SALA

Words                                                                                                                                                Paint a picture with………..words                                                                                                    Say it so that a blind person can see it!                                                                                            Don’t just say it, feel it.

These phrases have been whizzing around in my head for years, they come from a very strict schooling and a rather terse Nun, “if you are going to write, write something with meaning, make your words paint a picture…………………….” I was around 6 years old!

A lady made me cry!                                                                                                                           In fact several people have made me cry since my SALA exhibition opened, no, not through nastiness, through kind words of praise……………….my words have transported them, have stirred their imaginations and in some instances even excited them.
Yes, I am deeply moved, and I am sure my feisty, overbearing Sister of Charity would be most impressed if she were still with us………………the nuns in the late 50’s & 60’s were extremely tough, but……….. I seem to have reaped the rewards!
When I look at the subjects of my images the words of that nun resonate…………a landscape, a seed, a person or an inanimate object, doesn’t matter – my imagination runs free and I tell a story………..simple! Come and have a look.

PORTFOLIO

Well!  Need I say more, it’s nearly here………….Yes,  SALA, South Australian Living Artists,  a celebration of all of us South Australian living creatives!!

Once again I am privileged and absolutely thrilled to be presenting my imagery at the Davery Establishment in Murray Bridge an innovative and in itself a creative haven of  fabulous food, coffee, condiments and art.  The Davery is a “Feast for the Senses” in fact an olfactory pleasure house!!!

From the 30 July to the 31st August my “Portfolio” of works from the beginning of my photographic journey till now……….award winning images and experimentation’s of  presentations from traditional framed images to framed canvas, stretched canvas and clean crisp images on aluminium all on show at the Davery.

The Murraylands are providing some great exhibitions…………plan on visiting Cottage Box Chocolates (not hard you say?) to view photography by Leanne Walding.  Bridge Arts will have some fabulous original works by favourite Murraylands artists at their new home, Railway Reserve, Murray Bridge.  After you’ve had coffee and browsed the Bridge, head up to Tailem Bend,  Meningie and Tintinara to visit SALA in the Coorong.

So much art, so much to see…………. plan a weekend of it – visit the Murraylands and Coorong SALA festivals you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

Rewind!

I have become a voyeur into my past!  I don’t believe you can go back, but you can pass through on a fleeting visit while you continue to build your future.

Brilliant then ( a very long time ago 1975) Moved on now with long time partner and is Grand Prix dressage rider, showjumper and trainer in Qld not to mention breeder of amazing performance horses.

Just recently my universe has had a rewind…………a friend messaged me last week “you’ll never guess who I’ve been speaking to”? Well you’re right I couldn’t, never imagining that 45+ years would be rewinding before my eyes………she had connected with a fellow whom we were very close to, in fact almost connected at the hip so to speak, such was our involvement with each other and horses!  I am talking 70’s we were young, there was a group of us, some just married and the rest single, we were all finding our pathways  in a very exciting era. This man and his brother that were part of the group were and are the best horseman. It has been proven by International success in their chosen fields.

1975 fox hunting with the then prestigious Sydney Hunt Club, a friend………..you can tell what we may have been up to by the “tinny” in one hand and the water pistol in the other ……mmmmhhhhhh not so prestigious – naughty!

Our house was always full, people, dogs, saddlery, yards full of horses, rails and drums everywhere – gotta have jumps!…………..and the house, well the house smelt  more like saddle soap and boiling barley than roses! And the clothes line, well it was always chokablok with bandages, saddle cloths and rugs…………….I certainly don’t miss the chaos, not one little bit!  But it was fun.

To top those memories off, another friend, this time from the early days in SA, asked me about a photo I had taken way back………..”Oh yes, I remember it well”, but, it’s on 35mm slide, and, well, I haven’t looked at those slides for more that 20+ years.
Now in all those years a camera was never far from grasp; it began with an Argus (one step up from a Box Brownie) through to shooting with Sister in Laws hand me downs;  the Pentax which I loved, film of course progressing through to now with my DSLR Nikons yep x 2 and considering another one………………….I digress back to the story!
So I have found some images and a very clever friend (another one, I am fortunate enough to know a lot of clever people!) has scanned and delivered some memories for me to share.

Well 1978! The first 3 from the right Bill Heighes, Tim Edwards, Peter Graham tentpegging practice on the beach at Aldinga

It’s now my cameras and my capturing of moments in time that have become all important in the revisiting of an amazing era in our personal history. I have summoned up the courage to delve into that box that contains hundreds and hundreds of 35mm slides; they represent some 49 years of our history – WOW …………so now I’ll probably get serious about sorting them all – at least then I will have a visual history for my daughter and grandson.  There are so many memories in that box, some happy, some sad.

