Great Art

Friday seems to be the night for openings… friday week ago I attended the opening of ‘Artists of the North’ exhibition held till June 13th at TANKS. It was well attended with a couple of sales… hopefully one of mine will be sold before the 13th.

Friday night just gone I attended and MC’d the opening of ‘The Learning Curve’ an exhibition of creative ribbon embroidery by my good friend Annette Anderson. This opening was also well attended and there were quite a few sales – good on you Annette. To visit the exhibition and just happen to be somewhere in the vicinity of Innisfail North Queensland Australia pop into the Central Gallery in Cenral arcade Edith Street.

Today I worked on a story board for a childrens’ picture book. It’s about cows – circus cows to be precise. My youngest was home sick from school and stayed busy sleeping and drawing the dog, he’s pretty good with his drawing. This afternoon he has a piano lesson, pretty good at that too… the little smarty.

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Helloooo…

Here I am again…. are you ready?

Well, where to start.
The writers group I am involved with. No. Not starting there…. Last night we went to Cairns to catch up with an old friend Shelly. Shelly’s not old it’s just we’ve known her an awfully long time. We haven’t seen her for maybe seven years but she looks exactly the same. Pre dinner drinks at the casino, then a walk around the city to decide where to eat – all the time talking about what has been going on in our live and the lives of family and mutual friends. Dinner was beautiful, we ate at the ‘North’ restaraunt located in the ‘Sangri La’ Hotel at the pier. The food was supurb, boats bobbing beside us and of course the company…. After dinner to appease the kids we went to ‘Bellissimo’ near the ‘Night Markets’ for some icecream. There a couple of friends we also hadn’t seen for years Rod and Novella found us… amazing coincidence. I still miss having Novella live nearby. After a little chat with them we went our separate ways and Shelly joined us for coffee at the Sebel Hotel – we must have been feeling a little special. The kids and I had the most decadent hot chocolates, Rob a coffee and Shelly behaved with a pot of tea. No wonder she looks so great.
Thanks for spending time with us Shelly and catching us up on all of our friends in Brisbane.

Happy birthday Novella.

Back to what I was going to tell you about… The writers group I am involved with in Innisfail have a new member, nothing new there. BUT, and here is the exciting part…. his name is John, OK I know that’s not exciting either… he has a PhD in Literature. Not only does he know how to write but he is more than happy to share his vast knowledge. In a week or so we are going to have a workshop all about metaphors… ooooh.
In the past few months John has done the same writing exersizes as everyone else in the group… His words as they are read flow… it’s like watching a master watercolourist paint, his words like the paint run, bleed, mix, creating a glorious picture.

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Casey is Gone

The eyecandy has been voted off American Idol, it’s sad but they can’t all win can they. I guess in a way they all do win by the time they get down to the last ten contestants, but I sure am happy that Crystal has made it to the finals…. she is awesome.

Innisfail has a community gallery that changes ocupants every two weeks. My friends and I have some paintings on the walls at the moment and have been painting in there for the past week. And guess what… my creative energy is flowing over. I’m so happy about it, secretly between you and me I had been getting a little anxious about my lack of output. The words are starting to take shape and pour out too. Thank Goodness. The only thing I have noticed now is that in all the stories I am writing there is a pair of fluffy socks – is that my subconcious telling me I am in need of nurturing?

Someone emailed this image of Annette my favorite Mouseketeer to me the other day. (I even remember her name – BEFORE I saw her shirt) It brings back very fond memories of sitting infront of our old black and white television wearing my ears. Did you realize my name fits the Micky Mouse song….. J A C … Q U E…. DUFFY

My computer has been giving me grief in the past few days … not conecting to the internet… eeeek! All fixed now thanks to some detective work by myself. Actually this post was written quite a few days ago during the computer/internet problems and guess what… it only saved 1/2 of what I had written. I had been telling you about a very clever man whom I met in the south of France. He and his wife were castle sitting, yes, castle sitting. Bob and Robin, we met in a city called Carcassonne – a walled medieval city complete with a draw bridge. Bob is a paper conservationist and a writer, Robin is an appreciator (all us arty types need an appreciator). Since being home I have received several packages in the mail from Bob and Robin, one contained a beautiful hand bound book – made by Bob, and the others have contained a variety of CDs all music written and performed by Bob. The man is fabulous- check him out at his website www.bobdevan.com

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My Muse is Missing

My Missing Muse is pictured above… have you seen him?

