Art does more than just hang around on walls...

"You can start the day in a rush...or by looking at your favourite art book.." This quote comes out of one of my fave books called "Sensual Home" by Ilse Crawford, that I picked up in London over ten years ago.. her sentiments reign supreme even today.. Ilse's book is all about creative energy, creating balance harmony and space in the home and the spirit...and choosing special art pieces that you love, intuitively not rationally, I love it! What our beach bungalow currently lacks in furniture it makes up for in artworks, including Banx originals and also some from my own personal collection by my favourite female artists like Anne McLeay, collage artist Anne Foster and a Samoan artist friend Ruta. Another friend in Canada is hand making an exquisite quilt for us. Not to mention Peter Hardie's award winning photography of flippers too (how lucky he is my brother!). Our bungalow will be an artisan's haven. Even the dining table we are currently scrubbing back in the studio for the bungalow was once an artist's and a potter's table. I love every one of its scratches and marks, it tells a story. Artists create things that excite our senses, they dig deep into our psyche's and unlock something personal within us, and how wonderful to bring this to everyday life! The rest of the furniture can take a back seat - I want to sit on my temporary fold up chair in our new space and just keep staring at the sensational art that surrounds us! (This painting is called Medley by Banx).

Judy's Garden

....and speaking of gardens, one of the most magnificent gardens we saw on our recent travels overseas was Judy's garden (Banx's Mum) in picturesque Jersey in the Channel Islands, about half way between UK and France. They have lived there for many years and Judy has created from scratch the most gorgeous rambling creative wonderful garden. Some days I would just sit and stare at her creation. So many of the flowering plants and shrubs are ones we cannot grow in Australia due to climate or soil, so that made it extra special. Many different birds come to nest in her garden each year along with certain types of bees, you name it. Judy is extremely environmentally conscious and "green" long before her time and nothing is wasted.. water is carried in buckets from grey water used the night before in the household; and the household scraps are saved for Judy's compost - but most of all what goes in to her garden is her love and passion - it shows with the variety of colours and smells as I wound my way down the winding little inlets and paths each morning for my beach front walk. Judy's creativity was something we could all share that holiday.

Kids & Creativity!

Who was that famous person who once said "Never work with kids or animals" ha! Well we did both two days running this week - we dog-sat my niece's GORGEOUS and mischievous black labrador ROCKY and then yesterday, had a Kids Art Day in the backyard - we have never had so much fun in two days! wow kids and animals are so spontaneous and naturally creative! Sir Ken Robinson is one of my fave mentors on kids and creativity (check out his website)and yesterday I have never seen 3 such focussed creative kids In The Zone, aged 7, 9 and 13 - famous artists in the making and masterpieces produced yesterday, but most of all we had fun in the sunshine!

Tapping into Creativity

If only there was a tap we could turn on for creativity when we really needed it! Well this morning I tried a different way of tapping into the right-side of my brain… a NIA Class. It was so much fun. NIA is a holistic fitness practice that allows you to discover new, creative ways of moving. As an ex-ballet dancer and teacher of fourteen years, I have been searching over the years for something that isn’t aerobics or pilates. NIA combines free dance, with yoga and a bit of martial arts movement and healing philosophy thrown in for good measure. What was most fun was the laughter, the sense of community and self-expression in a totally non-threatening environment – all to really groovy uplifting world music. I could just let myself go! It literally is the ‘joy of movement’..you know, the kind of dancing you do in your own lounge room while you’re vacuuming. Julia Cameron in her book about creativity The Sound of Paper believes we should do morning pages/journal; morning walks and takes ourselves out on dates – I’d like to add dancing with ourselves to that list!! Remember how unrestrained we felt as kids, well that’s how I felt for an hour this morning.
(Photo courtesy of NIA Australia website).