Life Cycle
the last 3 weeks have been some of the most emotional and tumultuous of my life. I have lived on the very edge of life experiencing highs and lows I never believed possible. it has been a rollercoaster of joy, loss, rebirth, growth, blessings and miracles. allow me to explain.
3 weeks ago today my Granny passed. my mother left for Perth on the Saturday before as Granny had had another fall and was doing quite poorly. I don’t think any of us realized how poorly until she was admitted to hospital- her system had begun to shut down. My Granny was one of the most important people in my life, she shaped who I am as an artist and influenced me a lot as a person. The sad fact is that living with alzheimers had robbed her of her identity, her soul and her spirit. so I mourn the loss of the person she was, I would give anything to have her back, whole, again, but I cannot be too sad now that she is at peace and free of that wretched disease. I miss her horribly, but life that way is no life at all, especially for someone like her.
4 days later I was reminded of the real cycle of life as my daughter Erica Alice was born. as soon as we saw her we knew that would be her name and we fell deeply in love with our baby girl. I couldn’t believe how much I loved her so quickly and how strongly we both felt about her name (especially as we had a lot of difficulty with girls names). Alice is for my granny. a reminder, a memorial and a guide for her (and us) to look up to.
The birth went perfectly. I was able to tolerate the spinal injection (one of the bravest moments of my life!) allowing me to be awake for the birth and for my husband to share the experience with me. something I recommend for everyone if possible. one small tip to other women in that position, after the spinal, get your glasses back! they held up my screaming baby and Liam said ‘it’s a girl!’ and all I could say was ‘is it?’ I could see where she was, but I couldn’t see! then they laid her on my chest and everything melted away. a perfect baby with a shock of hair, deep eyes, and a heavenly smile.
Caught up in the bliss of new parenthood I didn’t even hate the hospital too much. I had a steady stream of wonderful visitors and my family with me. we moved naturally into our roles together and it was all perfect. until the next day when Erica’s blood sugar dropped dramatically necessitating an immediate admission to the Special Care Nursery, a glucose drip and antibiotics. it was especially disturbing as I had not had any sugar issues in pregnancy. Luckily the condition was seen to promptly. it can be very bad if it isn’t, but Erica was in the very best of care. so I went from having my baby by my side to down the hall where I wasn’t able to walk on my own, a ward with the night midwife from hell and too many unanswered worries in my head!
the next days were filled by a rigorous 3 hour feeding and expressing schedule allowing me very little time to recuperate or process. Erica’s sugars remained good and my supportive friends and family were standing by us to help. nothing prepared me for seeing my little girl being jabbed in the foot over and over and her little cannula and pad waving desperately at me and I broke down quite a bit (especially at night when I had to be alone). I had a nice midwife who shuffled me off the evil one’s rotation and even though I started to hate expressing and schedules I was determined to make it work. I moved into cope mode. cope mode worked until the very last night when I realized that I would be going home, but my baby might not be and I lost it big time. I thank the angel who relieved me from my schedule for the night (there was enough expressed milk in the fridge at the SCN to allow me to sleep) and gave me something to help me sleep and relax.
Everything went perfectly the next day – we both came home! Erica had a clean bill of health, I had a laundry list of everything I couldn’t do for 6 weeks, and we were allowed to take the baby and run, which is just what we did!
Since then I have been slowly adjusting. recuperating after surgery, getting used to the feeling that my heart has suddenly expanded with love, learning all about breast feeding, discovering the joys of sleep deprivation and colic, trying not to panic all the time and trying to cope with the awe inspiring concept of parenthood, responsibility and the unconditional love of someone so very precious.
It’s interesting the way a life cycle plays out. in one week I lost someone who shaped the person I am today and I gave birth to someone whose life I will have the responsibility and pleasure of shaping. I look at Erica and I feel a part of Granny is there with her. and it all feels like it will be magic.
Nude of the Week
Mixed Media on Canvas
30×24 in
$800
Featuring an older piece today to celebrate starting to list my impasto series on Discovered Artists
friday nude quotes
My parents were free about nudity, and we are too. I’d like our children to feel unashamed of whatever shape they are. People should worry about other things
Nude of the Week
Daz Studio
Still not quite satisfied with the lighting in this piece. the pose is perfect and the hair works very well but the lighting just still seems not right to me. I may return to this one
friday nude quotes
The more a society requires its respectable women to keep their bodies covered, the more likely those women are to be oppressed
Nude of the Week – Flaunt
My painting Flaunt is today’s calendar nude at barebrush.com! Drop by and take a look at it and the other outstanding nudes of the month. (your vote wouldn’t hurt either 
) thankyou to the Curator Beth DeTal of Rogue Space|Chelsea and to Barebrush.
oh and Flaunt is available for sale on DIscovered Artists /blatant plug
friday nude quotes
In fact, research suggests that children who have seen their parents nude do not grow up to be emotionally scarred, but instead are more likely to be accepting of their own bodies and comfortable with their own sexuality
Holly Robinson, HealthyKids.com
I may be a little Distracted…
Expecting
on the 12th of March (tomorrow!!!) I will be going into the hospital to have my little baby podling. it feels alternately like this pregnancy has dragged by, and flown past in an instant.
