Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nature. Show all posts
Xanthorrhoea glauca
Xanthorrhoea glauca (grass trees) are endemic to Australia. These 'giants' occur in the Coolah Tops National Park, a special place of sublime beauty and primeval forests...
Morphogenesis - the sculpture of Joy Georgeson
Nourishing the soul
Camel Rock is a distinctive formation of rocks and headland nestled in the shadow of Gulaga Mountain just north of the coastal village of Bermagui on the NSW far south coast. It is a place of great significance to the local Yuin aboriginal community. Home to sea eagles, terns, cormorants and reef herons it also provides Joy with inspiration for her most recent sculptures.
For Joy, being in the natural environment is more than just a pleasant experience. It is an integral part of 'being'. An avid recorder she keeps journals, sketchbooks and photographs the natural world on a daily basis. Whether it is at the coast or in the forested and mountainous hinterland she seeks out the minute amongst the obvious and sees the connection between all. We might look at rocks and see geological formations. Joy looks at rocks and sees the history of the world.
Joy Georgeson studied the Higher
Diploma of Teaching Secondary Arts and Crafts course with an
extraordinary group of lecturers at Melbourne State College (MSC) in
the early 1970's. The Sculpture and Ceramics Department were on the
same floor next to each other and ideas and friendships flowed
between both. John Teschendorff, Noel Flood and Don Wordsworth were
the dynamic teachers at that time who nurtured an environment of
experimentation, daring, excitement and professionalism. They were
all practicing artists who communicated their love of the medium but
embraced other disciplines and unusual methods of solving problems.
In 1975 Agi Yoeli, an Israeli ceramic
sculptor who was Artist-In-Residence introduced Joy to the
technique of hollow hand-building that inspired her to create a life
size Giant Anteater, much to the delight of the lecturers. More
animals followed, often based on observations made at Melbourne Zoo
where her husband worked, and on the cats that roamed her studio.
After moving to a bush block in southern NSW in 1980 her work became
less literal as she explored visual metaphors inspired by Australian
native mammals like squirrel gliders and marsupial mice.
Joy Georgeson, Shadows in the Forest, 2014, Ceramic
After diagnosis of, and treatment for,
breast cancer her work took on a new dimension based on a merging of
carnivorous plants and female forms. These 'carnivorous women'
represented a type of catharsis in response to the issues faced when
dealing with a potentially life threatening disease.
Joy Georgeson, Fecund Fungi, 2006, Ceramic
More recently, Joy has returned
to the animal sculptures that were her trademark. But after many
years observing the decline in respect for the environment her
sculptures have a stronger message concerning conservation and
spirituality. Animals that once were decorated in earthy glazes with
a highlight of gloss to represent texture are now embellished with
stories telling of the origins of life on Earth and our relationship
with them.
Joy Georgeson, Kookaburra Post (with dragonfly detail), 2015, Ceramic
The influence of the years at MSC has
had a lifetime effect on the artist who went on to teach art in
Victorian, NSW and ACT schools and colleges for 23 years as well as
exhibiting her work. After retiring from teaching she joined the
ACT's Strathnairn Arts Association as a studio holder, and then moved
to Wallaga Lake near Bermagui in 2007 where she found new inspiration
in the coastal and estuarine environment.
Joy Georgeson, Angelic Egret, 2007, Ceramic
Camel Rock is a distinctive formation of rocks and headland nestled in the shadow of Gulaga Mountain just north of the coastal village of Bermagui on the NSW far south coast. It is a place of great significance to the local Yuin aboriginal community. Home to sea eagles, terns, cormorants and reef herons it also provides Joy with inspiration for her most recent sculptures.
Joy says "When I visit Camel
Rock, I am awed by the presence of rocks millions of years old and
can see many creatures in their forms that remind me of fossils and
our ancient evolutionary history. I wonder at the diversity, yet
similarity between species and believe that through the process of
evolution we are an integral part of Nature. It is said that the
ancestor of every human was a fish, but I believe our lineage began
with the first signs of life in the early history of the Earth. My
art is about our great family history."
"My sculptures reflect my need for
contact with natural phenomena such as the sea, animals, plants and
the cycles of nature, which provide me with psychological and
spiritual nourishment. I have developed my own 'creation stories' in
the works, based on science and my imagination. The underlying
message is to raise an awareness of the importance of conserving and
valuing the balance and harmony between humans and nature."
Joy Georgeson, Out of the Ocean, 2015, Ceramic
For Joy, being in the natural environment is more than just a pleasant experience. It is an integral part of 'being'. An avid recorder she keeps journals, sketchbooks and photographs the natural world on a daily basis. Whether it is at the coast or in the forested and mountainous hinterland she seeks out the minute amongst the obvious and sees the connection between all. We might look at rocks and see geological formations. Joy looks at rocks and sees the history of the world.
Using hand building clays, fired to
1200 degrees Celsius in an electric kiln, she cuts slabs from the
block and shapes hollow forms that are joined together into the basic
structure using temporary supporting pillars made from clay. Then
surface texture, animals and female forms are incorporated to
finalise the piece before glazing. Large scale works, some over two
metres high, are made in modules that slot together. She also loves
the Raku process, or "Racooee" as she calls it, which is
used on smaller works.
