Don't leave me this way/never can say goodbye

Art therapy and social action - logo

Love this logo! After trying to convince students about the importance of cultural competency in our tute last night, this makes me feel validated! Hey guys, 'assimilation' is really not such a great concept...working in London, in the 1980's, it seemed much clearer, (and we all happily did Racism Awareness Training as it was called then) perhaps because some ethnic minorities were very vocal and visible (and grossly over-represented in mental health services). Here we have this wishy-washy 'tolerance' of multiculturalism, which assumes we just all want to be homogenous Australians, but perhaps with more interesting recipes.

On a similar issue, I will always associate the song Don't leave me this way sung by Jimmy Somerville of the Communards, and Sarah Jane Morris, with the demise of 'Red' Ken Livingstone's Greater London Council in the 1980's.

My ex-personal trainer, who broke up with me last week (for personal reasons), had a goodbye breakfast on Sunday. She told us she was not allowed back in the gym after she gave in her notice. This seems to be common management practice. What about valuing the relationships? Saying goodbye is hard already, don't make it impossible please! Someone who has seen me at my worst, sweaty and grumpy, and wanting to give up, and still has been encouraging and positive. Thanks Jess!  Here is Jimmy again singing Never can say Goodbye.

Listening to Motown on my I-Pod whilst running this month. No shortage of inspiration for blog post titles there - not enough days in the month (or time to write).

Looking forward to starting Six Degrees of Creativity, an e-course, which might get me back into some art practice. The next few weeks are looking pretty rough, work wise.

More later.

Creativity and happiness

feeling joy

One thing I have noticed, since I started writing regular posts, is how often my moods change during a single day. This image is an attempt to 'capture' a happy mood. I used wax crayons shaped like pebbles - very nice to use - on watercolour paper, and rubbed them randomly over four different rubbing plates, which have a raised surface - its a bit like doing brass rubbings. I then painted over it with yellow and orange dyetex, one of my favourite art materials.

The wax resists the dyetex, so you can build up layers, something I often incoporate into my artwork, whether it is with pastels, paint, collage or applique (in sewing). I also like the effect of totally covering the surface to create a 'colour field', somehow it makes me think of the 'wall of sound' that Motown music is well known for - an example of my mild synaesthesia, which is when the senses are interwoven, so that you 'see' colours when you think of letters, (for example my 'A's are usually yellow!).

Moments of joy are often fleeting, but doing things that matter to me, makes me happy  - not just at the time, but also in anticipation and in retrospect. This is a list of some of the things I did in the last few days that continue to feed my happiness and sense of well-being:

the 'swimming pool' at GOMA

• Went to GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art - possibly influenced by MOMA?) to see the current 21st century exhibition. This image of the pool is a visual trick as it creates the illusion of people being underwater...Outside, ironically, it was pouring with rain, again.
• I cleaned out my fridge. Ok this one was not so great at the time, but felt great after it was done! Lots of food for the chooks was forthcoming as well...
• Writing this blog. Both aspects, making art and writing, are things I have always wanted to do more of. So glad I thought of a way to do both at once...also
• Poetry. I saw a trailer for the movie Invictus, about Nelson Mandela, and how he inspired the South African rugby team, whilst watching a DVD. I wondered aloud where the quote: "I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul" came from - without looking, I found the answer in this blog the following day. (William Ernest Henley, 1849-1903). For the Jungians, that is an example of synchronicity. And another blogger wrote me a haiku, when I emailed him with feedback on what he had written, which is very exciting. I'll share it another time.
• Participating in the on-line community, which I am starting to experience, in the examples above.
• Going to the gym. Without fail, it lifts my mood, and even when it hurts afterwards, which is often at my age, I am glad I went. In fact I am going to body pump in under an hour, so need to finish here.
• Watching the sunset - this was two nights ago - I have intensified the colour saturation to show the rainbow that was visible at the time, but harder to capture at twilight on camera.

rainbow sunset

That one speaks for itself. More later.