To be creative is to let little pieces of your heart go and place them into each project that you make… Pat Bravo
Here I am, 5 days into my Accessible Arts residency at Bundanon Trust with only 2 days left. It’s gone so quickly and now I feel an urgent need to create madly so will head out into the studio soon to do a few more projects. I had a rest day yesterday. I had pushed myself pretty hard with the shoot and it was probably a bit more than I should have done post surgery but the results are worth it. So I decided that a day of rest was the best thing I could do for myself. It was also raining so a perfect day to be spent inside, though I hate to waste the chance to get out into this beautiful landscape.
I took a drive into Nowra as I had broken the last of my felting needles and if I was going to have a rest day, I could do some more owls while I rested. Rest to me, doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing something a little less physical. I want to use a few of these owls in the trees when I start editing and compositing the images for this series. They will also be used in another art piece I am in the process of making, so it’s a “two birds with one stone” kind of project, if you’ll pardon the pun.
I stopped at an op shop along the way, as I always do if I see one and grabbed a few things in there. One of them was a bag of old jewellery and bits and pieces. I’m going to try a more mixed media kind of project when I get home so I thought it could be good for that. In the bag I found a huge cut glass crystal shape which will be great for a project that I haven’t thought of yet. There was also a small charm from a bracelet or necklace in it. It was a simple crown with the word CREATE on it.. Yes, definitely meant to be mine.
When I got back here, I processed a couple more images, albeit very roughly, then started making felt owls and leaves and got quite a few more made. I don’t plan what they’ll look like, I let them come into being organically and choose their own personalities. I’m very much the same with the images I do. I did plan the shoot that I’ve just done but still took photos on the day that weren’t part of that and I’ve no doubt they will become part of the series. I’m not good at planning. I much prefer things to take the shapes that they want to.
Quite often when I’m editing an image, I take a full back seat to it and let it take shape without my ego involved. Those images quite often turn out the best. It’s not that I’m not present when I’m doing them because of course I am, but I let my mind drift and imagination takes over. Then the images seem to take on a life of their own. I always love them the most.
One of those images was the very first fantasy images I ever created. Facebook tells me today that it’s 3 years today since I first created her. She is a mermaid called Hope. Her full title is Hope Whispers. Her name came from the saying.. When the world says give up.. Hope whispers.. Try one more time.. It has been my life motto forever. She has been the inspiration to continue to bring my dreams to life. Happy birthday Hope.
Trouble is, as soon as I bring a dream to life, another one charges straight in to take it’s place in the queue to be made. I never realised how much a part of my heart they would all become but they are all a part of me. Small pieces of my heart that will be around long after I’ve gone. It’s a nice feeling. I dreamed last night that I was planning a photo shoot with Dick Van Dyke and while I doubt he will be the model in it, the shoot itself was a great concept, so it’s added to the list of creations waiting to be born.
Let me leave you with an introduction to the delightful Kate Matairavula who is another of the artists in residence down here. Kate is a writer and actor who is focusing on writing during her stay here at Bundanon.
Happy Creating….Livvy xxx
