Enter Summer (with water views) Christmas prep and some modern Australiana
You know, it’s not raining and the beautiful sunshine has arrived, but there is still thousands and thousands of farmers surrounded by water views, where there would usually be ripe, full crops ready
For harvest or paddocks of the greenest grass seen in years. Not to dampen spirits, but isn’t it easy to forget?! I’m still pulling together Q&A’s with women whose Daily Routines are upended by floodwaters, next week we will hopefully hear from a woman in the thick of clean-up at Eugowra, NSW. One of the most 'grounded interviews I heard in the last week was from Di Fear from Condobolin. When I was working with the Country Hour for the ABC, Di Fear was on my list of regulars to call, an astute and upbeat farmer and community person. I was saddened to hear this.
In a complete aside from the aforementioned difficulties in rural Australia, paid subscribers will meet Peta West this week (this is her image) - who does the most intricate print works of natural Australia. Seriously beautiful, I think!
Podcast Playlist
I’ve been doing some coaching/meditation work with Katrina Myers and her recommendation of this podcast that Motivation, or lack thereof, is a Myth was pretty well timed.
Because the Christmas Tree is going up this afternoon, I’ll be dipping back into the Calm Christmas podcast with Beth Kempton.
Also followed another recommendation to lean into Lune Croissant’s Kate Reid in a two-part interview on The Imperfects.
Lay your eyes on these Instagram accounts
@katjaleibenathpaintings (pictured, and prints on sale now!)|| @nicolefuge_ || @siennatori
This pile of things to read
Is food over-indulgence at Christmas (and Thanksgiving in the US) such a bad thing? Love the phrase ‘turkey bender’ in this!
Florence and I watched the 2020 adaptation of The Secret Garden again recently, I’d forgotten how beautiful it is.
‘Think Weeks’ for all of us please, just like Bill Gates does.
A peek into Oliver Jeffers studio.
Meet Peta West
Tell me about your style of artwork?
I’m a representational artist working in the the medium of relief and reduction linocut print. I believe that my work is representational as I am recreating flora/fauna and landscape that does tell you what you are looking at but in a very pared back simplified monochromatic image. I like to tell a story through my work. Showing a time in my life that I may have experienced or that we all have experienced as community.
Has it always been printmaking for you or has your art form evolved over the years?
Printmaking has defiantly evolved and found me over the years. I was a wedding/portrait photographer for 25 years working in Albury and Ulladulla. My training was very classical, working with film and darkroom printing. Black and white photography always was my first love. I think from this form of art I developed a sense of depth, contrast and composition. This has carried forward in my work now. Over the years I have alway created, from painting and charcoal drawings to sewing and garden design. What appealed to me with printmaking was the actual use of my hands carving with tools to sculpt an image out of the linoleum. This really excited me.
Tell me about where you live?
I live in Lake Conjola which is 3 hours south of Sydney. It is on the South Coast of NSW and Im surrounded by bush. Ulladulla/Milton which is the main town is a creative hub for lots of different artists. We are situated on the coastline and here we have many beaches, reserves and national parks.
Why do you love it there?
Lake Conjola is surrounded by National Park, Conjola National Park. Here there is so many bush trails, native plants and native wildlife to draw my inspiration from. I constantly have birds visiting my backyard and sometimes even in the studio. It’s a quiet location (when its not the school holidays LOl) , slow paced and very connected to nature.
What inspires your artwork?
Always, always landscape, birds, flowers. These are the thing that I am experiencing and this is what I try to evoke in my work. The moments or the feeling I had with a bird in a landscape or the blooming of a flower and the details that I have noticed. I feel immersed in the landscape which is the feeling I want to convey in my large-scale work .
The other thing I am constantly inspired from is form, the shape of something and the challenge of how I can recreate this in simple marks to represent it through linocuts.
When do you get up in the morning?
Anytime between 6-7am. I am not really a morning person..... If I get up at this time tho it means I have an hour of peace before the children wake up.
What is the first thing you do?
First things first is coffee. I’ll make a coffee before I do anything in the morning then I usually have a quick check on socials or emails to see if anything I need to respond to then its school lunch boxes.
Are you a list person or just take the day as it comes?
I’m defiantly a girl who takes the day as it comes. Im not really one for routine. But everyday is creating art. I feel so lucky that this is what I do to fill in my days. I defiantly don’t make lists but I have started putting exhibition dates, art prizes, work to be done, deadlines etc into a yearly planner to make sure my year is planned out.
How do you wind down at the end of the day?
I usually finish my arvo ( before dinner) with a walk for 30-40mins through bush and onto the beach that is dog friendly. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback that keeps me company in the studio during the day and we both need a walk at the end of the day to clear our heads. Then after dinner (depending on what night of the week) a glass of red wine or a G+T is defiantly a way to wind down.
Bedtime?
I need an hour at the end of the day to myself. This is my window time, I try to get kids (and hubby) into bed by 9pm so that I can be in bed by 10pm.
One last thing dear readers, I have paused paid subscriptions on this newsletter. This will remain the case until the end of January. As many of you know I have been wayward of late and it is not lost on my that I haven’t lived up to my promises to you as a paid subscriber! During this time all subscribers paid or not will get the same content, so there’s not better time to nudge a mate and get them to sign up too! SXX