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  • Breathing Light - Issue #5 Of gratitude, more llama llearnings, new photographic art explorations and some offers

Breathing Light - Issue #5 Of gratitude, more llama llearnings, new photographic art explorations and some offers

August 15th, 2021

In this issue

-Gratitude and feedback

-Lliquid llama llearnings

-A new project (maybe)

-A request (and an offer)

"My soul can find no staircase to heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness."

-Michaelangelo

Gratitude and Feedback

As I mentioned last week, one of the best things about writing this newsletter is your feedback. A number of you have taken to emailing delightful responses to my articles.

I love getting them!

It would seem that my comments about taking time to be with the planet resonated with many of you.

With his permission, I would love to share one with you.

"World news, bare feet, stars. I make a point of not watching much if any TV news, never touch Twitter, hardly ever Facebook, just listen to RNZ and have ended up getting free and quality news and analysis from The Guardian. Quite a few years ago, Fox News was shown on free-to-air TV [the only kind I’ve ever used] late at night. The one thing I remember about Fox News is that after 30 minutes or so, my entire body had tensed up, just from the “news” and the way it was presented. Even non-Fox news does this, though not as badly.

 

I start most days feeling that life is wonderful, and then the RNZ news on the hour reminds me that not everyone’s life is wonderful. I’m not saying everything is perfect, it’s more that I’m grateful for the many good things I have, and that many of us have.

 

My own ritual over the last few years. I go to bed late [and get up late]. Just before going to bed, I turn the indoor lights out, walk out the back door, look up at the sky, wonder about it all, thank the universe for the many good things [including people] in my day, and for the stars and the clear air and the rain and the wind and the energy and wonder of it all, chat [silently] about hopes and dreams, ponder a bit more, often chuckle at the total wonder and bizarreness of the universe as we know it. Including its vastness. Most of what’s up there and all around us is space. Not much of the room is stars. But there are a lot of stars. Scientists say that the number of stars is either [1] greater than the number of grains of sand on Planet Earth [something I ponder every time I’m at the beach] or infinite. Infinite is not easy to grasp, but the fact I can even be pondering it is cause for thankfulness. So that’s my evening ritual.

Bare feet is good too. In summer."

Thank you, Kim.

Lliquid llama llearnings

I thought I was done with being a llama lleader and feeder because the owner is now mobile again.

Silly me.

Um...Mate...(uh oh) I have just dumped some more bales of hay in the paddock. Any chance you could pop round and open a couple for me?

Just the once?

I wish.

So I drove around, got out my craft knife, and set to work.

His owner describes the Lead Dalai/Alpha Male as a"mad bastard". I agree-you can the manic look in his eye. He stalked up to me, briefly to put down a challenge, then wandered away. Maybe he could see the knife in my hand...anyway, he had something else on his mind.

Now everyone says that llamas can spit, but I hadn't seen it before.

Until now.

He had his eyes (or rather his gonads) on one of the females and slithered up to her, lust on his mind.

She was having none of it.

She waited until he was just in range, then slid herself side-on to him, turned her head and gave him a great gobful. Not so much a carefully-aimed spit but more of a huge, splashy spray. It hit him full in the face.

He abruptly backed off, shaking his head in disgust, and staggered away, still shaking his head.

When I had finished laughing, it occurred to me that this technique might be useful for humans as well.

I pictured a New York bar with moody lighting, smoke swirling lazily, and an Edith Piaf lookalike crooning huskily in the background. A woman is sitting there, minding her own business. A sleazed-up guy, rather like Clark Gable but without the class, sidles up to her, bends over and whispers in her ear. She sits for a moment, and then calmly takes a big mouthful of her wine, turns her head and then sprays him in the face with it.

That could work.

Maybe not in this covid-sensitive day and age.

Just don't do it with a fine chardonnay or merlot. That would be a waste. Instead, maybe keep a glass of something cheap and nasty close by, like Timara or Jacobs Creek.

