A Poetic Look at New Year

New Year

By Paul Howlett

New Year dawns, *sigh*

We feeling a little older

Another year gone bye

We attend another party

Just to drink the rye

Bleary eyed, hung over

We face the new year’s day

Always feeling groggy

About the march of life

Making lots of resolutions

Most of them to break

Try to find a solution

For so much at stake

Need to change direction

Make my life more real

Lose weight, exercise

Find that hidden agenda

New job, old job, travel in the wind

Calm the mind, stop listening to the din

Find the voice inside you

Is it the voice of God?

You’ll never know

Lest you take the time

To calm the mind and soul

Let’s all take stock

And get a shock

On this new year’s day

Christmas Lights - a poem

Christmas Lights

By Paul Howlett

Christmas Lights, Christmas Lights

Putting up Christmas Lights

Lots of climbing up and down ladders

Gutter hooks, nails and staples

Anything to attach a lot of cables

Power on, test all the lights

Finding out the black spots

That appear in old lights

Chucking them out in the bin

Feeling that it is such a sin

To throw out such costly products

And chuck it or place it in the bin

Any electrical light or fuzzy gadget

Needs to be in full working order

Feeling the effects of 240 volts is not an option

Lest you appear on St Peters list for devotion

To God, on high, some many years to soon

Back to the Christmas lights, tis a boon

To bring the lights, colour and life

To the Story of Christmas, the story of Christ

Gives joy to the children, parents and all

Forget the shopping, presents and Mall

Christmas is the story, the birth of the Lord

Jesus Christ came to save us all.

Home Renovations

Home Renovations

By Paul Howlett

Early in the morning, just as day was dawning
For me, for me, the tradies were calling
... Banging on the door at 7 am
The start of the working day for them
Oh how I think that I could condemn
That starting time for men of labour
Sleeping in is what I savour
My wife and I are known to tarry late at night
For movies, chat and “together time”, as couple should
Tender times, loving times, times that would
Produce that love that is always needed
For every marriage everywhere
To grow and blossom for all time
To get over the bumps, dirt and grime
To smile, to grin, to have some humour
Laugh at the foul, make light of the night
Have lots of fun, live in the sun
Thank God to be alive, and always strive
To be happy and helpful to one another,
To help your fellow woman, man and mother
And above all, to love each other

Back Home (After the Flood)

Back Home

By Paul Howlett

Back home after the flood

Back home after the flood

Now a new start, if we have the heart

To commence the rebuild

To find a new way, to start a new day

Of living our life, to make things right

We have lots of things to put into place

Our house full of boxes

Making up for our losses

We need to put in place

All that we have...

Taking too much time to let us unwind

Need lot more help to rebuild all the flatpacks

Flatpacks were invented to make one demented

As the instructions a vague making assembly a pain

Lots of angst in the brain, driving me insane.

Moving Day

Well Folks,

Today we move out of our old rental back home.

CANNOT BE A SECOUND TOO SOON!!!!

Mandala No 12 - The Red Trees

Mandala No 12 The red trees...

I am trying here to give the viewer some sort of dream desert ambiance.

I am looking forward to working with lots of color in an acrylic workshop next week...it will be fun!

Mandala No 11 - A Mug of Beer

The Mug of Beer - great tasting beer.  I think that beer was one of the greatest inventions of all time.  (grin).

Beer has been a staple drink of humans for many generations. 

The abuse of alcohol has been a problem for many, but the vast majority of people who drink beer responsibly, will attest to the fact that beer in it's many forms, always tastes great and is a fine drink.

Mandala No 10 - Vertical Gardens

Vertical Gardens...I was watching some TV a few weeks back where the contestants on a renovation show were planting vertical gardens.  So I thought that I might try and paint some vertical gardens, and this mandala is the result.  Do you think these gardens are "vertical" or just hanging type gardens?

Mandala No 9 The Red Parrot from Hell

The Parrot from Hell...I painted this picture when I was in a very dark mood.   

I did feel a release of tension after painting this bird.  I am in a much better frame of mind these days!! 

I think this parrot is contemplating eating the moon.

Hope you enjoy my red parrot painting.