I have queued up some posts that will be going out and I will try to update my blog when I can but for obvious reasons this may not be possible as we will be adjusting to a new little person in our lives. thankyou for your patience and I promise as soon as I can everything will be back up and running! I may post from my phone in the hospital if I am bored so I appreciate your patience in that as well!
Hitler nudes up for auction
Nude Drawing by Hitler
The two nude pieces are expected to raise $30,000 when they go on sale Tuesday in Ludlow, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.
The nudes are of a young woman covering her breasts with her arm and lacking facial features. The picture of the older woman’s face is similar to photographs of Hitler’s mother, said Richard Westwood-Brookes, who is selling the art.
Hitler, the Austria-born German politician who led the Nazi Party, drew the sketches in the early 1900s when he was in Vienna and practiced different art techniques so he might be considered for an art college, the British publication said.
“The nude interestingly doesn’t have a face drawn in. It’s not because he couldn’t do faces because he drew the other one of the elderly woman who might be his mother,” Westwood-Brookes said. “Perhaps there is no face because Hitler saw people just as inanimate objects.”
Should I be wierded out that Hitler didn’t like to paint faces on his nudes either? I am.. I’m already concerned about the link between insanity and art and dictatorship and art..
for the record, I do not see people as inanimate objects. I like to give the freedom to the viewer to imagine a face, or not, as they will. many tell me that they see themselves or people the know in my works- if I were to make them full portraits it wouldn’t work that way. it’s like how some authors don’t fully describe their characters to allow room for the reader to form their own associations. I have no idea if that is the way hitler felt. I don’t actually want to know.
Understanding the Nude in Art
To understand the significance of nudity in art, we need to travel back in time when sculptures were the most prominent art form. Sculptures were created to depict various important aspects of social life, especially religion and government. These sculptures formed an integral part of society and adorned temples, court houses, palaces, gardens and other public places of importance. Sculptors therefore needed to have high levels of skill and imagination to make the sculptures seem more life-like. Sculptors experimented with the pose, the symmetry, placement and angle of body parts and various other details to bring out a perfect life statue. This meant the viewer needed to perceive emotions from the sculpture, leading artists to use more than just facial expressions to convey emotions. Sculptors began to use the whole expanse of the body for this purpose, which also meant they could not dress up their subjects, as clothing cannot convey the person’s emotions, but portray them nude.
a wonderful article for beginning collectors and enthusiasts wanting to know more about the significance of the nude in art. This is a wonderful introduction to classic nude art.
Nude of the Week
I wish I was as happy with this as I was with the sketch. that happens sometimes. I may continue working on the lighting for this piece
friday nude quotes
Yet, the truth is that nudity in the home, when handled in a respectful, matter-of-fact way, is perfectly natural and certainly not harmful.
Dennis Sugrue, PhD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School in Sex Matters for Women (Guilford Press, 2002)
Century Project nudes under fire again
They are not images any of us are used to seeing: women of all ages naked, even young girls. It’s part of The Century Project by photographer Frank Cordelle, who said its purpose was to show what girls and women are really like spanning a hundred years and also address problems they face, like anorexia and sexual assault. Not everyone thinks that’s what the project does.
“Just because someone says something doesn’t make it true,” said John Foubert. “I couldn’t believe that college campuses would actually pay a man like this to put his pictures up.”
Foubert, a sexual assault prevention researcher who works at Oklahoma State University, started a Facebook page urging people to protest The Century Project. He has said Cordelle’s exhibit borders on pornography.
“They are pictures that you would find certainly in the collections of sex offenders and the like,” said Foubert.
Beyond that, Foubert said he is concerned that rather than educating about sexual assault, it might encourage it.
[From Art exhibit to be displayed at UofL includes nude children - WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | ]
The Century Project is coming under fire once again. I sometimes wonder why there isn’t some sort of global legal package set up for this project by now. yes this is an art exhibition, yes it has a range of ages. it’s purpose is to educate women in issues that affect women of all ages and types. this project has been celebrated and criticized.
Personally I find it fascinating I have viewed the images available online for the century project and will probably invest in the book. it hasn’t toured here and I doubt it will with Australia’s ridiculous censorship laws but it is a wonderful concept with many levels of meaning that I think people should be exposed to. it’s uncomfortable to see girls so young with eating disorders, abuse sufferers and in pain. it’s difficult to see the issues that women battle throughout their lives. but it is important. and it should not be censored. The reality of this project is it’s strength. it is sensitive, emotive and deeply raw and disturbing but certainly not pornographic.
