Autumnal musings

I am amazed (again) at how quickly the days and weeks go by. It's already half-way through March, and Autumn is beginning to be felt through the sun filtered trees and blowy winds from the ocean.

This year began with a rush and a sense of excitement: what does the year hold in store? what dreams do I have, what am I actually DOING? 

Karzan has been in Perth now for 6 months. It's a harder thing, this "settling", than I thought it would be. I was sure that he'd jag a job and be racing around in an old bomb of a car within weeks, busking in the streets on his clarinet and teaching a bunch of eager teens his oriental jazz vibes.

Thankful for his one clarinet student. I love it, listening to the two wind instruments blowing out gorgeous notes in the Saturday afternoon back yard.

And as for me,  here I sit, light filled shapes like mono contemporary screen prints, the sun through the window. Inside my gallery space with it's powdery concrete floors, which we spent days polishing to remove the horrible carpet glue, and white walls. I called the Gallery "Shirin", which means "sweet" in the language of Karzan: Kurdish, Sorani.

Textiles adorn the verticals: garlands of pink red orange purple green rust indigo mauve olive burgundy tassels swing in curves of colour. Twraka, ancient bags used by the farmers in Kurdistan, glow red brown orange pink golden in tartans triangles and zigzag pattern.

My eyes greedily lick the colours 

the colours sing

hand made olive oil soaps heavily scent the warm autumn air

 gypsy colours of Kurdish textiles

my small mixed media pieces in this little corner shelf

light hits colour through the gallery window

floor rugs of warmest reds and orange shot through with blues and purples

twraka bags

sara clarke painting

It's been a beautiful few weeks of Shirin. I've met heaps of great people, and made lovely connections. But, it's now time to move forward in other ways. Retail it seems is suffering from the economy, the job losses, the expensive cost of living out there.

I'll be here for another week or so... and then to pack up the gallery and transport these delights back home. The direction from then will be to set up my shop online, and hold art classes in my beautiful sunny back room.

my back room, close to garden and sun

Evening classes in my back room on Wednesday eves with a glass or two of fresh SSB or rough red.

Who's in?! :)

Catching up with the creatives

A little bit about me.....for the wonderful course "Raining Umbrellas"...

I am very much a beginner at this, having had to work and re-work my posts a number of times. I want to get the hang of it!

Here goes:

First of all, I need to say that I love this course. Vicki writes beautifully and from the heart, a true artist in her honesty and mastery of her chosen love. I feel so inspired by her and by the students.
I have been trying to keep up with the exercises and assignments, making pages in my journal from cutting and gluing and creating images.
My main problem, I find, is not going off on tangents, and spending time on related,yet other tasks.... Which simply wastes precious time. I am painfully aware that the course will be over soon, and I will lose this exciting new thread of connection to you all over the world.
I do hope we can all somehow stay in touch.

I have been a painter for the past ten years, amongst other things.... I am a mother of three beautiful young people, each one makes me blush with pride. When I left school, I did nursing, which didn't last long (a story for another time :), before I went to live in Amsterdam. After a ten month stay there (2nd story for another time :) I began a bachelor of arts degree, majoring in film and television. 3 years later, I had completed the degree and got married. A few busy happy years followed, and three babies.
I had a small business with my best friend, called Berried Treasures. We had so much fun, painting fabrics and varnishing boxes, we were prolific! We had five children between us, and so many adventures...

I also worked with a well-regarded local artisan, assisting her in screen printing home wares for retail. I learnt a lot from her, she was a gentle soul, who worked hard.

I always was attending art classes and was yearning to become an artist. I imagined myself in ralls(dungarees) standing at a large easel with a paintbrush stuck between my teeth, rubbing and painting away at a large colorful canvas. This image made me so happy! So, I began, tentatively at first, but soon after with much more confidence. I started to sell my paintings, and planned a small exhibition at my brothers house. It was a success!
A year ago, I packed away my paints and got a "serious" job. I felt I had to finally be a bit grown up about my life (many changes having had occurred).

Suffice to say, I cannot feel happy unless I am doing something, creating, pasting, cutting, sticking, colour matching, looking at the design of something, being drawn to form and colour wherever I look. It's simply what I love, and I need to honor that.

Serendipity: how I came to do this course is serendipitous! I was doing something quite Else when I stumbled across Vicki's online course. I had no idea, no expectations or experience of this....and simply had followed my nose towards it.... It's what I do in life pretty Much, follow my heart or my nose!