Another cartoon. Just got the photo in before the daylight faded! Phew.
Oops… looks like it’s too big! Oh well… I’ll fix it when I get back…
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
I am off to Sydney in the morning but will be back Sunday night.
C u all then!
PS: Hope you like this latest addition
- inspired by gymnasts “of every stripe” who bravely took on the beam!
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Okay… image size is all fixed. Ah that looks better (colour and contrast now closer to the original). Woke up in Sydney this morning. The weather’s fine but still so cold. It if weren’t such a flying trip I might pop out to see Jools… but alas… with current time constraints it’s not possible this time. Maybe.. come summer? LOL
Hey Jean!!!
“Beam me up” is yet another fine example of your talent to perceive the silver linings!!!
So close and yet so far Jean – another 20 min flight and I could have been making you a cuppa!!! Oh well…the thought was lovely! I do have hopes of being marginally closer to you by summer – a place called Bellingen is on my mind as being a wonderful place to live and receive visitors!!!
Jools… that could work! I have always wanted to see Bellingen. My grandfather’s family hailed from there but I’ve never been. The flame was whipped after seeing the movie Danny Deckchair which was filmed in and around the place. And now you are thinking of moving there? How cool would that be?
Re the silver linings. It’s so easy to see the down side… (let’s face it there are plenty of them out there LOL)… but it doesn’t take very much more effort to look beyond the “sham, drudgery and broken dreams” of the everyday to find something still worth getting out of bed for! But you of all people know that already… so I’m preaching to the converted eh!? (((LOL)))
(Big bright smile!!) Ah Jean..it takes work, but it is worth it!! Without the silver linings, there is just dark stormy clouds.
I lived near Bellingen when I was in my early twenties and always loved it. It is a beautiful slice of the world!!!! You are most certainly welcome to come and seek your grass roots via my home! I shall make sure I keep you informed! There are 8 galleries in and around Bellingen….a fantastic place for an artist to live in or visit!
I have been looking at other towns in the same area as well Jean. I do still know and keep in touch with a few people who are still living up that way. Although the thought of packing up and moving again is daunting (with my leg the way it is!), I am quite excited at the prospect of “feeling fresh” in an area I have always loved. Although it is a bit sad that I want to leave my childhood “home town” behind, I am feeling that I am becoming “stagnant” and need to “move on!”
Sometimes we have to bust out in order to grow. It sounds like a good plan Jools!
I empathize. I’ve always lived with an inner conflict, since early childhood. The nomad in me struggles with the nester. I long for the day that I’ll pull up stakes here and move to Italy once and for all, a permanent ex-pat with my roots sunk in the Tuscan soil along with the olive trees and grape vines. And yet at the same time I look yearningly at small van-conversions and fantasize wandering aimlessly around the country with my paints and pencils and pens.
Love all the paintings, Jean!
Oh John ..that is a turmoil!! Both choices sound most enticing!
Jean..not one single person has tried to talk me out of this new plan, which makes it even more appealing. I really wish I could pack up now and just do it! But I have to wait for Emily to finish her HSC (Higher School Certificate) which will not be until the end of October, but thats ok…it gives me time to look around a bit more and go through my stuff at a slower pace.
Thanks so much John
You could do both you know! Set aside a year for each maybe. Get on the road and see where it leads you… then when you’re all done with that… move to Italy. Placing a time limit on it might make the decision seem less final. And who knows… once you’ve done all that… you might just find you are already where you are meant to be! Life’s sometimes kind of funny like that don’t you think?
Jools… I think it’s a great idea. It’s important for Emily to get her HSC though… and you’re making the right decision to wait. Who knows… you might find you need the extra time to get packed up anyway. These things take time… but I completely understand your impatience to get going. Once the decision is made… it’s full speed ahead!