Would you love a three to four month working holiday in Asia, as an artist in residence?

Arts Residency Application Information for 2011 Each year the Asialink Residency program sends 40 Australian writers, performers, artists and arts managers to live and work throughout Asia. Since its inception in 1991 the program has sent more than 550 people to hosts in 19 countries. The grant of up to $12,000 goes towards travel, living and project expenses, and affords recipients the opportunity for in-depth research, stimulating cultural exchanges, international collaboration and uninterrupted time for creativity.

Applications for 2011 residencies are now open, and close on 10 September 2010.

Arts Residency Application Information.

"Love what you do

and you'll never have to work a day in your life."

 

I love that quote. That is a fantastic way to live your life.  In many ways I do live my life that way. I am not conventional; I do not try to do what is, expected, of me.

I am comfortable in a mess as long as I can find the things I need and things are clean and hygienic. After all nature has litter around the place and I love the landscape with its fallen leaves and fern fronds with insect chew marks, the landscape and my home does not need to be perfectly manicured for me to be happy.  Too much tidyness would cut into my creative time, my 'work', that I love too much to call work.

My idea of beautiful hands would be hands reaching out to aid someone or up to their wrists in wet clay or other creative medium. My vision of beauty is different to the conventional. I see beauty in eroded mountains and scars on trees and wonder that people view these things as flaws in people when they give such character.  I am certain artists see life differently.


You do not need to be a trained artist to feel this deep satisfaction from creativity, there are web programs like slideshow that can help you turn your regular photo collecting into art forms to share.

The writer in me has overtaken the painter, and just like when I was a painter I am now turning away work I don’t have the time to do and choosing, only the best assignments or the best businesses to do work for and enjoying planning the novel I hope to write in November.

Creative people, never retire, we just reinvent ourselves. Yes, I am a carer, but I retained my creativity, by adapting my talents to those compatible with my new lifestyle.  Where I once was, the painter who wrote, I am now the writer who paints. By adapting to my changing needs, demands and environment, I have retained the love for my work. My work is my play, my passion.  

My sister was a writer, by profession, she also painted, (the reverse of my early career choice), so we mentored each other. She then adapted to becoming a painter, then as her life needs changed, she returned to our early life upbringing, that of working with fabrics. We were born into 'the rag trade', my mother being a fashion designer. My sister now makes beautiful art quilts for galleries in San Francisco, loves her work and is highly respected for it.  My family, past and present, have all gravitated towards doing what they love and turning it into a profession.  This is a great way to live if you can do it. 

"What do you love enough to make your life's work and then never work a day in your life?"


 

Strange how the creative mind, works, wasting time is often the best way to spend our time and where the best creative, results will stem from.

I have a very busy day planned today, more than enough to do, including creative pursuits of painting and writing and I was not sure how I was going to fit them all in.  With this in mind, I began to wonder how I was ever going to fulfil my commitment to myself to write a novel in November.

That is rightJ, I have promised to make November my novel writing month. 

This morning I was feeling if I did not have time to fit all of today’s activities into today, I would risk failing at my November goal and I know some serious time management work needed to be done again.  So I began my morning in bed with coffee and  opening up my own diary, news and forums I read, saying good morning to friends and composing the blogs I write as I ‘get into’, my day.

 Morning over and I have written hardly any words, spent a lot of time chatting with friends on face book, wandering sideways into blogs and newspaper articles published on line about Australia, and especially central Queensland’s settlement history. That is the era and location where my novel may take place.  I came out of this, ‘wondering trance’, initially with the feeling that I had time wasted a entire morning, then I realized I had been on a valuable job search and had in fact gained a valuable referenced history that backed up the oral history I need to work into my novel. 

So I have switched from this feeling of ‘a morning wasted’ to ‘knowing I have done a morning of fantastic reference for a historical novel’. 