Tim Edwards and Kinkabilla – 1978 more tentpegging practice with a sword this time and no leather pouches to hold the sword, so handkerchiefs were the go! 

There is a morale to this story, or in fact a couple…………..never trivialize friendships, past or present and respect the new because they present another chapter and a new experience in life.
And……..never, ever trivialize your photography because that represents your history!  Your photographs whether good or bad show the experiences you and your friends have shared in your life and more importantly they show your children that you have lived!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where I live

Rolling hills, the topography resembling that of the Flinders Ranges, so much so that Rockleigh has gained the nickname of “The Little Flinders”, stunning views stretching the length and breadth of the Murraylands, thriving and productive farmland, home to fine wool merinos, meat sheep, commercial cattle, and in spring the patchwork of wheat, barley, lupins and canola in full view as far as the eye can see.  Although to some this is a lifestyle, but to most, our farms are our business, it’s how we make a living, we employ people and we pay rates!

A thriving and cohesive community are the hallmark of Rockleigh, not dissimilar to many rural communities………..but, I am beginning to question the value of rural areas.  Recent disputes with councils highlight the ignorance of governance of these areas……….what happened to the value of “local knowledge”?  Are we listened to, no, are we (for want of a better description) dictated to, yes……….by people with absolutely no hands on knowledge of the area, in fact many of the admin and elected members have never been in this area, the very area they govern………….is that wrong – undeniably  YES.

Like so many council areas – the rural area here is being ignored, the battles to have decent roads is an ongoing nightmare, but the recent decision by council to close one of our roads has come as a mighty blow to some of the community.  On this section of the range there was only two roads in and out with one road being closed during recent fire incidents!!  So now there’s one, bit scary isn’t it?

What do I do?

From weddings to ……………..I don’t know!   But after editing and sending the finished photos from the last wedding off, I  found myself trying to sort the myriad of images I have saved on the hard drive and the portable hard drives.

What am I going to do with all of these images…………..fact is – nothing!  Why have I got them?  An interesting question!  I have pondered it for a very long time now, thinking that I should purge the whole lot and start again, however, I keep going back to images to reassess them, look at them  and compare them with current images……………..have I improved?

Well, that depends………………the more I thought I knew the more I realize I don’t know, but hey, that’s life and the older I get the more I realize that there’s not enough time in this lifetime to learn everything you want!

I definitely have different categories of images, from the family, commissioned shoots, fine art, portraits, landscapes; you name it I’ve got them, but there is a distinct  pattern to my photography and it’s leaning very much towards the fine art and exhibition “arty, farty” style of photography. What’s that you ask?

Vibrant colour in negative space

Well, that’s a whole new subject and probably deserves a more in depth debate by experts, not me; suffice to say I think that Fine Art Photography is not necessarily about technical excellence but more about expressing thoughts and feelings emotively within an image. Fortuitously whilst I was penning this blog  I came across these quotes by two extraordinary artists:

Painter Robert Henri (1865–1929) admonished his students to “Paint the spirit of the bird in flight, not its feathers, ” and another quote by photographer David Alan Harvey: “Don’t shoot what it looks like, shoot what it feels like.”

WOW, yep, I get it, I love texture, shapes, the drama of light and dark, the absolute power of negative space and the jumble that positive space can portray and of course portraits……….Oh no, not the boudoir or the studio, not fond of the contrived, but the emotive candid capture, the intense look in the eyes, the furrows in the brow, the crows feet around the eyes, the wrinkles of the elderly that disappear with a smile, proof of life, of experience or, in the case of a child, innocent mischievousness.

 

So now I have a whole new perspective on my saved images, those old images are teaching me, they’re showing me graphically my flaws, my strengths and giving me that all important springboard on which to improve; more importantly they are giving me the confidence to continue to capture images, to find the emotion and tell the story!     Are other photographers  like me, are we all inextricably connected to every image like serial hoarders?

Now, what am I doing with all of those old images………..I’ll buy another external hard drive!

So back to the other question……….have I improved…………probably……..but………..I think it’s time for the next journey…………….thank goodness I like studying!!

Treasured Moments!

A quiet moment at a local market………………The Mannum Riverside Markets here in South Australia, on the banks of the majestic Murray River and following a day of scorching temperatures over 44°, temperatures blissfully cooler, we set up a stall, we had honey, we had garlic and of course we had art.  Strange bedfellows, yep, but it worked!

