A commitment to the studio and my art

This could also be titled The Move #1385. I'm getting comfortable with fluidity and the maelstrom of moving into our new home which remains largely a beautiful space on a building site. It's easy to let those other "things" happen at the cost of studio time and arts practice. I'm inspired, a lot, by that deeper understanding that everything will always be needing attention and there will always be something or someone wanting to divert attention from the studio. To make sure it doesn't happen, I'm keeping tabs on my studio time, and more importantly my commitment to at least 1.5 hours a day (so that's 10+ hours a week worst case scenario) that I'm immersed in what grows my soul and brings me joy. The kind of joy where I lose all sense of time, and it's only the aching bones that suggest it's time to stop. That wondrous feeling of being immersed to the point of no distraction. When I'm in that space, I'm a better person and better able to deal with the necessary intrusions and interactions that simply happen.

Comments

Making progress Trees #2

The mess before the beauty

The excavator's words have stuck in my head, rent free. ' I have to make one hell of a mess before it can become beautiful. There is no beautiful end without the mess '. Or words to that effect. The retaining walls at the back of the house have to be finished before anything else can happen in the yard - and in between downpours, a few expletives and more rain, it has beena testing time for all involved in the construction. I thought about his words - and the effort of making a quilt from scratch. The planning, drawing, testing, dyeing, playing, creating, starting again, creating and the final 'ah ha'. There is so much 'mess' before a quilt is resolved becomes a thing of meaning and beautiful in its own way. Blessed are the excavators.

Mapping it out - initial thoughts

I find the process that resolves itself as a textile work challenging. In the beginning I am clueless. This is as much a strength as a source of mild anxiety. I have learnt persistence and turning up are as important as creative thinking. I'm mindful my first response is not going to be the best so I'm starting with a mind-dump. My focus is the Neville Bonner Pedestrian bridge connecting Queens Wharf to South Bank. Thoughts are scratched deep into journal pages. I'll find more connections over coming months. Right now I'm challenged and torn. What started as perfunctory research about Meanjin's (Brisbane's) newest bridge has developed into a sense of disappointment and WTFWTWPT (WTF-were-the-white-people-thinking)? I'm unpacking those thoughts in my journal - the architects and their inspiration, the consortium , what the bridge connects, where it leads, Yuggera and Turrbul people's connections to this part of the river, Mr Neville Bonner's own ...

Ali George Artist

Search This Blog