I am seriously troubled in some ways about how to write this novel. It will be no pretty romance. It will involve a story of atrocities, committed on all sides, against innocent people and yet somehow I want the work to be ‘uplifting’, to have some final message of understanding of the worst of human nature.. A glimpse into why people can do some hideous things to each other and yet we all are the same, longing for the same things and wanting to be good people.  

 HOW do I express ‘that’, in WORDS?

Am I right to think ‘this is beyond me?

Do I give in to self-doubt that it would need a greater mind than mine to express such profound feelings?

Do I try to lighten a serious subject with humour?

Could this straight laced wowser, lol J, I do that?

I think I postponed writing this novel for so long because I doubted I would have the skill required to do it well.

This is all new territory for me. I WELCOME ADVICE. 

This novel, if written, (self-doubt), could become one of several novels, along similar, oral history story lines. This morning my head is beginning to flood with material, my characters becoming visible to me and having personality, I need to write  for it, (so much for my already packed with activity, day) and I know I am ready to start developing these stories NOW; maybe November will just be my month to relocate the scrabbled dyslectic, loose rambling, of notes in my brain into a draft on the computer and hope its intelligible enough, to allow someone else to try to proof read it.

As I have never written a novel length or a fiction article in my life, this is going to be a challenge for me, the material is to sensitive to write in its factual form I will need to totally rewrite it into fiction.

 

I am working on the painting of an old shack in Warburton, at the moment and I do hope to have this work finished next week and the prints ordered before we leave for Queensland.

I have a full week at South Ballina Beach where I can set up the studio table and focus on my artwork.  I plan to share the work in progress photo story here in this blog.  It is happening, even if it is happening slowly, I like to do a good job rather than a rushed work.

The photo of the Warburton shack, was provided by one of my Kathy Shell, facebook, page, fans. Any of my fans are welcome to leave a photo on my Kathy Shell, facebook, page with permission for me to use the photo. I will periodically choose one of these photos, to create an artwork from, then I will send the photo provider, a signed limited edition print from the work. You are invited to join my Kathy Shell page,

I am not seeking commission work, I have mentioned before that the few art works I do now are mostly to form my life insurance policy as it is what I have to leave my grandchildren to form their art investment collection. I am not actively seeking sales of the originals at the present time.

 

I was up late last night writing about a serious subject, plagiarism and recommending that people view the website Bloggers against Plagiarism, so we can learn to do more to protect our own and others, intellectual and creative copyright material.

I had a very special occasion today, meeting a friend, I have known for more than a year, via a self-help forum, and I had never met her in person until today.  I met her and her sister, also my friend now J and other family members. 

We picnicked at the Kiama Blowhole and returned along the coast road to the beautiful strip of coastline where we are staying at the Seven Mile Beach, Tourist Park.

I was running on about 5 hours sleep today due to blogging about the serious subject of plagiarism last night and probably looked like I needed the best eye cream for dark circles  and so I popped on my peaked sun hat, to hide the late night blogger’s eyes.

If you are interested in reading more, this is the blog I wrote, on the subject of  The crime of plagiarism .

On a lighter note, I'll finish with some lovely photos I took today.
It was a beautiful day, shared with great friends.
 

I tend to spend insufficient time in bed because I love creative work, nature, my fitness workouts, life and awake hour activities in general, so there never seems quite enough hours in the day to fit it all in, so I have a tendency to crib on my sleep time.   I get so used to managing on brief sleep hours, when I do have an important event in the morning and I go to bed early in preparation for it, I find it hard to settle, and I have always used natural sleep aids to help relax myself. One of my favourites is to use a combination of bergamot and lavender oil, just a drop on a tissue or on the edge of my pillowcase.

I think workaholism and sleep deprivation, is a trait of many artistic people.
I think we love 'doing things', so much we resist stopping and allowing our bodies to rest. I know it s an important part of my learning to respect and care for my body, that I must overcome the sleep deprivation,  I inflict on myself, largely by personal choice. That is the problem, I see more advantage to cutting short my sleep hours than I find advantages. I need to read more about the benefits of sleep, I think and make an educated decision that I need to care for myself better.

