Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
(unauthorised use prohibited)
The Women of the World Exhibition at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour was completely wonderful. You might remember me mentioning previously that I had entered two pen and watercolour cartoons 8″ x 12″ Mothers Make the World Go Round and If Women Ruled the World.
You can click on the links (above) to see them again.
The four hour road trip down the coast to Coffs Harbour on Friday was well worth it to see those two “good friends” take their place amongst the many entries from around the world. 75 entries in total… representing artists (cartoonists in this case) from 13 different countries. Russia, Switzerland, Iran, Brazil, the Urals (and of course Australia), just to name a few.
I was surprised by the number of international artists… but I guess there are not that many women cartoonists in Australia. And the President of the Australian Cartoon Association who officially opened the show remarked on this fact… stating (rather bravely I thought in a room full of women) that around 80% of cartoonists in this country are male. Quite frankly… I was surprised the percentage wasn’t higher than that… but there you have it.
Judging by the message overwhelmingly conveyed in each and every cartoon on display… women do have a lot to say about the world in which they live and their individual experience of it. The commonly occurring themes brought home to me… that the issues women face across the planet are pretty much universal… from the Ukraine right around to the Americas.
It was fun to find myself hobnobbing with a bunch of total strangers at the Opening. Sometimes not knowing a soul can be enriching. I have been to Openings in all kinds of places but for some strange reason they are always pretty much the same. As I look around the room, I see people I swear I should know. Everyone looks kind of familiar! LOL
When it comes down to it… people are the same wherever you go. And more to the point… artists are artists wherever you go. They don’t wear badges but you can still spot them at forty paces. They are usually the ones with their noses pressed up to the glass muttering “I wonder how that was done?”. And it’s comforting to know we have that common bond… especially when we’re rubbing shoulders with a bunch of total strangers!
Surprisingly… here in Australia it is not dangerous to drive on the wrong side of the road (grin) But taking photos whilst driving is risky business wherever in the world you are! LOL
I had intended to stay overnight but decided instead to make the four hour return journey home to the Coast that night. I should add… I like night driving. And to tell you the truth… it was one of the best decisions I could have made. I had the road to myself on one of the most brilliantly clear moonlit nights imaginable.
In places the road follows the magnificent Clarence River along it’s length… and bathed in the moonlight… the river took on an almost magical quality. But that was nothing compared to the view from the top of the range behind Byron Bay. The ocean… a silver sheet spread out across a vast horizon…. illuminated the dark night sky… and threw the valley below into a dark and peaceful stillness.
It was all rather beautiful!
Well… it’s been a race against time but I have my entries packaged up and winging their way… as we speak… to the inaugural Women of the World Exhibition at the Bunker Cartoon Gallery in Coffs Harbour. This exhibition is being held for the very first time in 2009… in celebration of International Women’s Day… and runs from 13th March to 11th April 2009. The event is for women only… and cartoonists, illustrators and caricaturists from all over the place have been invited to submit their work.
Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″
Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
(unauthorised use prohibited)
I have submitted two cartoons. The first is “If Women Ruled the World” and is a whimsical take on the state of the nation (aka the world) if women were to dominate it’s halls of power. Let’s face it… we women are the only ones with our priorities right when it comes to the big issues of shopping and shoes. I realise that this particular theme will likely get me into all sorts of political hot water but it’s just for fun (and in the words of Jane Austen)
“For what do we live but to make sport for our neighbours and laugh at them in our turn”. She said it… not me… I’m just reporting what she said! (((chuckles)))
Pen & Watercolour 8″x 12″
Artwork & Content Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
(unauthorised use prohibited)
The second cartoon is a re-make of my earlier cartoon “Mothers Make the World Go Round” I think it’s an improvement on the first… and as I simply couldn’t bear to part with the original “original” I did another to send away to the exhibition.
Cartooning has… for reasons unknown… been historically (hysterically?) dominated by men… (it is a man’s world afterall girls – wink & grin)… so it’s great to see that this time the girls are going to get a guernsey of their own… and for a cause that’s close to our hearts as well.
International Women’s Day began in 1911 and remains a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
I hope you enjoy my cartoons as much as I enjoyed making them.
And now the story… dredged from the family archive. This is reality internet at it’s debateable best folks… (laughs)
Please enjoy!
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 8″ x 12″ Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
The billy cart stood at the ready… perched precariously at the top of the sloping driveway which pointed down in a jagged line toward the street 250 metres below. I eyed the contraption… anxiously noting the flimsy build-quality… it’s plastic seats barely hanging by the last thread on the screws which “secured” them to the thick sheet of ply that was the cart’s chassis.
The “billy” had foot-controlled steering “secured” with a rope… and bicycle hand brakes fitted on each side of the drivers seat… (not that they actually worked all that well). But the piece de resistance… were the billy cart’s flash side mirrors… and four freewheeling 14 inch spoked bicycle wheels!
They were prone to buckling… everyone knew that. Especially around corners… when the full weight of passengers was forced onto the two opposing wheels. Many a bent up and badly twisted wheel had to be replaced after the long haul back up the hill at the conclusion of some of the cart’s (shall we say) less than successful (but no less spectacular) runs!
Thoughts of what I knew to be true about that billy cart ran through my mind the afternoon my 10 year old son pleaded with me to “come for a ride on the billy… pleeeease Mum?”
