Day 42: Come fly with me, come fly

Yep, I’m packing today for another flight. I had so many emails to write this morning I’ve drunk three cups of tea, spinning out a bit with the amount of caffeine. I have about one coffee a week, which I love because afterwards I feel like I could bounce off walls and fly away with the slap of energy I get.

Day 41: What's my song?

And if anyone mentions anything about “here’s a little teapot, short and stout” I’m coming after ya! I’m talking about the song you want played at your funeral, before everyone heads over the road for a cup of tea and sandwich. I’d want Indian instrumental music, don’t want a theme song. I’d rather have music that suits my inner vibration. Oh the things I think about while sipping my tea this morning...my drawing looks like a pillow case design!

Day 40: to seek and to question

Day 39: Kia Kaha!

I'm chilled...damn air-con in the tropics. Need to be strong, lots to do.

Day 38: Playtime

I've watching the Monaco F1 on telly AND playing with Picasa; a program recently downloaded onto my computer where I could spend hours altering the look of images.

Day 37: Cup of many circles

Even the bubbles in my morning cuppa - circles!
My mind is on the New Zealand Ball tonight and swirling around the dance floor.

Day 36: Homeward bound

To be happy is to be free

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” - John Lennon

When I was young I wanted to be a marine biologist just like Jacques Cousteau...funny where you do end up; having a morning cuppa at the Auckland airport then boarding a plane to Singapore.

Day 35: It runs in the family

Not ready to go yet, but time for another plane ride over the Pacific and I shouldn't forget I'll fly over a great area of Australia.
My mum’s an Aussie and also loves her cuppa in the morning; the first woman surf life saver at Manly Beach in Sydney, 1940 something. At age 85 she still has an Australian passport even after living in New Zealand for 56 years. Her dad was a Sergeant Major with no son to boss about so my mum was it, an only child; she was taught competiveness...do they still teach that in schools?

Day 34: Om

I’m at a Laundromat in New Plymouth with four machines working their arse off for me. How did I get into this situation?...never mind. So out comes the sketch book with the idea of drawing my daily fix without thinking of the outcome. A bit like meditation...clear the mind; be at peace, in tune with the infinite. So my eyes see flames appear around my cup but my mind said no; that’s a lotus flower. OK, I can go with a lotus flower and as the machines do their work I finish my drawing.

A few hours later and I show the drawing to my sister, who sees an artichoke, which reminds her of the time she bottled many artichoke hearts with our friend Martina, which sounds like a fun time, which reminds me that this 100 days project is bigger than just me.

Day 33: Cup of conversation

It’s always a delight when you're offered a cup of tea, whether a business meeting or like yesterday, a catch up with a dear friend. My morning cuppa is a solo journey, just ‘me and my thoughts’. But during the day a cuppa is something to share, mixed warmly with good conversation, maybe a dash or two of memories and a handsome serving of laughter.

Day 32: Google should know

I watched a girl movie last night while a cat at the end of the sofa stared at me, just because I wouldn’t let it sleep in my suitcase.  Of course I thought of Duchamp’s fur cup and saucer. I’ve just googled Duchamp only to find that Swiss artist Meret Oppenheim was the artist made famous for the fur cup. This will need looking into further at a later date.

Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) the ready-made man, the man who thought too much, loved chess and questioned artists (like me) who are good with their hands (and paint brush). Duchamp said "You cannot define electricity. The same can be said of art. It is a kind of inner current in a human being, or something which needs no definition."

Day 31: Cheers

It’s a fresh morning in Taranaki and I've been sitting here with my hands wrapped round my cuppa to warm them up. Something I’ve never done is to add a liqueur to my tea, maybe not to my morning cuppa. If coffee can do it why not tea? Just need to do the tea thing after dinner one night...I’ll let you know the outcome. Instead of an Irish coffee I could have an Irish Tea.

Day 30: The Big 3 0

There is a cup and saucer for me...in another cupboard. I should have asked. In celebration I declare that today is ‘Have a cup of tea’ day.  Maybe 'draw a cup of tea' day, 'illustrate a cup of tea' day.