‘I know I am not alone in depriving myself of sleep in preference to being creative, and I am wondering, what other people do to train themselves into better habits.  I would love to hear your comments.’

I know they say it takes 21 days to form a new habit or to break an old one, so theoretically if I commit to 21 days of being in bed by MN, after that is will become easier to maintain a healthy sleep routine.

 

Q: Did you hear about the dyslectic agnostic with insomnia?

A: He used to lay awake at night wondering if there really was a dog.


I have finally made my optometrist appointment. J. My patient friends may notice an improvement in my facebook status updates, which I write without Reg or a friend, as the proofreader.

I will not be doing so many typos, and will feel safer heading off on our long tour north with the long distance extenze of my vision.

Dyslectics of the world UNTIE!

Dyslectic, Symptoms in adults
some of the symptoms in an adult could include:

·         Reading and spelling problems.

·         Avoids tasks that involve writing, or else gets someone else to do the writing for them.  (Reg is my proof reader, J, I don’t know how I could blog, without a proof reader to pick up some of my ‘bloopers’.)

·         Better than average memory.

·         Often, a greater than average spatial ability - the person may be talented in art, design, mathematics or engineering. It is true, that more artists have dyslexia, that is usual amongst the normal population, so if there is a trade off in talent, J, it isn’t all bad news to have dyslexia..

My advice to the dyslectic,

Do not allow it to stop you doing what you want to do.

If you suffer from dyslectic, foot in mouth disease L when writingJ, here are some tips to help you survive and not offend readers.

Illustrate your work, liberally with non-letter, ;-) signals, that you do recogniseJ, easily, to convey the meaning. That way, if you call a friend a fiend, J by mistake but have the smiley after it, chances are they will see the smile as friendship.

Do the best you can, proof read several times, take a break after writing something then come back and proof read it again so you read what you wrote and not what you thought you wrote.

Do not allow the spelling police to upset you, there are things that you can do that they cannot. It is their ignorance if they are intolerant of another’s disability, not your ignorance for having it.

Occasionally remind people that you are dyslectic, and acknowledge you do a few typed faux pas, you will find most people happy to accept they way you write.

Trade skills with a friend.  If you have an important letter to send, offer to do something for a friend in return for having them proof read what you wrote, before you post it.

Above all, remember that many creative people are dyslectic so do not allow this to hamper your use of words as one of your creative mediums, writing is so much fun J

 

You need to treat art as a business if your business is art.

If you think that artists do not need to work, that it is all play and creating when you feel like it, then do everyone a favour and call it a hobby, don’t expect grants from public money, the world does not owe artists a living.

Art is our choice and we should not be subsidised if we are unable to earn our living at it anymore than someone, should get, a grant to go and play golf all day instead of going to work.

Lol, J, OK I have got that off my chest. Being a professional artist is going to involve very long hours of work and becoming multi skilled.

I have known dozens of talented artists who cannot earn a living at art, because they have not grasped that we need to develop four different types of skills to succeed in the arts and indeed, most professions.

 

1.       Talent We need the talent or skill to have something to sell.  Develop this. Make it a lifetime commitment to be on an ongoing search for knowledge and learn from everything and anything you can, while not contravening the copyright of others, make sure you didn’t have a fool for a teacher, by insisting on being ‘self taught’.
Yes, one can be self-guided, but expertise is learned from experts.

2.       Public Relations skills.If you are not skilled in public relations, then learn these skills. It might be easier to employ someone to do the PR for you, but the truth of the matter is, that unless you have an income aside from your art, few artists are going to have the funds to pay for a good PR representative. So learn how to do this for yourself.

3.       Business skills. It does not matter how well you create, paint or how good the items you have to sell are, nor how well you are able to market these, using your PR skills, if the business side of things breaks down and you make unwise choices accounting for and usuing the income you make.  There needs to be a balance of all skills.