Joy has exhibited in many centres
around Australia and has work in several public collections including
the Victorian Ministry for the Arts, Geelong Art Gallery, Shepparton
Art Gallery Collection of Australian Ceramics and Newcastle Regional
Art Gallery. She was selected to represent Australia at the 38thInternational Ceramics Exhibition in Faenza, Italy in 1980. She is a
regular exhibitor at Bermagui's Sculpture on the Edge as well as the
Hunter Valley's Sculpture in the Vineyards and Sculpture by the Lake
festivals. Her most recent work has been exhibited at Artisans in the Garden in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney and at Sculptures in the Garden at Roxby near Mudgee.
Her website can be found here...
Her website can be found here...
The definition of flat
The Hay Plain is one of the largest flat areas on earth. When you stop the car and get out to have a look you realise that your head is the highest point around for as far as you can see. Spatially it is challenging. Distances and the size of objects become immeasurable, there is a stillness where you can hear your own heartbeat. A place where you realise how insignificant you are whether you like it or not...
And people have an awful down
Upon the district and the town -
Which worse than hell itself they call;
In fact, the saying far and wide
Along the Riverina side
Is ‘Hay and Hell and Booligal.’
Banjo Patterson
Special thanks to Joy Georgeson for the footage shot between Hay and West Wyalong. Joy's website can be found here...
The Lake
These images are all freely downloadable at CD size 640x640 pixels (12x12 cm)...
Simply click on the image to see it actual size then right click and Save Image As...If you would like a hand with some elegant typography get in touch...
All images available under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0.
Mark Chiles - Reverence For Life
Mark Chiles, Reverence For Life, 2013, Bronze, 45cm x 29cm x 10cm, $9000 AUD
Was pleased to see old mate Mark Chiles as a finalist in this years Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. I suspect the origins of this work go back a while, maybe even to the hallowed corridors and lockers of the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, but Mark imbues all he touches with acute observation and sly humour, and of course the reverence not only for life, but form and ART!
Interlude...
Portrait of Australian Salmon with author, October 2012
In general I aim to focus on the arts in this blog and not turn it into a chronicle of daily life, but I couldn't resist this little interlude, and some might say that there is an art to fishing. And the fish was caught among one of the most extraordinary sights I have ever seen. We had heard that there were lots of salmon hanging around the mouth of the lake, so puttered over in the tinny to take a look. On an incoming tide the water was literally boiling as hundreds and hundreds of these magnificent fish were schooling. (For my international readers the Australian Salmon is not a true salmon species but a migratory pelagic species that moves around beaches, headlands and occasionally estuaries. They are fast, powerful and can be voracious feeders).
Being able to see these fish at close hand in clear water about 2-3 metres depth was a special experience. Why they were there I can't explain. They did not seem to be feeding or on the move. One could only feel sorry for any tasty smaller fish that tried to move through them. I cast out a 4" plastic lure and quickly retrieved it bouncing it along the surface when the first fish struck. For an angler a surface strike is the penultimate experience as the fish breaks the water, it's silver body leaping into the sunlight.
Then that moment of elation is broken as the fish dives, the drag on the reel screams as line disappears, and the rod is bent at a 45 degree angle and just about ripped out of your hand. And the battle begins. No point in trying to skull drag this animal into the boat. She (as it turns out) had other ideas and was clearly not happy at being hooked. All I could do was hang on, occasionally try to reel in a little line and watch as she dived and swept from one direction to another to escape. My biggest problem was trying to keep her from going completely under the boat and tangling the line in the outboard. She finally tired after about five minutes and we manged to get her into the net. To be able to see all this happen at close hand in such clear water was a first for me. A memorable fishing moment: fresh ecologically sustainable catch in perfect condition. Filleted, skinned, blood line cut out, herb crumbed and fried with garden salad and warm homemade bread. It doesn't get much better than this...
...and if you are REALLY into fishing then check out this blog...
and there are days...
...when 450,000,000 year old rocks on a steely overcast morning are more important than art. Do the cormorants care about such things? I suspect not, but who really knows what these majestic animals are thinking, or what forces it took to make these shapes.
Scenes from Camel Rock, far south coast, southeastern Australia. I may be long way from the civilisation and culture of the Northern Hemisphere, but give me this anytime...
Scenes from Camel Rock, far south coast, southeastern Australia. I may be long way from the civilisation and culture of the Northern Hemisphere, but give me this anytime...
Blood of Medusa
Bob Georgeson, Blood of Medusa, 2012, Digital photo.
Bit of a lull in posts this week as the artistry of mother nature takes centre stage. Violent storms and huge swells make art and ideas seem somewhat irrelevant. And how invigorating it is for the soul to be at close hand on a deserted beach where the sound of wind and surf make conversation pointless (maybe it always is!). Occasionally coral is found after such storms. Reminded me of an earlier post about its origins in the story of Perseus and Andromeda from Ovid's Metamorphoses. Even though there are spectacular rocks where I live Andromeda was nowhere to be found. I will keep looking...