Soft light and unfinished pieces

We are home after a great sojourn in NYC and Vermont US.  I awoke this morning at 5am to soft light in the valley below - quiet and calm; and then nature found its voice - the cacaphony of Kookaburra family chorus, the soft lowing of cattle and a mosaic of other bird calls.  Can there be such a thing as quiet noise?

Barry Smith © Soft morning light - 'our valley' (10/2/12)

Today has been spent catching up with people and our lives. Tomorrow the postponed Bunya Dreaming event is to take place - weather permitting; and art4place will coordinate and judge the ephemeral art 'competition'. So I caught up with a few folk to see that we were ready to go in the morning.

art4place is also progressing plans for a placemaking art event called Sunshine Coast Hinterland Creative Spaces to be held in Sept-Oct 2012. So planning and an application for funding has to continue to keep unfolding.

But there was time to have a coffee with Noela and Ken to share the highlights of the trip and to catch up on the art news of the town. Great to be welcomed home by the mountains and friends.

There was not time for hands on art today but I did photograph a few bowls I completed to rough stage but didn't photograph before we went away. As you can see below I took the challenge of the 8 leaf bowl up a notch and have foldformed a 12 leaf bowl. The bowl, including leaves, is about 150mm in diameter; and was made from an old copper plate.

Barry Smith © Twelve leaf bowl - in the rough

Barry Smith © Twelve leaf bowl - in the rough

I also beat these two EPNS small bowls (about 75mm in diameter). I love the fact that you can still see the sharp edges of the brass under the silver coating and the hammer marks in the silver-plate.

Barry Smith © Small sacred bowls.

I hope over the next couple of days I will get  time to complete these pieces - including giving them a polish. Whilst I was good to travel- it is great to be at home, to be calmed by the valley and have the chance to get into the studio-garage.

Communities revisited

Fiona and I have been away for the last 3 days doing 'work-work' in the NT - we left at lunch time Sunday and got home at lunchtime today. We returned to the communities of Umbakumba and Pirlangimpi to present community members with the reports on the research we had carried out in April-May. We did 6 flights in 3 days - 2 large, 2 small and 2 very small aircraft. The presentations to the communities went well and we feel we have delivered documents that the people can use to tell their story to government and others on some issues.

We spent a day in each community - so a lot of work but just enough time to catch a couple of images to remind us of the time we shared with the people in these places.

Barry Smith © Little Lagoon - Umbakumba

Barry Smith © Leaves, flowers and peacefulness

Barry Smith © Colourful reminders - leaves and memorial flowers

For me Little Lagoon in the photo above is one of those special locations at the heart of Umbakumba; and the flowers amongst the leaves at the local Umbakumba cemetery talk to me of the peacefulness of this resting place set in the bush.

Barry Smith © Irene Mungatopi at work - Munupi Art Centre

Barry Smith © Pandanus and cycads after the burn-off

Barry Smith © Vivid new life after the burn-off

Barry Smith © New life amidst the ashes.

The Munupi Art Centre in Pirlangimpi is both a creative place for artists such as talented Irene Mungatopi (who was also one  of our research assistants) and a gathering place for many people in this community of artists; and after the annual bush clearing burn-off fires there is such new life in the ancient cycads around Pirlangimpi. Irene gave me permission to photograph her at work.

Finding balance in our daily lives

Like most artists I tend to create series of works - well if you think you are onto a good thing why not stick to it for a while at least. I have decided to do a series called Finding Balance. Basically it is about pausing each day and reflecting on a word that might help to give a focus to the day.

Barry Smith © Finding Balance 1

The pieces are cubes of timber that are balanced on a trimmed point. I have created a triangular pocket in the front face by cutting a vee into the balanced cube and covering it with metal.  The piece above is a 200mm cube of Rose Gum.

Barry Smith © Daily reflection words

Barry Smith © Daily reflection words

Words that have been stamped into recycled fingers of metal are placed into the pocket - 7 in all - one for each day of the week.

Barry Smith © Finding balance 2-4

Barry Smith © Finding balance 2-2

The pieces above are 90mm cubes of Blackbutt and 110mm cubes of River Oak. Copper nails and tacks courtesy of Hiro, Tatebayashi, Japan.

In an ideal situation I would envisage that the owner of one of these pieces would put it in a place that is calming and inspirational. In the morning before things get too busy they would visit the quiet place draw out a word for the day and reflect on it for a moment before going about the daily chores and business. Hopefully the word and its influence could stay with the person for the day.

Creating quiet places

In my last post I indicated I am experimenting with the making of personal shrines. Personal shrines might be a way for people to create quiet or sacred places or spaces in their garden or house. I said Fiona and I have such a space in a corner of our house with views across our valley. The photos below show our quiet corner; and our words in the wooden bowl.

 

Barry Smith © Our daily words

We have been choosing our daily words for about 6 years now. As part of In the Stillness exhibition last year Fiona and I collaborated on works that combined my work with wood and metal with Fiona's calligraphic words.  

Barry Smith © Block of words

 

Barry Smith © Block, bowl, words

All our word and wood pieces (including the two above) have been sold so there is an interest in this idea of creating daily quiet times in quiet places. Maybe it is time for us to create more of these pieces.