Mandala No 8 - The Owl

This little owl is an Australian Boobook Owl.
I was out walking at night almost a year ago, when I saw a small brown bird fly over my head.  I was out at night walking for exercise.  I guess it was a small owl, so I stopped and waited to see if I could get a good look at this little owl, and sure enough I finally spotted the owl sitting on the power line.  This little owl reminds me of that night.  The owl was flying around and under the bright street lights catching the bugs that were attracted by the light.

Mandala No 7 - The Eagle

This mandala is a painting of the Australian Wedge Tail Eagle.
I used to see lots of these magnificent birds when I was out in the Australian Bush...alas I have not seen any for a long time, but I am sure that they are still out there...

Mandala No 6 - The "All Seeing" Eye

The All Seeing Eye is an old tradition in many lands and religions. 

The (USA) one dollar note has an image of the All Seeing Eye on the back. 

When I visited an eastern authodox church, many years ago, I noticed that they had The Eye painted on the back wall along with many other icons.

The Eye represents the universal presence of God...

Mandala No 4 - Earth, Air, Fire and Water

When I showed this painting to my wife, she asked me if I had any native blood in my veins. This painting is based on the American Indian Medicine Wheel.  Earth, Air, Fire and Water are the old basic elements of the universe, but if you look here, the order in the Mandala is a little different.

I enjoyed painting it, and all these current paintings are helping me “de-stress” from all the flood affects from January 11, 2011.  We hope to be back in our house in two weeks time!

Mandala No 3 - The Four Seasons

Here is an attempt at showing the four seasons:  Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

 Hope you like my Mandala No 3.

Mandala No 2 - Da Flower

I went with a stylized flower painting here.  Just a little different from what I would normal paint, when painting flowers.  This painting has a feel of yesteryear, an old colonial feel.

Remember these paintings are all just "stepping stones" to getting my painting mojo really up and working well!!

Mandala No 1 The Eye

I have commenced to paint a series of mandalas. 

The first one which I call no 1 or “The Eye” is just a swirl of colour and form.

 Maybe this is my way to see some good news in the future.  My art blog has shown some signs of the flood affects on my wife and I, as I have not posted any art on my blog for a long time.

We are not too far away from moving back home. 

I have started to paint again, and I am painting a series of mandalas, that in part have some sort of healing process, to get back to home, where the stress of the last seven months can be left behind.

Getting Back to Painting

It's been a long time since I put up a new post on the blog.  I have just been too busy with all the troubles we have had in the last six months due to our home being flood affected.

We should be back in our home by the end of September 2011 at the latest.

I have recommenced to paint, using some old acrylic paints and painting some ideas on to paper.

These exercises will at least get me back in the 'swing', and I will start painting on large canvases as soon as I can!!

I have painted a few small abstracts (on canvas) and will post them up on the blog really soon!

Rosewood Rail Museum

This is a little museum some five minutes drive time from Rosewood, Queensland, Australia. 

As my wife and I are living in Rosewood in a rental for six months or so (as our home is flood affected), I took a drive up to this museum to see if I could get some photographs of old steam engines.  I plan to use some of the photos as a basis for some paintings in the near future. 

When I arrived at the gate, I found it was locked and I was sure that I would just take a couple of photos (including the above) and then leave.  Much to my surprise I saw the caretaker come out of his house (that was an old train carriage), and walk over and open the gate, inviting me in.  He had a bad cold so he told me not to get too close, and he invited me to take as many photos as I liked, and stay as long as I liked.  I took up his invitation and roamed all over the museum, took about 20 - 30 snaps and left after about 20 minutes.

I thanked him as I walked back to my car and the old caretaker and his dog went back to his train carriage dwelling.

The caretaker gave me a flyer that said that the museum was open on the last Sunday of every month, when they take one of their steam trains out for a run on the local train track.

De Lorean

I was cruising down the motorway on the Gold Coast in Queensland, when I saw a De Lorean motorcar slowly overtake me in the next lane.  I just had to take a snap.  Not everyday you see a famous car!  Note the number plate, I think the owner of this car is a Back to the Future Fan...bigtime!

The Bremer River, One Day before the Flood.

I have finally managed to find the connecting cable to enable me to down load some pictures of the Bremer River, Ipswich, Australia.  I took these photos with my cell phone, just twenty four hours before the river really started to flood.

If you look at my photo in blog titled "Ipswich Bridge, Queensland Australia", showing the normal river level, you can see the difference and how much the flood water level has risen.  I would estimate some fifteen feet above the normal levels. 

