in the new Studio

I've just reached that satisfying stage of feeling as though I've been in this studio for ages. It's remarkably disorienting trying to work in a studio space missing that certain energy field that comes from long, productive hours inhabiting the work space. Even though its still early days here and I've not spent all that much time painting since the set up about 4 weeks ago there's a satisfyingly dense lived-in feeling present here now.

Key to that was, in part, having people visit here... sparking some great conversations ... and the 4 hour class I held Saturday for two young students with a keen sense of curiosity for the natural world... the first of many I hope!

Assembling books and materials before the class started.

Sophie and Jackson mid afternoon.

One of Jackson's numerous drawings... he's spent a great deal of time in Botanic Gardens, National Parks and anywhere he can engage with the natural world ever since he was very young thanks to his parents willingness to enable this contact. His memory and understanding of plants, seeds, eco-systems etc is stunning ... and made for some excellent discussion through the day.

One thing discussed at length were issues around Biodiversity. It was a most rewarding experience to find two students, Jackson at 12 and Sophie at 9, so keen to take part in an intensive workshop that extended over 4 and a half hours, with lunch consumed at the work table so keen they were to keep going!

I look forward to running many more workshops along this line in time to come.

Found here

I'm presently cooking up ideas for a project within my project... ready for November when i wish to launch my new studio. I've found a way to combine several passions into one idea which i will announce when the time comes.

These are a new development in my studio practice ... Biodiversity Conversation Plates ... part of a whole concept to be launched November. Hand-painted they one-off unique works and promise to be an affordable art option which I'm really enjoying creating and have broad application in people's homes, work-places and more.

Stay tuned for more on this in the lead up to the Studio launch in November.

If interested in Classes or more information on whats going on send an email and I will put you in the picture.

Cheerio!

S

House-hunting Saturdays

If you read my blogs you might already be aware that this is a transition time  and my studio is in storage temporarily whist we sell our home and relocate within Brisbane.

That means house hunting each Saturday and being ready for when our newly on the market home sells.

Our Clayfield home

 Recently this brought a rather unusual house that's currently for sale to my attention.

It didn't have the criteria we need... number of rooms etc, but I was determined to see it as the garden seemed quite spectacular and its incredibly unusual to see something like this in the area. 

There's been a rather extraordinary lack of trees and growing things in far too many places Ive seen. For me that is frankly concerning... and seeing such an abundant garden looking for a new owner is worth taking note of.

After walking through the gardens I said to the agent it was like being at Mt Coot-tha Botanic Gardens here in Brisbane and she looked at me and said ...well ...the owner is in Horticulture there... on of the Gardeners and thats why this is so spectacularly well done!

If this were my decision alone I'd be thinking hard about this property and VERY keen to see the garden preserved, I might worry about what might happen of I could't maintain it to this level of care and wonder... but I would certainly love to have a studio under the house and run classes there where participants could wander outside and draw from this amazing plethora of tropical vegetation and species.

 The back garden is mostly food growing area... and a grassy open space for contrast and recreation.

If in Brisbane you might like to tell anyone you know house-hunting at present and looking for a garden to enjoy... this one is pretty special and i shall be keen to see it find an owner who will cherish this botanical wonder!

Link to this house and garden: http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-qld-chermside-113338175

under the microscope....

view Sarah P... on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/people/rightleftdesign/

NB: Wonderful images to be found at Sarah's flickr site! 

At my previous post I introduced my Tumblr site Seed Capsules - scroll down to following post... (or click on older post).
What this Tumblr site does so well is archive things I wish to save to view or read later... and although it may appear as an extremely eclectic hotch potch .... this content may often relate to what I may be thinking about in relation to this blog. Many artists are drawn to science at this time...  pursuing art/science research across the expanding disciplines of science.
It is curious that one may not even realise how something being worked on could have any relation to science... but given the spectacular profundity of the macro and micro worlds... its hard not to be  subliminally influenced ... if not directly.

All images here can be found via my tumblr - the text will click through to the source in most cases. All comments here are from the sites where they were first posted!

ohscience:  bacteria colony

amy-119: It’s slightly disturbing how much I like microbiology. 

I mean, look at all the petri dishes! So cool! /nerdery

This is the first sketch of the DNA double helix, drawn by Francis Crick. Read the article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4263611.stm

ohscience: Fern sorus at 400x. Dark field microscopy, taken by me last spring. (submitted by burbles)

ohscience: vagina cells

http://ohscience.tumblr.com/post/3746213301/elusive-biology-by-osarah-po

http://scipsy.tumblr.com/post/3466060950/xylem-via-beyond-the-human-eye

ohscience: grape

I found these images worth musing on... as both scientific subjects and visual possibilities... the wood cells of holly reminded me of knitting ... no wonder those pursuing Biomimicry are fascinated with nature...  really how can one not be! 

Our view of reality has shifted profoundly with each passing year... and yet how curious  it resembles at times the knowledge systems of the indigenous peoples of this earth. Knowledge is endless... all we can really do with anysurefootedness is stay open and be curious!

I'll leave you with this  brilliant ( I think) quote from Ronnie at Art & Life blog.

“In Egypt, libraries were called the soul’s remedy treasure because, in there, it was possible to cure the ignorance, the most dangerous of all diseases and the source of all others.”

J. B. Bossuet

(via bookron)

On Biomimicry - from Wiki:

Biomimicry or biomimetics is the examination of nature, its models, systems, processes, and elements to emulate or take inspiration from in order to solve human problems. The term biomimicry and biomimetics come from the Greek words bios, meaning life, and mimesis, meaning to imitate. Other terms often used are bionics, bio-inspiration, and biognosis.

History

Humans have always looked to nature for inspiration to solve problems. One of the early examples of biomimicry was the study of birds to enable human flight. Although never successful in creating a "flying machine", Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) was a keen observer of the anatomy and flight of birds, and made numerous notes and sketches on his observations as well as sketches of various "flying machines".^[1] The Wright Brothers, who finally did succeed in creating and flying the first airplane in 1903, also derived inspiration for their airplane from observations of pigeons in flight.^{[2] To read more...click on title above.}