I’m sitting here trying to concentrate on some writing but my family are watching American Idol on TV. Isn’t Crystal fabulous! Tonight all of the contestants are singing Frank Sinatra with the help of Harry Connick Jr, I LOOOve Harry, sadly I think it’s about time that Casey is sent home.

Enough of American Idol. You would know if you’ve read some of my previous blogs that I am getting stuck into some work. I have taken the pile of paperwork lovingly named the Matterhorn off my desk and created a people friendly environment to work in…. Well… it may be a people friendly environment but it has turned out not to be a creative friendly environment – I miss the Matterhorn.
Somewhere in that pile of a Matterhorn my Muse must have been hiding, and now I can’t find her/him. I have spent the past couple of weeks attempting to get my stuff together and pull a few projects into fruition. Last week I was asked to write a short story for my writers group. The short story is for a project we will do together about the 19th century. Each of us has been given a decade and I have 1990 – 2000 a decade I should have plenty of fodder to get the mind whirling.
I normally have a problem with having too many ideas, even when I thrown a single word (TMGI syndrome), now I am having trouble coming up with any. Is it because I find this project uninspiring, or is my muse missing?

Today I have managed to finish a grant acquittal – totally uninspiring and you know… I actually feel as though a grey cloud has lifted (it’s also sunny outside for the first day in the last 60 or so). Perhaps getting this acquittal out of the way has in some way opened my mind… perhaps it had been the thing holding my muse prisoner.

Since returning from my trip I have had my novel in mind and making little notes to myself, asking questions regarding my characters motivations and where the story is set (Hobart). Unfortunately so much has gone on in my little head of late my story line has become somewhat confused. With my muse missing I have found myself getting depressed feeling as though I may have bitten off more than I can chew. To get myself back in the saddle I have set myself a ‘finish date’ for the first draft of my novel. I find I work best with a deadline. Last night I sat down with my family and informed them I have set myself this goal, I found when I was doing the NANOWRIMO in November with the 1667 words set per day my family were very supportive.
I already have 31,000 words written and think I will aim for a first draft of 90,000, I want to have it ready for the first rewrite by the end of July, taking out the two weeks the family and I will be in New Zealand that gives me approx 74 days – 800 words a day.

Now lets get to it. – I hope my muse returns.

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A Good Day for Reading

I recieved a card in the mail to let us know we will be without electricity today – they (Ergon) are doing maintanence work… I’m happy enough about that, they do a good job around here. The only problem is, because of where we live when we have no power we also are left with no water or telephone. So dutifully this morning I have filled buckets and bottles and worked out where the food will be taken from in the fridge to save opening it too many times today – it’s still pretty warm here. So what to do when there is no power, I can’t vachume and start cleaning the windows… and as it’s raining I can’t be outside all day in the garden. I have two sick kids at home too, sneezing, coughing, so no outside for them either and I don’t think visiting anyone is a good idea.

Reading…. that’s going to be the activity for today (I can also use a mighty pen and my imagination and do some writing).

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Nose to the Grindstone – at last.

My new Loungeroom – NOT.

