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!
With a Dad and three brothers in my childhood home… my mother and I were used to the rough and tumble of living in a house full of boys. Consequently I think boys are great. Different entirely to girls… who are okay too mind you… but way more complicated (grin). Boys on the other hand are pretty straight forward. They say what they mean and mean what they say… punch first… ask questions later… that sort of thing. (Though I hasten to add… being the only girl in a family of boys had it’s strategic advantages too cos no-one was allowed to punch me! Ha!)
I have always found the notion of being a woman in a man’s world rather intriguing. The idea of mixing it with the boys who definitely seem to have the numbers in almost every arena (including cartooning) doesn’t really faze me… I grew up with boys remember? But still sometimes my ignorance of any tangible sort of philosophical difference between the genders still surprises me.
This ignorance has on occasion led me inadvertently into a number of humourous situations. Like the time I blithely sailed into the Gentlemen’s Room in the Qantas Lounge at LA International Airport… (incredibly jet lagged and in transit)… sending all assembled gents into an intercontinental flat spin and the room into an all-out unholy panic. Pandemonium ensued… as redfaced I realised my error. [I shall never again underestimate the power of a woman to clear the mens room in under 30 seconds flat!] I do however swear on my life to never ever do it again! Anyway by the by. I hadn’t intended to tell you that story… but it was funny at the time… and what the hey!
What I had intended to tell you about was the new Life Drawing Session I went to the other night. No stranger to life drawing… and being used to a “mixed” group… it took a comment fully half way through the three hour session to alert me to the fact that besides the model… I was the only female in the room.
“There’s life drawing on Monday mornings too you know” came the wake up call that enlightened me.
“Oh thanks” I responded appreciatively to the kind gentleman beside me… still not entirely getting it.
“but Monday doesn’t suit… and Wednesday night is just fine by me…” I trailed off
As the last word spilled confidently from my lips the realisation hit me. I looked around at the bunch of friendly and (don’t get me wrong) more than perfectly well behaved guys in the group and realised for the first time that I was definitely the odd man out.
I chatted with the model out in the kitchen over a cup of tea on our break… and learned that she too had no nonsense boys in her life and was unfazed (despite her lack of apparel) by the prospect of being in a room full of blokes. Though I’ve got to say… I reckon her courage exceeded mine by a very large measure! LOL
Undeterred I pushed on into the second half and left with a reasonable assortment of 2, 5, and 10 minute sketches. Whilst they are not serious art… I find quick sketches great for figure referencing in subsequent paintings. And life sketches do have a spontaneous freshness that is sometimes hard to beat.
10 minute sketch
Willow stick on cartridge paper
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
I think I shall go back again next week… what do you reckon?
If only to stir things up a bit? Heavens knows I need the practice!
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.
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.
Artwork & Images © 2010 Jean Burman
Artwork & Images © 2010 Jean Burman
10 minute sketch 