And so our little collective of family, friends and neighbours traded through the day.

It wasn’t a busy market, this was our first market as a collective from our district.  A diverse district………….broad acre farming sits alongside general farming, hobby farmers, families wanting fresh air and free range, tree changers and people looking for a secluded lifestyle amongst rolling hills, rocky outcrops and tall gums, artists too are attracted to this part of the Murraylands, landscapes, abundant wildlife, old ruins, spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the ranges are all fodder for the artists palette or lens.

I took advantage of some quiet times to pull the camera out and do what I love doing, ………..candid portraits………..I love this one!

We’ll be at the markets again on the 4th February, come along and say hello, we may even have another fellow Rockleighite, you never know who may pop in.

 

To pose or not to pose

That’s the question!

As an amateur photographer I’ve not as yet developed the ability to pose people to make them or me feel comfortable, for some having a camera in hand is close to being the “boogy man”!  It’s hard work gaining peoples trust, getting them to relax – just a little!   Probably why I have developed such a love of  candid portraits, people let their guards down, emotions on show!

Guess who’s come to dinner?

A fledgling eagle ready to spread his wings.

Feed for these “babies” is plentiful, the good season with ripening crops means that food reserves of rats, mice and rabbits is in good supply for these majestic creatures,  “Dinner is Served”!

Mother Natures theatre has raised her curtains on an enthralling and dramatic production of life, death and survival in the wild.

For those of us lucky enough to have a dress circle seat and a camera in hand the performance is mesmerizing.

Damn! It’s summer.

Daylight saving is here………..that’s not too bad.  I don’t feel it like some, I’m usually awake by 4 am and up by 5 am anyway.  I wonder if that’s a product of my childhood? I grew up on a dairy, you know, obscenely early hours, but a wonderful benchmark for later years.  At that time of the morning I hope there is dew on the ground and crisp damp air, no snakes then, I can take the dogs for a walk in relative safety, they’re not as agile and alert as they used to be.

At that time of the morning the garden doesn’t appear to be a Garden of Eden either with serpents hanging from the vines, but in a couple of hours don’t venture in there.

They’ve started early!  A brown at the bottom of our driveway on Friday and yesterday our neighbour met one on the driveway near the house, they’re probably coming in for the mice near the chook shed.

So from now on it’s eyes peeled and gum boots on…………..and very, very early morning walks.  Can’t wait for winter!

A Dabble, a Doodle………….and decay!

I love dabbling and doodling; I always have a pencil or pen at the ready; at meetings or on the phone my hands (or is it a restless mind?) are always busy. I draw flowers, shapes and love the abstracts made with angles and shadows………..Oh, of course at meetings I’m paying attention to the matters at hand, although…………… sometimes …………..I’m grateful for the distraction of the “doodle”!

I dabble in crafts.  An exquisite feather, a twisted piece of bark,  a dried rose, even  a bleached skeleton will have me diving for the camera and hoping the light will make magic of the drama of  their decay.   If I don’t “snap” them I will collect them and add to the ever mounting “debris” stored, waiting for just the right project. and for Christmas, the pine cone collection is increasing.  No chance of idle minds or hands here.

Through photography I can capture graphically the beauty of decay be it animal, vegetable or mineral……….these remains  can be dramatically, beautifully and respectfully portrayed in the creativity of art.

At a recent exhibition “Food for Thought” at the Coorong Council, a superb sculpture/wall hanging by Pamela Gillen titled Miratengi Pies made of rusted bowls welded on a frame they contained feathers, shells, seeds, old bones and chrysalis etc. collected from, I believe, Pamela’s wanderings  through the Coorong, that piece won the overall competition.  It was truly beautiful in it’s composition, but also extremely dramatic, confronting and fascinating in it’s contents.

Last weekend I was commissioned to do a photo shoot in the Mallee, exploring the wonderful old sheds on the property  I discovered a bird, a Starling, it had been caught up in string and unfortunately had died, however, the day, the light, the amazing old shed with it’s rough sawn beams all added to this extraordinary image.  Yes, of course I took photos, but………..maybe a bit too graphic, save for another project.   A still life of luscious farm grown fruit might be a better alternative!

In the meantime I’ll hop on the phone, chat to a friend, doodle away and dream of dabbling in some crafty exercise………..or, perhaps I’ll just go out and take some photos!  Whatever I do the cycle of life will always fascinate me and be a creative source for the next project or the next photo!