Tulips

Watching 'The Botany of Desire' the other night,  a documentary based on Michael Pollan's excellent book of the same name, inspired me to try my hand at drawing some tulips, and it turns out they're mighty challenging with all their inward-curling petals and striations in colour. It would help if they didn't open while I'm working as well, but that's just what flowers do (bless them). The tulip I was drawing from was far more beautiful than I can possibly capture in a lead pencil drawing, all orange and red with streaks of green through it. Keep trying I shall.

Gumnuts

My first finished botanical drawing. I was concentrating so hard on it during class that I actually dribbled on myself...I wish I could say nobody saw it happen, but in fact one of my fellow students was watching me draw at the time so no such luck. Ah well, at least I got it on my shirt instead of the paper. We're still only working in lead pencil but in a week or two we'll be doing watercolours so can't wait for that.

Jean Marembert

I've been collecting pictures of 19th century/early 20th century book illustrations for a while now, particularly black and white ink drawings, and I find them to be infinitely more exciting than most modern art that I come across. Whether this is due to some kind of failure on my part to connect with the collective consciousness of today's youth (entirely possible) or whether it's because they're legitimately of a higher standard is a subjective matter, but either way I can't get enough of them. These images by French artist Jean Marembert come from a book (which I haven't read) called Le Lycanthrope by Petrus Borel, courtesy of the excellent blog Au carrefour etrange.  I didn't have any luck finding out what the book is about, but the art features a lot of cats, which is always a sure-fire way to get me interested in something.

Botanical Illustration

I took my first ever class in botanical illustration today, at Melbourne's beautiful botanical gardens. I've been somewhat preoccupied with both natural history art and with plants for a while now, and this seems like the logical way to explore these interests. So far we've only done some sketches of gum nuts, but already I get the impression this is going to be a life-time passion, and something that feels natural and intuitive for me as an artist. There's something about the meditative process of observing nature so closely, and the discipline of replicating it as faithfully as possible, that I find really appealing - perhaps because the focus is on the inherent beauty and perfection of the subject, rather than on the artist.

For me, obsessing over how impossibly beautiful something is, whether it's a flower, a melody, a sentiment or another human being, is precisely what inspires me to make art in the first place. The art may not always resemble what I'm obsessing over, but profoundly emotive responses to things are always what inform my visions and stimulate my desire to put them on paper. It's only when my whole being is consumed with that kind of euphoria that I can make art that really feels alive and meaningful. I think this is why music provides me with the most inspiration of all - because as a visual artist it communicates to me in a way that feels entirely mystical and beyond my comprehension.

  

There's nothing nicer than recognising in another person the same creative impulses that I feel, but expressed in a completely different way, and I think that's why I have a tendency to become enamoured with artists who work in formats other than my own. People I find hugely inspiring like David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Justin Broadrick and Emil Amos are all operating from a sincere and deeply felt desire to express themselves, and they do so tirelessly and without compromise. Often it's their approach and dedication to their art that touches me more than the art itself, but the one commonality between them all is their ability to make me feel as though the world is essentially a beautiful place. Looking at some of the botanical art pictured, it's an easy thing to believe.

I scanned these images from a Taschen book called Garden Of Eden which was my birthday present from Shaun this year. Thanks babe.

Happy

So I've just had the privilege of attending three Om shows and a Holy Sons show in the space of a week, and they were without a doubt some of the best live performances I have ever witnessed.  Biased as I may be, I don't think I'm alone in feeling that these shows were pretty damn special.

I never got to see Om with their original drummer, but I really do think Emil Amos breathes new life into their older material, and even more so into the new music that he's written with Al for the God Is Good album. A definite highlight of every set was the song Cremation Ghat from said album, which features a simple but distinctive, stomping rhythm that departs somewhat from the traditional Om ride-groove formula, and provides Rob (also of supporting act Lichens) with an opportunity for some of his incredible vocal wailing.

The other track that had me grinning stupidly from start to finish was 'To the Shrinebuilder' from Om's split with Current 93, (as seen in my previous post here) during which Emil's drumming reached it's most exciting and bombastic, as did Rob's seriously enthusiastic tambourine playing. I've never had so much fun watching a live band before, and it really struck me how sad it is that Om get lumped in with the stoner metal and doom genre when to me they have very little in common with any of those bands, aside from the fact that Al was in Sleep.  Anyway, I enjoyed every performance immensely and can't wait to hear what they record next, which shouldn't be too far off according to an excellent interview with the band that you can read here.

As for the Holy Sons show, I wasn't quite sure what to expect that night because he doesn't play live often, and when he does it's usually with a band. I was thinking that being a solo show he might do some of his simpler songs accompanied by an acoustic guitar, perhaps in the style of 'I Want to Live a Peaceful Life', but instead we were treated to entirely new and stripped back arrangements of some of my favourite, more layered songs like Drifter's Sympathy (original here), More Mind Briars and Gnostic Device, played on an electric guitar with what seemed like a fair amount of improvisation, on both guitar and vocals. Needless to say, they sounded absolutely stunning and I feel extremely lucky to have witnessed such a unique and rare performance. I also had the opportunity to chat with Emil briefly after several of the shows and he was remarkably warm, funny and friendly, which was just the icing on the cake really. I couldn't have asked for anything more.