4.       Diversify. Art is a non essential, item. If you look at how the stock market fluctuates, then realize that art is also going to fluctuate, only the fluctuation will be wider. 
No  one, can tell you in advance what artistic skills might peak nor suffer in the next fluctuation. 

Take the example of the need to diversify, from what happend during the last big depression to my own artistic family, who all survived based on the actions of one family member, my mother, the only one who diversified her skills. 

My father the architect, rated at the time as one of the top 6  architects in Australia, had no essential sevice skills and was unemployed during the last depression.

My uncle, one of Australia’s best musicians at the time, a man who during the peak of his career, left millions to charities due to the success of his career, had no other developed skill aside from his musicianship and he could not make enough money to provide a home for or feed his family during that depression as  people would not pay for his, non essential service, skill.
 
My mother, a dress designer, was able to diversify, from making high end fashion to designing clothing to fit people with deformity, then accept commissions to make military uniforms and her income as a young woman in her twenties, supported three families of six adults and three children, all because she was prepared to diversify her artistic skills when the need arose and not be too proud to take orders or work with heavy harsh on the hands, military materials.

When I informed my family that I intended to be an artist, they were 100% behind my doing this, they never told me that ‘I would not be able to earn my living at the arts’, as many tell artists. They did however insist that I have diverse talents and essential skills.

Back then, I did a science course as my essential services ‘fall back on, if I needed it’, diversification from art. These days with my interest in web design and reliance on computers I would probably choose to study for and have IT Jobs as my essential industry, fall back, should I have times when art needed  subsidising with other work.

Develop varied and essential service skills and your integrity as an artist is protected and you have the financial stability you need as a base to develop a successful artistic life. Happy creating :-)


 

I am promoting a charity auction of scrap booking supplies for the creative person. I use scpbooking supplies to make art cards and art bookmarks.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Scrap-Booking-Papers-and-Artists-materials_W0QQitemZ300392610903QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Scrapbooking?hash=item45f0cb7c57

This auction is for a worth cause so I hope my readers take a look and bid. :-).

Scrap Booking Papers and Artists materials , all proceeds go to the Hope From Ashes charity to assist those rebuilding their lives after the Toodyay Fires of December 2009


Scrap Booking Papers and Artists materials from "Artistic Journey" This package valued at over $100 includes kits to make journals. Items include a range of papers in textures and colours, ribbon, card, charms and ideas/instructions on things to create to preserve your memories


 

Hope from Ashes
The Hope From Ashes auction will run online starting on the date of the benefit concert with new items being put up daily over the next week.  This online auction will raise awareness and funds and give people the opportunity to contribute and help Toodyay people who are rebuilding after the fire.

We have tried to gather together a range of diverse and high quality items and services that in some way reflect the diversity and creativity of the Toodyay community. In finding a gift for yourself you will be giving to the Toodyay community and we hope the excitement and high energy of the auction will be uplifting and inspiring in its way.

The auction has the Hope From Ashes flavour celebrating and demonstrating the generosity, positivity and support that has flowed so readily for and within the Toodyay community.

As well as people from Perth many local Toodyay businesses and individuals have also contributed to the auction, some although deeply affected by the fires through loss of home or workplace. Artworks, craft items, trips away, fantastic meals and even life coaching sessions, massages, motoring items, clothing and collectors plates are just a few of the amazing items we can offer you. The list grows every day so “no napping” or you may miss a fabulous item…which is just what you need!

We hope you will enjoy the items on offer and we hope you have fun whilst you bid big as we pull together to raise much needed funds for the survivors of the Toodyay Bushfires.

If you would like more information about the auction or have a donation for us to consider please contact Bruce or Linda Sharman by completing the website contact and writing DONATION at the beginning of your message.

If you wish to make a donation in person, please use the following Bendigo Bank details. Thank you.
Hope from Ashes
BSB: 633 000
Account: 139 064 364