You're welcome.

A New Project (or an old one revisited)

Those of you who have sat through my "art history" lectures will have heard me say that the essence of Art lies in problem-solving. The artist finds a problem then works to resolve it.

Or not.

It can be social, political, philosophical, technical or aesthetic.

The works/ productions themselves are really road markers on a journey to find a solution.

That approach worked for Matisse, Picasso, Monet, Dali, Hockney and many others.

Or all of the above.

Lately, I have been revisiting the idea of wondering how to document the mauri (essence) of plants, Tāne Mahuta's children.

It's not a new idea for me.

A couple of decades ago, after reading a Reader's Digest article (!), I followed this whiri (thread) for a year and ended up using the results to get my APSNZ.

However, it feels like it is time to consider the problem again.

Art-making practice follows a process of

research (who else has done it),

exploration (try different approaches and explore questions which arise),

internalisation (what am I learning unique to who I AM)

and then

resolution (Output).

This is why I am going to do more work with a macro lens and extension tubes.

One question sitting top-of-mind at the moment is:

How close can I go before I lose the meaning and significance of the plant I am working with?

Time will tell.

I will keep you posted.

I thoroughly recommend a book called Flora Photographica. There is much to consider in it. A remarkable book.

Link to purchase posted below in the Addenda section.

A request and an offer

It is now settled.

I must be out of my flat here in Te Anau by September 20.

And I am going to make my way north to Te Tai Tokerau, the Far North of Aotearoa New Zealand. I have no idea how long the hikoi (journey) will take, or where I will settle. or what I will do for work. However, my tupuna (ancestors) are calling me back. A new journey is beginning.

Of course, this needs money. My stubborn, pig-headed refusal to concede defeat and walk away from being an artist ( perhaps I should have listened to reason years ago) has left the coffers utterly bare. And my government pension won't cover my expenses.

I have been gifted a trailer, however, I need to get a secure waterproof canopy built for it, along with putting money aside to cover my travel expenses to the other end of the country.

When I made the above picture some months ago, I suddenly realised that it was three years almost to the day that I made the first one of Mitre Peak. And, in the moments that I made it, I had a sudden awareness that this would be my last photograph of it.

I call it Requiem. For obvious reasons.

If you have ever thought about having a piece of my work in your home, now would be a great time to be involved and I would be deeply grateful.

I want to hand-make 10 only A2 prints, signed and dated, and offer them to you. I have some truly beautiful cotton rag paper that will really suit this image.

After that, it will never be hand-printed again.

Each one is $NZ420. Freight in NZ and AUS is free.

Further away? I will meet you halfway on freight costs.

I would love to hear from you.

Ngaa mihi

Addenda and links to make your Sunday morning coffee go cold

Lada 19 minutes

(Remember the Lada jokes?)

In the fight against insects, plants have evolved an arsenal of ingenious chemical defenses. Compared to the hectic rush of our bipedal world, a plant’s life may appear an oasis of tranquility. But look a little closer.

An album of flower photography that celebrates the glorious beauty and pathos of flowers in all their multifarious forms. William A. Ewing is Director of the Musée de l'Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland. His most recent books include Century of the Body, The Body, and Love and Desire.

A wonderful watch!

Dubai, UAE, 9 August 2021 – Emirates is no stranger to bold advertising but its latest commercial takes it up a notch. The new advertisement features an Emirates cabin crew member in full uniform standing tall on the tip of the Burj Khalifa by Emaar at 828 metres above ground. She joins only a handful of individuals who have had the privilege to...

English spelling is ridiculous. Sew and new don’t rhyme. Kernel and colonel do. When you see an ough, you might need to read it out as ‘aw’ (thought), ‘ow’ (drought), ‘uff’ (tough), ‘off’ (cough), ‘oo’ (through), or ‘oh’ (though).

Thanks

As always, if you enjoyed this newsletter, please share it freely.

Have a wonderful week

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