It is sad that someone like Foubert cannot listen to himself. just because he says this exhibit is pornographic does not make it true.
India’s loss, Qatar’s Gain – M.F Husain to receive Qatar nationality
I have personally accompanied Mr. Husain to court proceedings in Indore and have first-hand experience of the harassment and terror he faced from bigoted mobs. I received him in Mumbai on his return from the first of his temporary exiles and saw what insecurity and uncertainty this creative genius had to endure in rising India. It is ironical that a country whose religious art often portrays nudity and even overt sexuality, as in the case of the Khajuraho sculptures and the murals and frescoes of south Indian temples, has grown so intolerant as to drive into permanent exile its most famous artist.
I know no one more genuinely and deeply committed to the composite, multi-religious, and secular values of Indian civilisation than M. F. Husain. He breathes the spirit of modernity, progress, and tolerance. The whole narrative of what forced him into exile, including the shameful failure of the executive and the legal system to enable his safe return, revolves round the issues of freedom of expression and creativity and what secular nationhood is all about.
The conferment of Qatar nationality is an honour to Mr. Husain, to his artistic genius, and to the India-rooted civilisational values he represents. Nevertheless, it is a sad day for India.
[From The Hindu : News / National : M.F. Husain gets Qatar nationality ]
It is wonderful that an artist like Husain, who has been so vilified by his home country, has found acceptance and a new life for himself. the First Lady of Qatar has commissioned a series on the history of the Arab Civilization, which Husain is working on in conjunction with a series on the history of the Indian civilization- should make for some interesting works that will, no doubt, enrage extremists in India further. such a shame.
I’ve written about M.F Husain extensovely in the past. here is a list of posts tracking the controversies surrounding India’s Picasso and his startling nude works.
16/09MF Husain’s Nude art aquitted
12/05Nudity is a part of Art – MF Husain Exonerated
24/03Controversial Nudes did sell… and well
20/03Declaration of war against art?
self defeating nude censorship
Study No. 1 by Jeff Hebron
Besides, attending an art show is a matter of choice, not a requirement, and anyone easily offended can simply stay away.
Such censorship is ultimately self-defeating, because it only draws attention to the banned works. Would Hebron’s painting have received anywhere near the same level of attention had it remained on display?
People do not need protection from paintings. But Temecula residents should be worried when city government starts deciding which artistic works are appropriate for public consumption.
This article raises the issue that I have never understood about censorship. by censoring pieces indiscriminately there is a greater opportunity to create publicity for the very work that they are trying to squash. how does this make sense? if the aim is to sweep the piece under the rug then rely on the judgement of the patrons. they don’t have to look, they don’t have to attend and they will almost certainly not care either way. however, when a piece is censored, the artist receives publicity, the work receives publicity and the organizers receive flack.
would this piece receive publicity if it were just involved in the exhibition? are artists going to try to push the boundaries in order to receive this kind of publicity? the rewards are great for the great unknowns and the losses very few.
*edit* The city of Temecula has issued a formal apology to the artist. while a very nice gesture it doesn’t address whether the work will be shown and seems to be more about protecting their own interests and votes. you can read it here.
5000 live nude bodies in Sydney for Tunick Shoot
The Base at the Opera House by Spencer Tunick
Inhibitions were soon forgotten as people struggled to keep warm and fulfil Tunick’s endless instructions.
“I’m not the world’s best photographer but I am an artist and a perfectionist,” he said, as he exhorted 5000 people to work in unison.
“And I want us to make an artwork you’ll be proud of.”
Six or seven positions later came Tunick’s most confronting request.
“If you came with a partner, I want you to kiss your partner. If you came with a friend, I want you to kiss your friend. If you came alone, I want you to turn to someone else who is alone and kiss them.”
Eventually he relented and added “or embrace them”.
Suddenly I was aware of being alone in a crowd: I was surrounded by couples. Bounding up several steps I came face to face with an elderly man in the same predicament. We took one look at each other and embraced, admitting that, while it felt a little strange at first, it was a pleasant enough way to keep warm. Now the crowd really were as one. It was a beautiful moment.
Once Tunick gave the disband signal, most people scrambled for their clothes, while some hung back, grabbing the unique opportunity to take happy snaps of themselves starkers at the Opera House.
As I dressed, I was relieved to be warm again at last but also a little disappointed that it was over so soon.
[From I was a model for Spencer Tunick - Arts - Entertainment - smh.com.au]
I love the idea of the different poses and the concept of the kiss. I am looking forward to seeing the final photographs and genuinely sorry I had to miss out. this is such an inspiration that people can shed their inhibitions and realize that it’s all just skin, we all have it and there is nothing that special, shameful or worrisome about it. it’s another step forward- especially in a country that is seeing way too much in the way of censorship. Congratulations to all participants!
for videos of the nude shoot and some of the results visit the SMH website
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