“Universal Blunder”
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Pen & Watercolour
Copyright © 2009 Jean Burman
If only all the world were artists!
There would be no trouble or strife… no war… no conflict… no politics or global financial crisis… nor even any global warming! No…. the world would sing along happily… with each of us merrily dunking our paintbrushes into our coffee mugs in precise and perfect unison! Ahhh… if only it were so… [grin]
People are funny. But artists are even funnier. We think we’re different. But we’re not. And there’s more than enough good reason why we should be… as many miles and distant oceans stand between us. But in reality we have more in common than we might want to admit!
This idea was the inspiration for my Universal Artist Calendar for 2010. Here are just twelve things we [more than likely] have in common.
Original Postcard Copyright © 2009 Jean Burman
There was trouble in paradise this week with the early onset of the big wet. One thing I now know for sure is that people really hate to travel half way round the world just to sit in their hotel room waiting for the rain to stop.
It’s good for me though… because when people can’t go scuba diving out on the reef… bungy jumping from the trees… fighting off crocs in the Daintree… or leaping out of planes [dangling as they do from a fistful of tightly grasped threads on their way back down to earth]… they take watercolor classes with me. Cool!
I am still meeting lots of interesting people… and despite almost being blown sideways off the verandah on Monday and rained on… I am still enjoying my stint as Artist in Residence at the Reef House.
After my close encounter of the climate change kind [no seriously - denial is a river in Egypt *wink - sorry]… I took a short drive up to Port Douglas for some coffee and carrot cake to console me.
For those who might be interested… here is my coffee and carrot cake… [it was rather yummy]
Tuesday I moved into the Gift Shop out of the elements. That was a relief… although fewer people can now find me. But I have a nice display of my artwork there. Why does life have to always be a tradeoff?
Why can’t we have the people… but without the rain?
Why can’t we simply have it all?
We artists don’t want much… do we?
Just love and respect… acceptance… and to be heard and understood like all the other [normal] people on the planet.
So who… may I ask you… put that absolutely humungous [adventure tour] sign right smack bang in front of my carefully set up display? Man… no wonder Vince Van Gogh felt compelled to cut off an ear…
But I digress… (((chuckles)))
“Universal Poverty”
Cartoon Pen & Watercolor
Copyright © 2009 Jean Burman
Comments welcome. Cheer me up… say hello here! 
My Grandmother would have described it as a “dirty day”…. and I can’t think of a better way to describe the miserable rain we endured this morning as artists from “all over” trudged dutifully into the Tanks Art Precinct for the third day of ArtEscape.
Southern artists must have been wondering where the heck they had escaped to… as the expectation of a warm and balmy “Winter School in the Tropics” dissolved into a quagmire of mud… and dripping downpipes. At least the rain was warm... and the wet feet and frizzy hair didn’t seem to dampen the creative spirit!
Mercifully the sun peeped through around lunchtime… and the humidity dropped just enough to allow some of the wet media to dry. It’s been frustrating… waiting waiting waiting for pictures to dry so that we can continue working on them.
I got a wet “derriere” sitting here this afternoon waiting for my ride home!
Classes started in earnest with our small group applying our burgeoning abstraction skills to painting a life model. I love life drawing… so this was nothing new… except that this time round we were expected to look beyond the figure to abstract shapes and opportunities to exploit newfound concepts and techniques. It was hard. There is always the tendency to revert to what we already know.
You can see the inescapable watercolour influence here…even in acrylics.
Here I enjoyed the spontaneous approach to mark making
… and that something of the “spirit” of the sitter was captured in both these 3 minute poses.
This was rather fun too… using a print making approach. I loved the white… but no surprises there… as a dyed-in-the-wool watercolourist! LOL
Madness clearly setting in… as “newspaper” is prepared with acrylic gel varnish by a fellow artist!
The crowd gathers for a discussion of “those who’ve passed this way before us”
Followed by a fuller discussion of more complex processes
The well stocked on-site shop for all supplies Art related. There is virtually nothing these guys can’t or won’t supply! LOL It’s a great place to meander between bouts of inspiration.
Ingrid Douglas – official photographer extraordinaire and talented award winning artist
whom I also managed to capture the day before…
capturing me! LOL
Thanks Ingrid… clearly your photographic skills far surpass mine… no surprises there… I hope you will forgive me?
Today… artists from all over the country gathered here in Cairns, Tropical North Queensland, Australia for the annual Winter in the Tropics “ArtEscape” event.
Organised “by artists for artists” the ArtEscape is a weeklong workshop conducted by invited guest tutors from all over the country. In the past I have helped with the organising… but this year I decided to join in and try my hand at flexing the creative muscle in Peter Griffen’s “A Line Takes a Walk” abstract workshop.
The Tanks Art Precinct – converted WW2 oil storage tanks
Day one was great fun. We did indeed take a line for a walk! (and then a run)
By day’s end… it was fully out of control!
That damned line was lost and then found… over and over again… as Peter led us through a myriad of ways to express ideas in the abstract form.
“Decorate… echo… and destoy” was his constant mantra… and we didn’t let him down!
Inside Tank 5
By days end… the ground was littered with mutilated examples of his process… albeit bent and twisted into shape by each artist… in their own particular way. We tried.
My early efforts – rather Zen I thought… (chuckles)
Tomorrow… we shall see if anything is retrievable from our day’s endeavours. If not… it matters not… because we have all week to get it right… if in fact there is any such thing as right! (laughs)
Artists taking a break from taking a line for a walk!
Until tomorrow!
