

Well I realised that one of the nicest things to do is to read about the adventures of other 

people who are having a ball, facing new adventures and possibly even trying to overcome

greater obstacles than my own... yep that helped.

Taking photos is also a favourite past time of mine and it isn't too hard to find 

beauty in some of the simplest things in life ... when you keep your eyes peeled.

I've been staying at Mums (she's a born nurse) and her green fingers have inspired me immensely

She told me that this Cyclamen was pure white but she had been pouring a little bit of diluted beetroot

juice (when rinsing out her cup) on it and low and behold it changed colour. It was a small amount too so it had me wondering what other plants might react this way? I know Hydrangeas can be altered depending on what type of soil but I'd never heard of beetroot juice working? 

I mean yes - we've all seen cut flowers dyed with food colouring but beetroot juice?

Hmmm... Ideas, ideas. 

As I mentioned before, Mum has green fingers for sure - and green toes too I expect.

Her garden deserves a post all of it's own but but I had to share this one. 

I love this statue and in the pot he guards Mum has Maiden Hair fern growing alongside 

Geranium and Colocasia ... all in the same pot... seriously???

It's been a very wet September here in Perth. Whilst we are grateful since our dams

are low (and our farmers desperately need the water) I know it's been strange to have 

fires lit and woollens on so late in the year. The majority of people in Perth get pretty crabby when the 

weather turns grey. You can sense the longing for sunshine and beaches and barbecues.

Hubby and I love the wet weather and we never get the Winter Blues 

(dare I say it but we in fact get the Summer Sads!)

So we've been capitalising on the cosy factor and watching an illegal amount of 

Escape To The Country, Country Home Restoration and Grand Designs... as you do.

Pooch doesn't mind though... he just loves a lap.

So there's my post all about nothing.

Well to be fair I titled it "slowing down" since that's all you can 

do when life throws you a curveball and rest is required.

I think my next post will be about all the stunning things I've discovered on

Pinterest... my other favourite couch activity.

I hope you are having a great day peoples?

It's a public holiday here today so we are taking our 15 year old son to

the train station where he'll be embarking on a day at the Royal Show with 

friends... some who are girls!!... (I think that means way more to me than him)

We have something yummy on the menu to look forward to though:

Homemade Gnocchi with a Butternut Pumpkin Sauce. Yum.

One more thing.... the first image is that of a gift given to me by my Hubby.

He felt I needed cheering up and treated me to this stunning fragrance.

It's officially now my favourite.

Thank you again babe.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Breaking the rules... all of them.

The Blue Window - Matisse

How many times have you told yourself "Well I guess that's how it's done" only to 

find out that in fact there are so many other ways to "get it done"

Anna Zborowska - Amedeo Modigliani

How many times have you felt like standing up in front of the crowd and yelling

"You're all WRONG!!"

The Park - Gustav Klimt

How many times have you stumbled upon a brilliant idea and then

sabotaged it within seconds ... usually by just ignoring it and not acting upon it

The Olive Trees - Vincent Van Gogh

Have you ever found yourself defending your viewpoint and then 

realising "Hang on! This a VIEWPOINT... how can I be wrong??"

Church at Murnau - Wassily Kandinsky

What about those days when you begin creating and the world just melts away...

....minutes turn to hours and you forget to eat your lunch....

... the light dims outside but your eyes are adjusting so you don't notice...

Road near L'Estaque - Georges Braque

.... then someone walks in and turns a light on and you realise that time

has stood still for you and that, for even just a few moments... you had melted into

the canvas of life and fused with all the other beautiful colours...

Illumined Pleasures - Salvador Dali

... but the dishes are dirty, but that idea has had it's day, but there's no time, 

but I don't have the money, but... but... but.....

La Goulue at the Moulin - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

In times of crisis they say we humans either fight or fly

I happen to think that some of the greatest art comes from these moments of crisis...

I still use brushes - Arman Pierre Fernandez

... and then what we see on the canvas, in the photo, within the statue...

Untitled 1980  - Cindy Sherman

.. is a symbol of flying or fighting...

Rocks Upon The Beach Upon the Rocks - Lawrence Weiner

I make so many mistakes when i'm creating and very often

when I look back on my previous works I realise I was my harshest

critic. Art has no boundaries people. Therefore it has to include the mistakes.

Repository - George Brecht

The greats knew... KNOW... this. 

An innate sense of what it is to express you're authentic itself

without caution nor concern for what the observer may say or do...

Self Playing Violin - Laurie Anderson

... a desperate drive to make, build, paint, sculpt, write, sew, 

speak, film, play... breathe the art that needs to be seen...

Elizabeth - Chuck Close

... that's the purest form of magic I have ever seen...

Colorado Springs, Colorado - Robert Adams

FACT: The greats broke the rules...

ALL of them.

Untitled - Urs Fischer 

My trip to the state gallery to see a guest exhibition

"Van Gogh, Dali and Beyond - The world reimagined"

had me in utter, speechless awe. 

Exquisitely curated and thoughtfully assigned it presented

works by well known and lesser known artists who all shared

a valuable common thread. The fine gossamer line of rebellion.

The "in your face" flip of the middle finger.

The careful, shy and deliberate thumbing of the nose.

The disdain for the norm.

The rules learnt, then shunned, then broken.

Peoples I cannot begin to sum up this exhibition and as for the photos taken

with my camera... well they are just token.

I will however, leave you with a note on the third last image.

The portrait by a man called Chuck Close.

A man who suffers from Prosopagnosia

Also known as Face Blindness.

Yes... you read correctly... a portrait artist who struggles to recognise

faces (and remember them even when he does) decided to paint portraits. 

A man who, at one point, threw away all his 

tools in order to force himself to undertake artistic challenges

he knew he had no facility for.

And ... wait for it... 

A man who in 1988 suffered a seizure which left him paralysed

from the neck down.

A man who now paints with his brush taped to his wrist.

*******

Today peoples let's all try something new...

....let's honour the greats...

Those who walked the walk before us, faced the 

ridicule and then turned around and taught us all a valuable lesson...

Break the rules... all of them.

Restless....

I woke up this morning around quarter to five...

... the wind was howling and the rain pelting down so hard 

that I was sure my chickens would be floating around in their run

(can chickens swim???))

I had to get up and move

The storm rendered me grateful for a gas hob

Here in the hills we lose power during storms regularly

Tree branches (and often trees themselves) crash to the ground

... taking power lines down with graceful ease

Then heroes - volunteering heroes - come out from the safety

of their homes to assist in the clean up that ensues

This would be one of those stormy days for sure

I wondered where Spring had disappeared to

Why was she so shy this year?

We need the rain and I'm a Winter loving gal

Yet ... today I felt...

 I would like to see the sunshine at least once....

♥♥♥