When the flood was at its peak the bridge was only about five to six feet above the water levels!

This second photo shows just how close the water is to the road, and I am sure that the road was closed some hours after these photos were taken. The blue Ford in the distance is my car. People were stopping to take photos, as I was only one of a dozen or so folk looking at the river in morbid fascination.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

This is a photograph (flood effected), and maybe the only one that survived in this family photo album effected by the flood.  I have the cap on and my brother and I are looking out the door or window of a Sydney Manly Ferry...hopefully to see a better day!  I think that this photo was taken on a ferry. Sydney harbour had many ferries and they were a joy to travel on, just for fun or to go to visit Manly.  One would also catch a ferry to go to the Zoo, and that was a gread day out for children. 

This week was the week we finally obtained a quote from the builder / insurance company to give us a quote on the restoration of our home, back from the floods. 

The whole of our area was flooded on January 11, 2011.  We have lived in a rental for the last four months.  So many houses in our area and town have been effected the claim process has been so slow!!  I heard that someone who worked in the insurance company that covers our home, say that only to date, completed 75% of the massive amount of claims that are on the "books" have been processed. 

So we are still better off than many folk!

Judging Art Work is a Crap Shoot?

David Slonim said, "The judging of art shows is a crap shoot".

I am really just starting out on the journey of art.  I have been advised by the Art Tutor (I bought 10 instructional DVDs when I commence to paint), and a subsequent portrait workshop that I attended, NOT to be bothered with going into art competitions.  WHY?

Judging art shows must be very hard. I would not submit an artwork to a show unless I did my homework.

1.  Who is judging the art show?
2.  What does the CV of the judge/s look like?
3.  Can you look at any prizes / medals artworks that the judge/s have awarded?
4.  Run your own artwork through a self judgement check list!

I have seen some major art prizes of some $20,000.00 awarded in the last few months that really were way up on the YUK scale.  I assume that the judges gave them 1 ST prize as their artwork was totally unsaleable!

Any Comments?

Starry Starry Night...A Tribute to Van Gogh

I painted this as a copy of Van Gogh's "The Starry Night".  I was a little hesitant to put this painting up on my blog, but finally thought I might as well explain how and why my copy turned out to be a little different from Van Gogh's.

While I was painting this picture, I imagined that the dark mountain on the left became, in my mind a Dark (Earth) Force coming up from the ground and spreading across the night sky. The Church in the village is a ray of light, and hope - that the dark forces of the night will not take over. 

The stars at night also shine, and counter the forces of darkness. The Moon too has an influence on the creatures of the night. 

I hope that you like my take on Van Gogh's masterpiece.

Spooky Bat

Spooky Bat...this painting was done in oils, which makes it one of my older art works, but as I am still flood affected, (see some of my prior blogs) and have not put paint to canvas in the last four months, I am putting some of my 'old' art works on this blog...not that this art work is really old!

This bat is the only one in Australia that is carnivorous, and for that reason alone I just had to paint it.  (I am an old fan of vampire movies, so a bat that eats flesh is kinda spooky!)

There is no rabies in Australia, so one does not have to be scared of bats or any other non venomous animal biting you.  Of course Australia has most of the venomous snakes in the world so we make up for not having rabies in the animal population. (Grin!)

The Babies of Walloon

 The Babies of Walloon

This is a good picture of local public art. 

Walloon is a town of some 1500 people just down the road from Rosewood where my wife Jo and I are currently staying.  We drive some 10 – 12 miles to get back to our real residence (which is still flood affected), and often drive past the park where these statues are...

The two little girls drowned in a billabong or pond in the early 1890’s and a famous Australian writer called Henry Lawson wrote a poem about them and the pioneering families that help make Australia great. 

This plaque is situated at the back of the park with the statures of the babies about 50 yards away.  Henry Lawson wrote many stories about the early Australian life in the Bush.  I have often laughed at some of his funny stories and most Australians have read some of his work at some stage of their lives.

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Here is the poem written by Henry Lawson in 1891

He was  lengthsman on the railway, and his station scarce deserved
That “pre-eminence in sorrow” of the Majesty he served,
But as dear to him and precious were the gifts reclaimed so soon—
Were the workman’s little daughters who were buried near Walloon.