My desk no longer reminds me of the Matterhorn, the tall spike of mountain that reaches for the outer limits of Earths atmosphere, it’s top barely visible through the clouds that cling to it like cotton wool to a damp surface. Now it is more reminicent of a modern city, the single teetering pile of paperwork, unread journals and my idea notebooks have become office buldings, apartment blocks and warehouses with the space of roadways separating them from each other. No longer is my desk the image of a dangerous climb one of which I could fall to my death if not suitably prepared but it is a manageable consumer friendly (and quite artistically designed I might add) space that instead of creating one enormous shadow plays with light and and creates a playground for my wandering imagination.

OK Enough about my desk, I am trying to find some wallspace for big piece of butchers paper on which I will be drawing up my list of projects – perhaps not in any specific order of importance – they are all important to me. Being a Jacque of all trades (hopefully master of a couple) I have a full list of ‘TO DOs’, at last count there were two ‘learn to read books’, five, no six, hang on…. seven picture books, two non-fiction books and a novel… well actually two. And that’s just the writing…. I am planning to have an art exhibition late in the year – twenty paintings for an exhibition is my goal, and if you haven’t seen my artwork let me tell you it’s not small – where to start.

My trip overseas was fantastic and naturally I have a head full and heart full of inspiration. I may never be able to use all of this inspiration – who lives that long. But I am going to give it a go… but first I have to finish the gazillion projects that I have A. started B. half finished and C. still have stuck in my head, as well as D. the projects I have committed myself to with other people.

So, I guess I am busy which means untill next time I have thoughts to share – which could be any tick of the clock – farewell, the grindstone is waiting.

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Have you read ‘The Eight’?

A few years ago my sister recommended I read a book by Katherine Neville, the book titled ‘The Eight’ was written in the 1980’s and is about a chess set. I wasn’t into chess in anyway but thought I should read it – well I have since read it twice more and also the second book in the series called ‘The Fire’.
The books tell the same story though the tales and interactions of people hundreds of years apart… confused… well I recommend you read the books. The chess set the story is set around is King Charlemagnes, while I was in Paris a couple of weeks ago I saw this chess set or what is left of it in the National Bibloteque (the old one). The pieces are a bit different to thier descriptions in the books but you can certainly see the inspiration Katherine would have found if the library/bibloteque was the place she first saw them.
The chess set in the story had been hidden for over a thousand years buried within the walls of an abby in the Pyraneese, it is unearthed just before the French Revolution and scattered all over the world. On my holiday I caught a train from Barcelona past the Pyraneese and stayed in a hotel within a walled city in Southern France… this city is at the foot of the Pyraneese and still in it’s original condition. I was still reading ‘The Fire’ whilst I was there and enjoyed my glass of wine sitting in my private courtyard, I was at a part of the story where Algearia and Morrocco are places of interest, just the day before I had been on the train sharing a coffee with a fellow from Algearia and one from Morrocco – spooky.

The city of Carcassonne is beautiful and I was lucky to be there at this time of the year when tourists were elsewhere in the world, apparently during the festival there in September they have over one million visitors there. My time there was shared with possibly less than one hundred folk. It’s funny, my holiday was in noway planned around the reading of these books but several times I found myself in a place or looking at a pice of the story it became so real. I am impressed with Katherine’s research, she must have have spent years learning language, history, culture etc. of so many different people and their places. The story really had me wondering about things.

‘The Eight’, if you want a read that is entertaining and can get you thinking outside the square about the history of Europe and also todays science I recommend you go to your local library or bookstore and get yourself a copy of Katherine Neville’s ‘The Eight’. (You could plan a European trip with her books and possibly run around the Louvre and rome using Dan Brown’s books)

