An ordinary person's thoughts on the complexities of art & life ...

An ordinary person's thoughts on the complexities of life ... or just ramblings from the mind of a working Mum with far too little time to think!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

FLOWERS AS ART

We have arrived at the very best time of the year in Australia ~ Spring. It is the time of the year that brings pleasantly cool mornings and evenings and sensational bright, warm days with the vibrant colours and intoxicating fragrances of the myriad new flowers that suddenly seem to be everywhere!
It is a wonderful time to be out in the garden and I am continually surprised each day by what has popped up overnight  ...

What always strikes me at this time of year is just how bright and vibrant the flowers are and I thought I would shoot a series of photographs of flowers leaning towards abstract art and focusing on bold saturated colour and shape. Here is a selection from this series:








 


















Thursday, September 27, 2012

Tropical Fishscapes

It's been a long while since my last blogpost and I have had many emails and messages encouraging me to continue. Somehow of late, for many reasons, time has got away from me and I have not had the mind space to do any art photography other than commissions or booked photo shoots. Not ideal for my growth as an artist!

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by tropical fish and always wished I could paint what I saw in my mind. I imagined large elegant "fishscapes" with lots of sparkling light, rich textures and soft, coral colours swirling around the gentle movement of the fish underwater. Of course this would be easier to capture if I was underwater, swimming with the fish - and one day I intend to purchase an underwater camera. However, until then I will have to make do with an aquarium!

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to sneak off with my camera to a tropical aquarium for a couple of hours. It was late afternoon and a lovely, mellow light streamed in through the large ocean-facing windows onto the central glass tank, providing the perfect quality of natural light for my project. 

These are a few of the images from that shoot ...
















Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Camellia Time


It is certainly a truism that it is often the simplest things in life that make us the happiest!
Standing in a friend's garden a few days ago in the soft Autumn light, listening to the muted chattering of the birds, feeling the very slight chill in the air and breathing in the earthy scent of the flowering Camellia bushes, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of peace and serenity.




There are certain flowers that typify each season for me, and it is the Camellia in its myriad of colours and varieties that I have always associated with early Autumn in Australia.




In the season where most of the flowering trees and plants have dropped all of their flowers and the garden is gearing up for Winter, the Camellias generously burst into bloom, their glossy green leaves supporting masses of exquisite flowers.




Yesterday, while waiting to collect my daughter from a lesson, I grabbed my camera and took a quick walk through one of my favourite botanical haunts, where I knew the Camellias would be putting on a flamboyant show. 




They certainly lived up to my expectations! It was a magnificent show, starring the many glorious varieties of these elegant flowers in full bloom!



































Thursday, January 12, 2012

Captive






It’s a sad, sad world when we have to imprison animals to ensure their survival on the planet!



Peacock



I recently spent a morning at a local zoo that is soon to be relocated due to a housing estate developer’s successful bid for the land that the zoo has occupied for a very long time.




Sumatran Tiger



The mission statement of this zoo reads: 
“To create a unique and exciting experience in a natural environment that will empower the community to be involved in conservation of wildlife and their environment.”




Giraffe



This is a far cry from the zoos I grew up with in Africa where animals were kept purely for the entertainment and enjoyment of the public, and often in cramped and less than ideal conditions due to a lack of funding. 




Young Male Lion



Human interest in keeping animals for entertainment and pleasure dates back to around 1500BC when Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt built a zoo. From that time, rulers in India, Africa and China created zoos as a way to demonstrate their wealth and power.




Zebras



The Greeks were the first to establish zoos to study animal behavior and to attempt to educate the public, with Aristotle being one of the most notable teachers at that time.




Llama



Although much thought today has gone into creating zoo environments that are closer to natural habitats, most of the animals in modern zoos still reside in cages or small man-made exhibits with no freedom to live the life for which they were conceived.




Goat



Almost all of the animals I photographed on this particular morning last week were in good physical health and extremely well cared for.  However the majority seemed sad and somewhat depressed, either lying in a corner of their exhibits or wandering aimlessly in well-worn circles around the rusting iron boundaries of their enclosures.




Male Cotton-top Tamarin Monkey




The primates were the saddest of all to watch with their intelligent human-like expressions and mannerisms. Of all the animals, they know that they are captive ...




Hamadrayas Baboons - Female and Child



Whole families seemed to be in limbo, just waiting around for something, anything to happen ...




Male Hamadrayas Baboon




One of the primates I observed for a long while, a large male Hamadrayas Baboon, kept moving at regularly spaced intervals from his seat on a ledge in the centre of the enclosure to the iron bars at the locked Keeper’s Access door. Every time he reached the bars, he would take hold of them and shake them, seemingly to check if there was just the slightest possibility that they would open …




Black-handed Spider Monkey



Another primate, a long-limbed Black Handed Spider Monkey, sat stone still at the edge of his cage for the entire time I stood there, with his chin resting on his hand and his bright eyes staring out into the distance with an expression of such intense longing.




Black-handed Spider Monkey



Yet another young Spider Monkey sat wedged into the corner of his enclosure, brooding like a depressed teenager.




Baby Hamadrayas Baboon




… And an adorable baby Hamadrayas Baboon made eye contact with me and then stared unblinkingly at me through the bars with the most convincing “please take me out of here” look in his eyes!




Malayan Sun Bear




Further along, right at the back of the zoo, the lonely Malayan Sun Bear paced backwards and forwards in his walled enclosure, seemingly on an endless quest to find a mate … or perhaps just searching for a remedy for his unending loneliness.




Tasmanian Devil




The Tasmanian Devils were noticeably irritable and raced around and around their cramped space, often in opposite directions, passing one another in the middle.




Red Panda




Out of all the zoo’s inhabitants that I observed, the cute and cuddly Red Pandas and the lazy Koalas seemed to be the most relaxed. The Red Pandas remained stretched out on their hammock strung between two tall trees in their enclosure – napping, and only waking up every now and again to turn over and yawn widely.




Koala




The Koalas were nestled comfortably into the elbows of the various Gum trees, all fast asleep for most of the few hours that I wondered around the zoo.





Peacock




I realise that zoos are a necessary part of the conservation and protection of endangered animals all over the world and that zoos do much to assist in the education of the public about the plight of endangered animals.




Cotton-top Tamarin & baby



And although there are many problems with attempting to conserve endangered species in this way, not the least of which are inbreeding and an inability of the captive-bred animals to survive if placed back into their natural habitats, at least someone is doing something to ensure that these animals have the chance to live on into the future.




Lemur



Still, I cannot help but to feel sorry for the inhabitants of zoos all over the world, forced to reside so far away from their natural habitats and species, surrounded by artificiality, plagued by boredom, loneliness and staring visitors, and with absolutely no hope of freedom.







A sign above the gates of the 16th Century public zoo belonging to the Emperor, Akbar the Great, said:

Meet Your Brothers
Take Them To Your Hearts,
And Respect Them.