Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: create

  • Art and About

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    While my gorgeous girl was at Sovereign Hill learning all about being a school student in the 1850s, I headed into the centre of Ballarat to visit the Ballarat Art Gallery. They were showing a special double header exhibition entitled Morris and Beyond. The exhibition showcased the work of artists from the era as well as contemporary artists inspired by the work of Morris. This exhibition was so popular that they sold out of the exhibition catalogue within a couple of weeks as people from all around Australia ordered their copies!

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    It’s the first time I have seen the past and present exhibited in art in this way and it was great to see the art works in this context. Fashion designers like Alexander McQueen drew on the past in their clothing and I really enjoyed seeing sculptures, installations and fabric being displayed alongside paintings. How could you not, given that Morris was heavily into the Arts and Crafts movements (you could even say he was a huge driver of the revival) dabbling in furniture design and wallpaper among other things.

    But the best thing about this visit was all the wonderful people I met who were working there. From the man who opened the door, to the ticket seller and the gift shop attendant, they were all super happy to chat and spend some time with a visitor.

     

  • Eat Your Art Out

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    It's been a long time since I've done any drawing. I did a fair amount of art during the big lockdown last year but this winter I've been focussed on all things Pocketry – namely the brand new poetry podcast, Pocketry Presents which seems to have taken over my life (but in a good way!). You know I love a new creative project!

    So it was wonderful to spend the afternoon yesterday, sitting under the banksia tree in the back yard doing art with my girls. We were attending an online art session with artist Claire Mosley and mentor Melissa Turnbull from the nature connection group, Firekeepers. You've probably heard me mention them before. We attend their nature camps in the school holidays and I have recently started mentoring at the camps as well as joining the board at the last AGM.

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    We started by doing some warm up drawings to get ourselves in the mood for making art. Except these were exercises with a difference – we had to draw a creature from a picture without looking at the page as we were drawing! This exercise is genius because after you see your results and have a good laugh at yourself, anything you make after that has to be better 🙂 It's a super good way to turn off the internal art critic that likes to tell all of us that we can't make art and who are we kidding?

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    While it feels strange to be doing art and nature connection online at least we were outdoors and drawing things from nature. I didn't have to go far too find what I wanted to draw. I just picked up some banksias pods, flowers and leaves from where I was sitting.

    I'm hoping to spend a lot more time out here, making art and hanging out with my girls. What are you doing at the moment?

     

  • Art in the Bush

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    I just spent the most amazing five days camping in the bush around Riddells Creek at the wonderul Wild By Nature Village camp run by Firekeepers. The last camp was in January 2020 and it's been a long fifteeen months, waiting to get back out in nature with all the wonderful people who come to jpoin in all the adventures.

    This camp we had two amazing artists in residence. Trace Balla is the author of many books including our family's favourites Rivertime and Rockhopping. Claire Moslely is a creator of nature prints, tea towels and journals featuring Australian flora and fauna. My walls are already decorated with Claire's art and my bookshelves hold many of Trace's books so it was wonderful to get to make art with both of them!

    They even created an art exhibition featuring the art created by villagers of all ages. There was even an opening ceremony to which you could wear your fanciest bush clothes. At the ceremony there was a gigantic canvas, clay paints and an invitation to co-create an ephemeral art work which would then be washed away by the rain.

    It was so much fun, I can't wait til the next camp in Spring!

     

     

  • A Cunning Plan

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    Well, we are still in lockdown. It's much harder the second time round. The first time I really got into the groove of creating and slowing down. It was wonderful to spend time at home, pottering around the kitchen making yummy food. Now, I'd much rather be at the beach, or in the bush. Someplace other than inside these four walls.

    Part of the problem I think is that I had run out of things to do. I (mostly) cleared my desk of projects and then felt like I had nothing to do or look forward to. There's a sweet spot with creativity. Too many projects and I get overwhelmed and don't do anything. Not enough projects and I don't feel inspired and don't do anything either. Just enough projects and I happily bounce from one to the other as the mood strikes me.

    Of course the much larger problem is I am missing all the connections with my friends and family and the collaborations that occur. There's not much I can do to fill that void of actually being able to see the people I love and give them a hug hug. The best I can do right now is get back into letter writing and connecting via phone.

    I was feeling flat last week and so were my girls so we went and visited a book shop. I'm grateful they are considered an essential service and are still open. They are so good for the soul. We spent a happy couple of hours browsing and then I blew my book budget completely and bought all these beauties. How could I resist? Now we use these with our new art supplies!

    How are you coping? What are you doing to stay sane?

     

  • Art Addicts Anonymous

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    This is what happens when you go to the mall to buy your daughters sneakers because even though it's lockdown and we have nowhere to go, their feet are still growing.

    Right across from the sneaker shop there was an art shop. With a sale. Fifty percent of EVERYTHING! Sorry for shouting, I'm still very excited about it!

    I think I was pretty restrained, all things considered. I only bought two of everything. Well, actually that's not true. Now I'm wishing I had bought two of everything!

    I bought some great watercolours and watercolour paper. I also got a quick lesson in watercolour paper composition. For those of you who are interested, hot pressed watercolour paper is smooth, cold pressed watercolour paper has some texture and bumps, and the rough watercolour paper has been air dried. I can't wait to try out the Chinese rice paper. It looks very intriguing.

    I also got a gorgeous half pan watercolour set, lots of stickers because, well stickers ('nuff said), scratch pads, sketching pencils and customisable wooden postcards. Can't wait to play with them all!

     

  • My Top Tip For Finding Inspiration

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    You know the feeling.  You've been on a making roll when suddenly inspiration and creativity desert you.  You're stuck at just the time when you need to be focussing on getting your project done.  There's a deadline and bills to pay.  And you can't possibly make another thing.

    It seems counterintuitive but the best thing to do at moments like these is to walk away from what you are doing and go do something else.  I really struggle with this one and tend to want to push through until I collapse in a heap and have a mini breakdown.  I am learning, oh so slowly, to take those breaks.  And when I do take those breaks, inspiration and the urge to make return, refreshed from their impromptu holiday.

    My favourite way to take a break and find inspiration is to explore new places.  I found the above "window" when I was recently exploring Spotswood, a little suburb across the Yarra River from the Melbourne CBD.  It's tucked just next to the freeway and is a surprising little oasis surrounded on two sides by busy roads.  Wandering the streets, poking my head into new shops and taking pictures to post on Instagram all helped to recharge my creative batteries and give me some much needed imagining time.

    In her book, The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron extols the virutes of going for walks as a way of igniting your creativity.  Exploring new places is great for your brain.  Because you are someplace new, you look around.   You notice details and breathe in strange smells.  Your brain lights up with all the new stimulus and new connections are made.  

    Next time you go someplace, try exploring somewhere new.  Even if it's a suburb in your home town or a street in your neighbourhood you've never walked down before.  Your brain and creativity will thank you for it!