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I’m Home

Bonjour,

I have returned home unscathed and unencumbered, I managed to get through numerous security checks with only one pat down (a rather investigatory one too)…. It was hard not to joke around with the ticklish bit, I don’t think there was much humour or love coming into the Heathrow airport (I was pretty happy though – maybe that’s the reason for the pat down). All other security staff was pretty good. The customs police on the Spanish/French border who boarded my train were a little scary at first, you know with their guns and all, but after looking at my passport and getting all excited that I was Australian and my mane is Jacqueline they stood on the platform waving goodbye to me – go figure. Entering Australia again was an eye opener, our boarder security is way more thorough and a little intimidating as you progress up the line getting closer to them, although here again the Brisbane Customs Officer got friendly when she saw on my passport I was from Mena Creek – she really likes the pub here. The officer who had to go through my suitcase really liked some of the stuff I had bought the kids and Rob so I had no worries. Some of the people who were in the customs line (over 2000 people) were getting a bit irate and causing security staff headaches, some were jumping the cue by 1000 people, totally un Australian, I guess some people think they are special… they just don’t realize that the special person here is ME.

I have been home for almost a week now… I have unpacked, put everything away, cut my hair because it should have been done before I went away (boy it felt good to attack with the scissors), washed cloths and caught up on the kids doings…. My trip was so jam packed I think it will take me some time to come to terms with all that I have seen and experienced. The down loading of my 5000 photographs took me several days, I still havent seen all of them or shown them to anyone. My videoing however has been looked at and guess what… when you video you really shouldn’t turn your camera sideways. Also just because your eyes can see in the dark – like when you are in the catacombes – does not mean the camera can focus on anything and you end up with a black screen and a whispered voiceover “We are in the catacombes, walking through streets that run below the streets of Paris, these streets are filled with the bones of the dead.” It doesn’t really look or sound all that interesting.

I have been asked what my favorite thing was… I have NO idea. I need to do some more thinking about that one, maybe I will have an answer for my next blog. The longer I am home and the more comfortable I am, the more I remember the interesting and enjoyable parts of my holiday.

Oh and in answer to the question posted at the start of this blog… NO, the Mona Lisa was not the highlight of my trip, although I knew what to expect – size and all, it was good to see it though, and when I was there the rest of the world must have been doing something else…. I had her all to myself for a few moments – oh, except for the security guards.

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Quick only minutes to go

Well I am in Changi Airport Singapore on my way home. The flights to and from Geneva and Heathrow were ok except for the woman sitting behind me digging her knees into my back for quite a few hours, and then her toes found the space in the seat under my bum… she kept wiggling her toes… nice.
She ended up telling me off for having my chair reclined while I (like everyone eles) slept. A simple tap on the shoulder and a polite request would of had me raise my chair for her – she’s on my next flight to Brisbane… hope she and her friend aren’t sitting next to me.

Geneva and the visit with Shauna was great and something I would definitely do again. I know the family would like it very much there. Well there is now a line forming behind me for the computer-free internet at Changi… I need to proceed to my gate also, so see you on the flip side.

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Matterhorn and beyond

Well look where we were today… we, being my friend Shauna and I. We got up really early and drove to Nyon near Shauna’s house in Switzerland and caught a train. The train took us along the forshore of Lake Geneva all the way to Visp where we changed trains to the Glasier Express (which is a rack n pinion) up the mountain to Zerrmatt and the Matterhorn. The entire train ride minus a couple of noisy talkers was fabulous – the scenery was incredible – Switzerland REALLY does look like it does in the pictures. The top of the Matterhorn at first was covered in cloud, was we waited a little while (I got busy making a snow kangaroo) and finally the peak showed itself.

We went prepared to be very cold, the weather reports had said it may be anything between -20 and +2, we wore thermals under jeans and three pairs of sock layers of shirts and jackets, hats, skarves and gloves. We ended up not needing any of it really. when I get home I will post a couple of photographs.

Yesterday Shauna worked till early afternoon with the horses, her clients were there to watch and most of them had brought along friends. Both the horses and shauna’s riding are beautiful to watch. All of the audience were appreciative, not too many of them spoke english, they were german, Italian, Swiss and spanish, there was however one lovely English lady. They were all nice and very friendly, one of them even told me my english was very good.

Well I must let Shauna back on her computer now so I guess I will be doing my next post from Australia… maybe.

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