I drove up to Brisbane this morning from the coast to do a couple of things. One of them was to go to Eckersley’s Art Store to buy some art supplies… you know… paper paint charcoal etc. Can’t seem to go away for long without my art supplies. And if I find myself away from them for too long… I simply have to smoke out an art supply store and get my fix along the way!
I’m writing this from a little place called the Room With Roses. It’s a beautiful room in the middle of the city. A haven from the madness out in the street… and a quiet place to put down some thoughts.
[water not wine... remember it's lunchtime! grin]
I was just sitting here sipping my jasmine green tea and enjoying a yummy piece of passionfruit strawberry cream sponge cake and got to thinking about cake and life… and this is what I came up with.
PS I know… give me a piece of cake and I go and get all philosophical. Can’t help myself [chuckles]
PPS And yes… I know… it’s lunchtime… but hey… life is short… we eat cake first!
LIFE IS A PIECE OF CAKE
If life would be a piece of cake
with heart and soul and such to bake
the choice would be a simple one
We’d make it light and full of fun!
Strawberries cream and fruit of passion
pinkie poised… the height of fashion
we’d lift our teacup to our lips
and savour life in giant sips
If life would be a slice of pie
with pastry crisp and never dry
we’d slice it into giant bits
and let it go right to our hips!
Cherry pear or chocolate flute tin
No matter what the pie is baked in
We’d scratch our head in times to come
And wonder why we’d chosen… plum?
Just think…
If life would be a pie or cake
Oh what fun to negotiate
Imagine life upon a platter
Nothing else would really matter
So bake your cake and please don’t wait
there is no time to hesitate
then grab yourself a large cake knife
and enjoy right now your slice of life!
I fell in love with Sweet Addiction the first time I heard it.
It was a couple of days before Christmas… andLa Belle Femme was in the early stages of conception. I had received a commission for a large nude painting in landscape format. So not being someone who does things by halves… I decided instead to paint three! [I know... I know]
As I was sketching out ideas… and deciding on how I would approach the series… this piece of music dropped into my email inbox via Facebook.I had it playing in the background on my laptop… and listened to it over and over again. I never tired of it. Before long I was completely beguiled by the sound. It was indeed a “Sweet Addiction” [grin]
The making of the Music…
Sweet Addiction was created by Daniel Marolla… a young man who is definitely going places! He created and recorded this piece of music one afternoon in mid December using [keyboard drums and base guitar] an Mbox and Garageband… then shot his video for You Tube from the built-in camera on his laptop and edited it in Final Cut Studio. If all that sounds like double dutch… well… don’t worry. Just listen to the music… it will speak for itself!
The making of the Art…
The first in this series was initially a commission. The paintings were relatively large for watercolour at 76cm x 38cm – [that's 30" x 15"] with the figures approx. 1/2 life size. It was so much fun working wet into wet in the initial stages… just allowing the paint to flow and directing it where I wanted it to go.
It’s fast… it’s fluid… it’s free and wow… you just gotta love working in watercolour!
Willow charcoal of course… adds another dimension. It’s a style I have been working on for a couple of years now especially in figure and life work.
The pics were taken on my humble little Panasonic Lumix and assembled as a slideshow in iPhoto. I purposely kept the photos edgy and a bit blurred by movement with [perhaps] some “debatable” degree of success!
And of course… iPhoto is no precise science but that’s about the extent of my techie expertise at this time. I am however willing to learn. Note to self: Get Final Cut Pro… there has GOT to be a better way! [Grin]
By the time the three paintings were done… the music had weaved it’s incredible magic into them all.
Consequently… what you hear and see here is the end product of an [unintended] creative collaboration between paint and music. It was entirely unintentional of course.
Daniel could not have known that his music would so happily “belong”to these paintings that afternoon in December when he brought this music to life! He was afterall on his own creative tangent … and the paintings did not [as yet] exist! But somehow… still… the paintings and the music seemed strangely made for each other!
Enjoy the clip! Let me know what you think… leave a comment here!
Some mornings I wake up with my central line channelling directly from the source. This was one of those mornings!
I penned this poem in the early hours of this morning. It’s essentially about the relationship between me and my creative self [but not in the egoistic sense] Rather… it is an acknowledgment of the creative source within… and the eternal search for my own quintessential truth. Yes… kinda deep I know. But you know artists… [grin]
Yesterday I completed the third in a series of nudes that represent a distinct shift in my watercolour process. I am very excited about what I have managed to achieve in these three artworks. Above is a sample… [just a peek for now] as I have some plans for these works.
A friend of mine… a gifted musician… has agreed to allow me the use of a beautiful piece of music he conceived just before Christmas to use in a clip of my paintings. The paintings were actually painted while I was listening to the music on you tube! LOL So in many ways the images became the music… and the music became the images. It was a joyful process. And I am so very pleased he has agreed [very generously] to allow me to do this.
But just for now… you will need to watch this space! :-)
Palm Cove looking North to Double Island & Scouts Hat – my birthday 2009
Today was my birthday. Can you even imagine a more perfect day on which to have a birthday? I took this photograph around 10am this morning right after I arrived out at Palm Cove. I couldn’t wait to set up my art stuff and then get down to the shoreline to capture it.
Palm Cove looking south to Taylor Point
The sea was a millpond. So still. So blue. The sky… at last so clear! The fallout from the recent dust storms has finally settled and made way for the return of blue skies and gentle cooling breezes.
It’s been many years since I’ve had such a happy birthday. It contained a little bit of everything wonderful. I started a new painting… taught a watercolour class… and talked with people from pretty much everywhere. Lunch followed with four lovely friends who travelled out to Palm Cove especially.
Then dinner this evening with my family at a beautiful restaurant called Tamarind. The cuisine is modern Asian. Delicious fresh lively flavours which I’m a little ashamed to say I would have enjoyed way more if I had been even the slightest bit hungry after lunch!
I know… I’m spoilt. But it doesn’t happen every day. And only really once a year. On my birthday. Promise. Grin.
Here is Antonia’s Sea Dolphins
A little girl called Antonia generously gave me this picture right out of her holiday sketch book. I was honoured to receive it and promised to put it up here on the Blog. Antonia was a delight to teach and a natural born artist and writer!
“Hi Antonia… hope you are now home safe and sound? I will put up your other special painting here for you after the 29th. I don’t want to spoil your surprise!”
[water not wine... remember it's lunchtime! grin]
Artwork & Images © 2010 Jean Burman
Artwork & Images © 2010 Jean Burman
image Copyright © 2010 Jean Burman
Palm Cove looking south to Taylor Point
Here is Antonia’s Sea Dolphins