Speak their names in tones that linger, just as though you held them dear;
There are eyes to which the mention of those names will bring a tear.
Little Kate and Bridget, straying in an autumn afternoon,
Were attracted by the lilies in the water of Walloon.

All is dark to us. The angels sing perhaps in Paradise
Of the younger sister’s danger, and the elder’s sacrifice;
But the facts were hidden from us, when the soft light from the moon
Glistened on the water-lilies o’er the Babies at Walloon.

Ah! the children love the lilies, while we elders are inclined
To the flowers that have poison for the body and the mind.
Better for the “strongly human” to have done with life as soon,
Better perish for a lily like the Babies of Walloon.

For they gather flowers early on the river far away,
Where the everlasting lilies keep their purity for aye,
And while summer brings our lilies to the run and the lagoon
May our children keep the legend of the Babies of Walloon.

Picture yourself on a boat... artwork inspired by Beatle's old song.

This is an "early artwork" of mine.  I was really hesitant to post this painting online as this painting was done only a month or so after I commenced to paint.

I was challenging myself to paint scenes from the old Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.  I completed about three paintings including one of Lucy in the Sky, but the painting of Lucy looked more like Mary Poppins... so that painting will never see the light of day!

I think that using a song to suggest scenes to paint is a good way to start a series of paintings especially if you are really learning and the final art work is not really for show or sale.

As you will know (if you have read some of my latest blogs), that I have had a couple of months of not painting due to the fact that our house was flooded and I have been so busy  trying to get some order back into our lives.

I hope to be painting at least one artwork a week real soon.

Judging an Art Competition

Judging - in Art Competition would have to be one of the most difficult jobs in the world.

I have read a number of articles on different methods of judging art work, but really "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder", and I am sure that every artist who enters an art competition thinks that their entry should win.

Some of the winners of art competitions look like the judges have picked a winning artist's name out of a hat.  The finalists in one art competition, (which will remain nameless) which I saw recently, had many great and good paintings, but the winning entry was awful.  I think that a child could have given a better result than what was shown.  The winner also received a great big fat check for a large amount of money!   Now that was my view, but the next person to look at the winner might think that it is a great work of art!

One art show just closed and I was happy to see the people's choice had sold for a good sum of money, and that I thought that the painting was great.  I did notice that the winner of this art show did not sell.

This brings up the question of whether an artist paints for the sale of artwork or just paints for themselves...I am sure that there is no easy answer to this question.

Are there any art competition judges out there who would like to comment?

Ipswich Bridge, Queensland Australia

The bridge was just out of the water when the floods of January 11, 2011 inundated the city.

 If you look closely at the river bank you will see where the raging flood waters have ripped up the banks of the Bremer River.

Bremer River, Ispwich after the Flood

The Bremer River after the Flood

This picture was taken about a week after the floods in Ipswich on January 11, 2011.  If you look closely you can see that the mud level in really high.  The flood peak was reported as 18.5 meters, and this was enough to almost cover the main bridge connecting the Ipswich business district to North Ipswich. Usually the bridge is some 50 - 60 feet above the river level.

I plan to paint a number of pictures of this river in a series of painting which I will call "After the Flood", and hopefully I can commence painting in the next few weeks.

Ever since the flood, time for me has just become a blur, as I have so much to do and I always run out of time. 

There is light at the end of the tunnel, as the Insurance Company Assessors have looked through the house and hopefully reconstruction work will start within a week or two.

I really miss painting and I will be so glad to get back into the swing  of putting paint on canvas.



The Eyes of Saint Matthew

This painting had a very interesting and short life.  I was asked by an old friend of mine to paint in icon painting of Saint Matthew.  This friend of mine is a minister of religion and was happy to have the painting, which is larger than just the face I have shown here.  I finished the painting and posted it off to him and he hung it on his wall. 

Then my friend was robbed by two young religiously trained, but drunk thieves.  My friend came back from shopping to find a truck parked in his driveway and the robbery in progress.  The police were called and the robbers were caught in the act. 

My friend noticed that where the icon had been on the wall was now two crisscross knife marks and the painting was missing!  When questioned, by my friend and the police - the robbers admitted that the eyes of Saint Matthew were following them around the room.  They had cut the painting off the wall and jumped on it – totally destroying it.  My friend did say to the police that he wanted to have them charged.

I am somewhat pleased and sad (at the destruction of the artwork), but I am happy that the eyes in the painting pricked their consciences and provoked such a reaction!