I smiled… arms crossed firmly across my chest. Uh-huh… like THAT was going to happen any time soon… (grin)
Childhood Hero Day got me thinking. As a mother I have never particularly regarded myself as a hero. But looking back over the years of mothering children I feel fairly confident in saying I was no shrinking violet either. I did my time like other mothers on the frontline of defence for my kids. Back then it seemed like the only thing to do… and I don’t regret a minute of it!
In many ways… I guess we are heroes to our kids… even if ever so inadvertently! Mum is the person who can fix anything… from a skinned knee… to a science project that just won’t stay stuck.
For my part… those were the days that I learned to become militant in my approach to “pretty much everything”. And even after all the years… the “activist” label still sticks for better or worse in the hearts and minds of my kids!
It would seem I did have guts afterall! (laughs)
But in looking back… no experience large or small could have prepared me for “the ride of my life” that day on the billy cart! Whatever possessed me to take up the challenge I can’t say. But I suspect it had something to do with showing them I was made of the “right stuff”.
Then before you could snap your fingers and say “silly woman”… there I was… bike helmet strapped firmly in place and perched precariously on the back of that flimsy cart waiting for the signal to go. My young son was at the wheel (well okay there was no wheel… but he WAS holding onto the rope)… and I realise this may sound perverse… but I trusted him. He had afterall done this many times before hadn’t he?
And I could be as brave as he thought I was… umm… couldn’t I?
Andrew (age 10) and Chris (age 13) on the Billy
Finally his best friend (and co conspirator in the billy cart venture) gave the nod… and with a push we were off. I remember the girls then aged 8 and 6… their faces bright with excitement as we flew past them out the gate and down the driveway gathering speed at a great rate of knots. The concrete passed quickly beneath us as the billy cart picked up even more speed… and the full realisation of how silly a decision this was for a control freak like me flashed through my mind.
Palm trees lined our driveway all the way to the bottom… and they were now passing us by in a blur. I clung on for dear life as the billy got airborn over the first bump… and then the second… and ran on down the hill wheels whirring in the wind. All I could think about (between screaming my lungs out and wondering how much skin I was going to lose) … was the awful flexing of those 14″ spokes… as we swerved to miss that last palm tree by just centimetres… before taking the final sweeping turn onto the vacant block of land at the bottom of the hill!
I was seeing stars as the billy cart came to a halt in the long grass of the vacant block… and relief swept over me in an instant. My first thought… I’m alive! My second… get me off this thing … NOW!
Oddly enough… that was the day that my reputation as “hero” was (rightly or wrongly) set in stone! All I can say about that is “God bless my kids”… that despite the shameless display of cowardice… and whilst totally freaked out and screaming her lungs out… they still thought their mother was “pretty cool”.
And that’s pretty cool in itself isn’t it?
Aren’t kids great? ~grin~
Well… until they turn 14 anyway… (((chuckles)))
EPILOGUE
The billy cart met with an untimely demise. Just like little Jackie Paper had done all those years before in Puff… Chris (3 years older than Andrew) grew up… and the billy cart made way for other toys. Chris’ younger brother Scott then took up his seat.
The billy took it’s final run with Andrew, Scott and the dog on board… on the sloping bitumen of Park Street right outside his house. What really happened that day I can’t say. It wasn’t my watch. But the story goes… the dog jumped off… the billy cart slewed… the wheel came off… the billy crashed… and both kids were dumped face first onto the road. The dog hasn’t been seen since… (just kidding!)
Multiple stitches ensued… and a brand new front tooth for Andrew. The billy was dispatched to where all good billy carts go when they die… wherever that is. I didn’t want to know. LOL
Childhood Hero Day is June 13 and Megan at Imaginif suggested bloggers might like to post an article (or story) ahead of time… to bring attention to the day… and awareness to the fact that kids everywhere need… now more than ever… heroes in their lives!
I have written both… an article… and a story (dredged from the depths of the family archive! laughs) which I shall post next time. But for now… the article (and of course… the cartoon!)
Cartoon Pen & Watercolour Copyright 2008 Jean Burman
A recent report “Children’s Fears, Hopes and Heroes – Modern Childhood in Australia” surveyed 600 10 – 14 year olds… and revealed that kids today believe they have much to worry about!
It turns out that:
52% of children are scared that there will not be enough water in the future
44% of children are worried about the future impacts of climate change
43% of children are worried about pollution in the air and water
A third of children are anxious about terrorism.
And a staggering one in four believe that the world will end before they have the chance to grow up!
Add to this concerns of… bullying… obesity… thinness… self image… peer pressure… and acceptance… along with the day to day “stuff” of growing up in the fast pace of modern life (sometimes in environments burdened by excessive financial and emotional hardship)… and there you have it… one gargantuan block of issues to worry about!
What can we adults be thinking? (And by adults I mean all of us… not just parents but also the greater community)
Why do we burden them so?
Childhood just has to be a time when children can simply “be children”!
If not then… then when?
They need us now more than ever to buffer their experiences… to listen to them… (and really hear)… to love them… to shelter and protect them… and to be there to tell them that everything’s going to be okay!
And it will be okay.
Despite the doomsday bleatings of the press… and despite the worrying trends of a world which seems at times to be spinning dangerously out of control… and despite the many and varied modern day issues (some of them serious) that children face today… they WILL be okay.
Just as long as we are there for them… 100%… and they know it…no matter what!
