July is being an amazing month. We are having the 5 Lands walk event on at Terrigal and I'm doing a Plein Air Artwork tmrw with 21 other stablished artists from the region. It will be my first Plein Air artwork. I often work outside but I don't paint or draw what I see. I find it hard to be unconstrained in what I see.
I have been thinking about my cultural background, being South African with our Apartheid past. So also Australians have a very similar past with the Aboriginal people. But somehow they stil need recognition. Just as our cultures have made mistakes in the past, I hope we have learnt from it. Racism is just not necisary as we all live on one planet, breath the same air and dream of a better future. Who was here first? Well we all know that the Aboriginal people have been here for very long, but then why would people discriminate people who's parents werent born here, when their own grandparents werent born here? Is it first come owns the right to discriminate? I dont think that should be the way. I have been inducted into the Darkinjang tribe of Aboriginals last Saturday together with a group of about 20 people. This was as a result of a period of personal discovery in relation to the Aboriginal culture. We found that we have much in common with a love and respect for nature. It's a real honour and I will forever be proud to be part of a people in Australia that embrace nature and live with it, not against it.
There is a few exhibitions on this month if you are interested. We are building my studio downstairs so I don't have much time to produce new works, but I have done some A4 drawings, about 15. If you are in Sydney, please do pop in at Kaleidoscope gallery in Danks street. Next will be 'At the vanishing point' in Newtown on the 28th, thursday. I will have 20 artworks up there and it's gona be sick! hows that for Ozie lingo, mate! thanks for reading. God bless you, and God bless me and the whole of this gorgeous country and all of it's wonderful people.
We saw a performance by Johnny Clegg on Thursday night in Sydney. An amazing man indeed! He said something very interesting that I didn't know how to express before. When you live in a place like Africa, you are made aware of life by the difficulty of life, the danger and challenges, beauty and unique character of people, animals, nature. You learn to appreciate the value of life. The sheer joy of a child discovering an insect, playing in the stream with fish, playing with a piece of timber floating down a stream after a storm. Perhaps this is what I find lacking in a 'highly regulated society'. We don't get to experience this joy and wonders of nature, discovery and contrasts. Life is like 'a uniform porridge' as Johnny said. Life is always the same. Everyone is almost the same. Every landscape is quite similar to the next. We aren't allowed to experience discovery because it isn't safe.
(OH &S regulations) I'm sad that my children wont have the freedom and exploration that I had as a child. If i were to give them that freedom, I would be classified as an irresponsible parent, for sure. Life is a little bit mundane. The only joy kids have is to rev their big engined cars, or play computer games, or get drunk, or pregnant (how crazy it might sound, it's what they do) I wish that people in Australia will realise that all cultures are equally important, and embrace the differences that it holds. But mostly I hope that people from the whole Western world will realise the wonder of life, the wonder of discovery, and hopefully allow people some freedom to experience life, and not just follow regulations.