Suburban Goanna

This large goanna has turned up at our next door neighbour's place.  They have chickens and large trees, so this goanna -  maybe has been washed up from our recent floods, has found "goanna heaven". He eats all the eggs and then has a nice tree to rest up in.

I spotted the goanna the other day walking about my next door neighbours yard just checking out the plants and I am sure that he was looking for eggs and other goanna yummy eats!

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Just an update on the goanna.   I was talking to my neighbour a couple of days ago and she told me that the RSPCA (an animal welfare organisation in Australia), has captured the goanna.  Then they had taken the goanna to their vet and had it checked out.  The goanna was fine and then they released it back into the Australian bush near a creek.  The story of this goanna made the local press.

Kindness of Strangers

When our house was flooded we did have some help from many total strangers. On the days after the flood I had some people from down the street, who had noticed that I was on my own and struggling to get any our wrecked furniture out on the street to be picked up.  The next thing I knew I had a house full of people all wanting to help, and we had a lot of the furniture out that day. (See picture on previous blog posting). 

The next day we had a team of young guys (from the Gold Coast) who went through the house and pulled up all the carpet.  That was a really big help and something that was way beyond my resources to do on my own. The following day we had the SES (State Emergency Services) come in and cleaned the house of mud and disinfect the floors.  (SES in Australia are all volunteers, and do a great job for any emergency in Australia).

Some other people just showed up and helped, we had two older couples come in and help clean up, washing lots of our effected kitchen items and packed them in boxes.  The president of the Ipswich Arts Society (Helen) came to help on another day. A total stranger from Sydney (Grant), who had come up to help was assigned to me through contact with the Ipswich Council. He was a great help in the last week, as now we are no longer the latest news. 

We do not have a family network here in Ipswich and Brisbane, so outside help was the only way we could even start to get the job done of trying to get our home and lives back to normal.  We still have a long way to go, many people have been praying for us and that has been a source of great comfort and blessing!

MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED AND ARE HELPING US COPE WITH THIS FLOOD.

There were and are many people who are in a lot worse situation than we are, and our thoughts are with them.  Many people are uninsured or are having problems getting any sort of claim accepted.  The Ipswich Council is taking any case that they can to the Insurance Council trying to make sure everyone gets a fair go!

I will post some more pictures in near future!

Sad Mess of Our Wrecked Household Belongings

When we arrived back at the house, we found that the flood water had wrecked more than you would think of most of the fittings and furniture in the house.  A lot of modern furniture is made of particle board that just soaks up the water and then grows mould.  Mould is a long term trouble, as we now have mould in the walls and that will have to be fixed before we can move back into the house. 

 I have a number of bookcases that I had not throw out, that now have totally disintegrated where the water has soaked in and I have a number of books that are now growing some bright yellow mould.  All books on the bottom row of all my bookcases are ruined.

I will recommence painting very soon, as I have a couple of good photos of the Bremer River, showing all the high flood marks which I am sure will make for some interesting paintings.

Flood at the end of our Street

This is a photo that I took of the end of our street, after the flood.  The waters are receding and the house you can see was totally covered at the height of the flood. Our house is some 7 or 8 houses up the hill of our street and we still had water through the house, and that was enough to ruin a lot of our furniture and fittings.  There is mould now in the walls and that whole inside dry wall sheets will have to be replaced. Our street is a cul de sac so we had to drive through two feet of water to exit through rising water and exit by an emergency gate.

House Flooded in Brisbane Floods

Hi Folks, You may be wondering why I have not posted any art work on my blog in the last month.  My wife and I are victims of the flooding that has affected many people in Brisbane these last 3 / 4 weeks.  I will be posting some pictures of our street to show the extent of the damage that muddy stinking water, soaking everything in your home can do!  We lost about 70% of our stuff.  I managed to save all my art works! My wife and I did lose some treasures and we are trying to get our life back together again.  We are still better off than some people who have lost loved ones, and all their possessions. We have been blessed with the help of total strangers and we still are getting help from folk who have appeared from 'nowwhere'.  Bless them all!!!  We also thank all the concern, prayers and support for us from friends and family!

Grapes and Wine

Anyone for a glass of red wine?  This painting is one of about six I painting in a series on flowers.  I thought after paining lots of flowers we would celibrate with a glass of wine. (grin).