Eight aitch words

February 11, 2023February 11, 2023 / Robert / Leave a comment

On Thursday, I used two words, I seldom, if ever use, haywire and hullabaloo.

The former in relation to my new work laptop connecting to a landscape, wide screen monitor, after I returned from lunch. The mesmerising resizing action of Google Chrome browser and Microsoft Outlook windows appeared completely out of control.

The latter when describing havoc related incidents at large scale events.

Being the eighth* letter of the alphabet, I’m surprised I haven’t thought more about aitches.

Havelock was my grand father’s middle name. According to https://www.meaningofthename.com/havelock, it has Norse ancestry meaning sea battler and from the Germanic elf warrior; olive tree.

Haphazard, our reality while in limbo. Could also be used to describe the seemingly random posts on this blog.

Heart, home, hearth; an oasis of warmth, caring, and kindred spirit.

Homo; the same.

Pink flamingo sketch

October 22, 2022October 22, 2022 / Robert / 9 Comments

For a time this year, I thought, what is the point of drawing and painting when a moment can be captured in a photograph?

More recently, I decided I wanted to create, to paint but what? What is it that brings me joy? Typing this stream of thoughts, of words, I believed would help.

My ego demanded without ego. Whatever that meant.

What to include? A grand plan to capture heart, body, and soul.

Pencil sketches of a partly used up tube of watercolour paint were completed. An analogy of a point in my life. This subject did not progress even though I could see it completed in my mind’s eye.

During a mindless scrolling session in Pinterest, a portrait of a pink flamingo caught my eye. That might be it!

The first hurdle was to rouse myself to search out supplies. Packed away for four years since moving house.

Weekends passed.

My husband took control; during your birthday week, on Friday 21st October you shall paint!

On the day before, car partially reversed from the garage, we rootled through cupboards, boxes, at last: watercolour pencils, bought awhile ago in Port Douglas and an aged watercolour paper scrap, this’ll do for a sketch.

The day slipped away so fast including, the making and eating of French onion soup and sipping of French Blanc de Blancs along the way. Time disappeared while sketching, colouring, waiting, and repeating.

Magically, a pink flamingo sketch emerged.

David Harvey Lawrence

June 26, 2022June 26, 2022 / Robert / 4 Comments

Other than the 1969 movie of Women in Love starring Glenda Jackson, my knowledge of D.H. Lawrence was virtually non-existent.

To a naive closeted teen, it was shockingly titillating to watch the fire lit nude Oliver Reid and Alan Bates wrestling scene. Especially in a house where sex, intimacy and relationships were never raised let alone discussed.

Inspired by Merchant Ivory’s productions of Maurice and Room with a View, I had spent the 1980s and 1990s devouring and revisiting the writings of E.M.Forster.

Today, 26 June 2022, as I dived into the novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover, 1928, I was pleasantly surprised to find the read enjoyable.

Googling the author, Lawrence, delivers prolific offerings of poems, short stories, travel books, novels, paintings, and non fiction during his short 44 years of life, 1885 to 1930.

Here begins a new obsession.

The photograph is a screenshot from When D H Lawrence’s unlovely paintings were confiscated by Scotland Yard

November 21, 2021November 21, 2021 / Robert / 2 Comments

In the spring of 1801, Ludwig van Beethoven completed the ballet, the Creatures of Prometheus based on Salvatore Viganò’s storyline.

The ballet premiered on 28 March 1801 at the Burgtheater in Vienna with 28 performances. It was premiered in New York at the Park Theatre on 14 June 1808, one of the first full length works by Beethoven to be performed in the United States. It is the only full length ballet by Beethoven.

The Australian premier of Beethoven’s 220 years old music and ballet was a matinee performance on 20 November 2022 at the Twelfth Night Theatre, Brisbane. The ballet was historically reconstructed from the 1801 performance with new choreography by Queenslander, Jayden Grogan.

Lucas D. Lynch, conductor and producer informed the audience he was inspired to share Beethoven’s ballet with Australia after hearing the music for the first time, 14 years earlier.

The plot follows Prometheus stealing fire from Zeus to spark life into two clay figures, thereby creating humankind.

Mostly set on Mount Parnassus, the man and woman encounter a multitude of characters from Greek mythology during their journey from birth through education to their wedding:

Apollo (god of music, dance, the Sun, light, and poetry)
Amphion (built Thebes with the power of music) playing harp
Euterpe (delight) playing flute
Orpheus (legendary musician) playing cello
Mars (god of war)
Melpomene (muse of tragedy)
Thalia (one of the three graces)
Dionysus (god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, wine, fruit, and theatre)
Silenus (drunken god of wine)
Pan (god of the wild, rustic music and companion of nymphs)

We were fortunate to be able to enjoy this spectacular production firsthand. The balance of comedy and tragedy against Beethoven’s powerfully sublime music was awe inspiring!

2067

February 20, 2021February 20, 2021 / Robert / 4 Comments

Sitting in the garden, gazing at the seemingly erratic flight of a black- white splodged butterfly, I thought, self indulgently, I don’t spend enough time creating!

A glance at the pictures on my phone presented a shot of last night’s Netflix movie on pause. Taken through a gold banded champagne flute.

2067, an Australian dystopian tale of synthetic oxygen sickness and time travel, delivered perfectly.

Much digital wizardry; manipulating perspective, colour and tone, yielded a satisfactory image, herewith posted.

Chain stars doodle

December 24, 2020December 24, 2020 / Robert / 10 Comments

The above is a cropped version. I created it with ArtStudio for iPad while playing with colours, effects, and filters, overlaid with star shaped chain doodles. You can see them by zooming in.