Hello Friends from around the world!
I posted the photo on Instagram & Facebook today, and here now as many of you don’t see what I share on social media.
The painting is Hearth #17 painted during 2019, acrylic on linen on board, 16×20” with my hand-built stoneware, lemons and flowers from the garden. I think of it as a reward for clearing miles of several jack-in-the-beanstalk-like vines that have been slowly suffocating trees and submerging the fence.
Spring has sprung in the southern hemisphere and trees are blossoming. Mysterious bulbs are emerging where there was nothing.
I have muscles both complaining and re-emerging!
Blessed, I know.
Over the last few months, I’ve been writing each week with Kelly Morgan, who taught The Artist’s Way for 3 decades. Kelly melds Julia Cameron’s principles with her own astute writer’s wisdom. Find out more here if writing is calling you!
I wrote this piece during a class just 3 days prior to moving house.
Writing, not packing.
My head hurts. And I strained my back yesterday and still have the office and studio to pack up. The truck arrives 9am Saturday and here I am writing. There’s no better thing to do right now than forget about the boxes.
I close my eyes and go to space. Not outer space, though that would be fun. Space vast and open right there where words fall apart and dissolve. I close my eyes again so I can write the truth of it. Space. Harder to grasp now it knows I’m watching.
The space of seeing, being, resting, knowing. My head starts to feel better.
A deep sigh. These times ‘they say’ are interesting. And ‘we were made for these times.’ I guess we are, since we’re here, though some of us are here so momentarily.
As I eat breakfast, I cannot help but think of another child dying of starvation. Right now. Just as I ate my oats, yoghurt and papaya; enough food for five little children.
How was it that I was made for this privilege? What happened for them to not be; to live for the blink of an eye?
What can a painter do? There are no logical answers to these questions.
I wrap and stack the canvases – a whole room full – and feel the futility.
I might say ‘this-is-my-thing-and-you-can’t-take-it-away-from-me and some days, I wish it were not. Every day, I want to give them breakfast. I want to sit down with them and hear their stories. I want to listen at least…
What can a painter do? What can anyone do? We can imagine what might be possible, and act in that direction.
We can use our gifts, no matter what they are. Because, purpose transcends survival mode and we’ll never know the good that comes from purposeful living.
Breathing. My head is clear.
Even though art-making might seem futile in the face of world events, true creative expression is purposeful; positively effecting ourselves and by degrees, those around us… and those around them. Not ‘slowly.’
No. Goodness emanates instantly through the airwaves. Everything is energy, far more than what we can perceive through our limited senses. We don’t know the impact of the good we do.
Keep up the good of being a creative human.
And thank you for reading.
I always appreciate your responses if you feel like sharing your thoughts.
Suzanne
***Read on to find out about new offerings***
***The 3-hour Colour & Light PRIVATE Masterclass, with Bonus Mentoring***
I developed this Masterclass from my Colour & Light Workshop presented for the NSW Department of Education Distance Art Educators in 2017.
Normally part of my 12-month programs, this Masterclass is for you if you think you’re ‘not good with colour’,’ or you can’t decide on your palette or mix the colours you want and you’d love to create luminous effects instead.
By the end of the session you’ll be confidently making colour theory work for you, seeing how colour and light can make your work sing!
Discounted until October 31
***The PAINTERS PATH Retreat: March 25-31, 2026 in Tumut, 3 places***
There’ll be more information coming soon, and if you’d like to be the first to know reply to this email OR book a time to talk…
HERE!
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