Kiama

This past week has been quite a difficult one, with Father’s Day and also the loss of a friend of my mum’s to cancer last Thursday. My mum was meant to be going into the city for a weekend with a choir she is in but felt it would all be a bit much after the news of her friends passing so we decided to go down to Kiama for the weekend and stay in a friend’s caravan.

I always love the south coast but this weekend seemed to be more vivid than other times. To know that someone had just had their time cut short seemed to make everything we did so much more meaningful.

Mum and I generally spend most of our holidays drinking coffee, sitting in the sun and reading. This weekend was no different, but it felt like such a privilege to be able to do these things and to share them with someone I love.

It really is the simple things in life that make you the happiest. It is a shame that it takes such devastating events to remind us of how lucky we are in the everydayness of life. I hope you enjoy these photos that come from a very special weekend.

On the second night in Kiama I went out to take photos of the area, and as always I just felt so excited to have this lovely camera to experience the world through. Dusk is my favourite time to take photos-the light is just so beautiful. Just when I think I have ‘got’ a shot, 10mins later when I look over my shoulder the light has totally transformed the subject- it really is magical. These are some photos of the lighthouse at the blow hole.  

  

I didn’t use a tripod for these shots which was definitely pushing it but I just love the colours that came up in these beautiful buildings. I think these photos actually looked better than what the buildings actually looked like in real life.

  

The next morning we went down to the beach to have a wander and I just laughed my heart out watching this man ‘flipper’ into the surf. I don’t think anyone could do this gracefully!

 

I highly recommend the coffee chocolate shop in the main street of Kiama. Their little chocolates were amazing, especially the orange chocolate, such a great combination. Great coffee too. What more could you want.

                                   

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. I would like to dedicate this week’s blog to my Dad and Helen- thank you for being part of our lives, you are definitely thought of and missed.

Starting the year with Clarissa Pinkola Estes

During 2009 I read Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ book ‘Women Who Run With The Wolves.’ I found her writing stunning, incredibly insightful and confronting. Her words and the stories she shared resonated deeply. I have just started reading it again. I often need to remind myself and relearn the lessons contained in her book, a book that holds such old wisdom.

I have been wanting to do some paper cut outs for awhile now so I gave it a shot last night. I did a cut out of a tree, a symbol of strength and renewal. While I lived in Canberra I witnessed the striking changes of the seasons, particularly the change from Autumn to Winter. It was the first time I realised that there was great beauty rather than sadness in a tree that now stood naked and stripped down to its bare branches.

I learnt a valuable lesson- what is inherent in nature is also inherent in life. Just as in nature, in life things will change and die off but they will also grow stronger during that period and will return in new and wonderful ways. The image of the naked tree is a reminder for me that life is about seasons and there is strength to be found in times that appear harsh and soul stripping.  

Today I decided to do something with the tree cut out and inspired by Clarissa Pinkola Estes I played around and this was my final piece;

The words around the tree are a quote from ‘Women Who Run With The Wolves’. It says

‘The wild nature has a vast integrity to it. The wild nature carries with it the bundles for healing; she carries everything a woman needs to be and know. She is both vehicle and destination.’

Oh so close…

I am feeling very excited about Christmas day, and it is certainly fast approaching. It has been a good year I have to say. It has been much better than the last few, so I feel that is reason enough to celebrate. I have enjoyed some lovely time catching up with friends over the past few weeks and today did a lunch for two very dear friends of mine and their gorgeous baby boy.

I made chocolate mousse for dessert, one of my all time favourites.

  

I don’t think it was liked very much…

 

I have been wrapping pressies, writing in cards, cooking and cleaning today while listening to Mr Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble. God it has felt good.

 

Yummy spicy potato salad…

I wish you all a gorgeous Christmas day with your family and friends and look forward to 2011 and all the creativity that is awaiting.

A truly gorgeous day- My Creative Thinking Space

I was tired when I woke up but couldn’t resist the short drive to my local beach to enjoy the sun and a stunning morning tea at a cafe that sits right on the pavement overlooking the beach.

 

A latte was an obvious choice, which was served in a cute oversized egg cup. The last time I was at this cafe I had seen others eating fresh muffins which looked amazing, so I caved and ordered an orange and passionfruit muffin and it was mmmm mmm lovely!

I have a favourite rock at the beach that overlooks the water and it is the best place to let go of ‘life’ stuff, gain some perspective, and to enjoy the sun and the breeze. A great place to think over future plans and goals and get the creative juices flowing.

 

I hope you have all had a lovely week so far, and been able to get out into the sun and nature. Check out what others have been up to this week at Kootoyoo.

Welcome,

I would like to welcome you to my blog 'Ruby-Robin.' This is the little guy who inspired my blog name.

He was bought with great love from The Flying Pig Project , which is my new favourite store in Berry. He is a glass blown piece created by a Tasmanian artist James Dodson. The Flying Pig Project is a gorgeous store that sells locally made wears, such as furniture, vases, felted hats etc. While my Ruby Robin was not locally made, all the birds the artist makes are local to the Berry area.

Over the past few years I have met some amazing artists in my travels and found their work and stories to be my greatest inspiration in life and my art. I have had the privilege to study the idea of hope while writing an honours thesis and since then have been amazed and excited about the presence of hope in people’s lives. The artistic act of creating is itself an expression of hope.

As I have visited the blogs of creative people from many different countries I can’t help but feel that the world is okay. As long as people continue to create and express themselves in different art forms, soulful living is a possibility and spaces of hope are created amidst the difficult things happening around us. When people share their art it has the power to inspire hope in others, to inspire creativity in others.

I have had the pleasure of delving into the lives of creative people through their blogs and have been encouraged and inspired. I have to thank Luna Landing a friend of mine, whose blog and life resonate with me and whose links have led me to beautiful worlds of colour, textiles, and imagination. I would also like to thank another good friend who has created a stunning blog called A Track Winding Back based on an oral history project she conducted with war veterans in a nursing home.

I want to be part of the online creative community that I have discovered and to provide others with links to the artists and art that I love and share the bits and pieces of art I am doing myself. I am always amazed and grateful for the way the internet links people where no connection existed before, and all from the comfort of my favourite red lounge.