Day 29: thoughtfulness

My shadow is my saucer
My saucer is my shadow

Day 28: I've been mugged

No tea cup so this mornings fix is in a mug, nice mug but still a mug...

Day 27: Up, up and away

I'm woken by a hostess who informs me that breakfast is about to be served. Yes! My daily fix is coming...I NEED a cup of tea.  My mind then wonders about where I am. My night’s sleep on the flight to NZ has been somewhere over the Pacific Ocean...another day noted in “no country in particular”.

Day 26: on the road again

Tomorrows cuppa will be on a plane as I head to NZ.
I carry a heavy heart.

Day 25: Getting satisfaction

There's nothing more satisfying then a good scribble when your mind goes blank. Which is different from planking. Had a lovely photo taken yesterday, but there in the background is someone planking. The fun part is that I know the person and it was a lovely surprise to have her in the photo.

Day 24: Practice makes perfect

Day 23: Performance Art

I thought I’d treat the vessel of my cuppa to an outing. We (my cup and I) attended a performance art workshop with one of Singapore’s most notable artists Lee Wen at the Singapore Art Museum today. The final part was to do some practical work so Lee dismantled one of his installations in the gallery...much to the surprise of the staff and gave us a box each to take outside to be creative with. I was amazed at the number who destroyed their box. However I was reminded of when I was installing a Tom Kreisler exhibition at the Govett-Brewster and threw out one of Tom’s artworks which I thought was rubbish...it was just a used flatten box that was meant to lean against the gallery wall. So in respect of taking nothing for granted “we” nurtured our box, letting it represent everybody and everybody’s unique ideas.

...happy ending to the Kreisler art work as I was able to retrieve it from the rubbish and install it. I believe Tom enjoyed what I did with the box more than having it in the show.

Day 22: Dancing in the moonlight

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to dance. I woke very early this morning and enjoyed my cuppa by the light of not only the moon but the lights from the adjoining condo. Some days I just wake early in an excited state about embracing a new day. On went ‘Earth Wind & Fire’ (semi quite, hehe) and started my day in groove mode, oh yeah. This doesn’t mean I’m talkative, far from it. Just ask Dianne Brien, my walking buddy from Oakura.

Day 21: Help

If you think someone needs help in this world, give it to them. Don’t wait until they ask....this is contrary to 'professional' advice. This was a difficult cuppa this morning and before this project started I never realised what a private space I am in while sipping my cuppa and gently waking up to a new day. My cuppa comes first, even before my morning walk. All I can think about this morning is “professional advice”...ha! Follow your instincts, that inner voice, that feeling in the tummy that you cannot ignore.  And yes, I’m talking to myself again.

Note to me: Be generous to myself and to others

Day 20: The art of seeing

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see”.
Henry David Thoreau

Day 19: I'm good with my hands

I've been focusing on the drawing, rather than the painting of my beloved cup mainly because it’s quicker but more importantly I’m seeing great benefit in other areas of my art practice from holding pencil (or pastel) to paper....it’s focusing my brain, energising the painting style, I’m speeding up again, being more confident in my brush strokes.

But I’m just not enjoying working on small pieces of paper with pastels....back to the art shop for some BIG MOTHER sheets of drawing paper. This will serve me right for leaving all but the essentials of my drawing equipment stored in NZ, including a suitcase filled with pastels.

Day 18: This is not a rehearsal

and keep it simple
It doesn’t have to make sense
Be open
Be audacious
Be quick
Be spontaneous
Know when to stop
Be disciplined
and go for a walk every day

Day 17: tea for three

I have some kiwi visitors staying for a couple of days; a stopover on their way to Europe.  They are tea drinkers, so this morning’s cuppa was in fine company. Thinking of NZ, thinking of weaving and thinking of sharing...in no particular order.

Day 16: I feel good

But what if there was a power cut and I couldn’t boil some water for a cuppa... What I remember about Cyclone Bola (1988) was the power cut which meant no cup of tea. I was ill equipped with no gas burner as a back up or a freestanding wood burner; not that I would have that going in a wooden house that was rocking with the force of the wind. The force of the wind roaring under the house lifted the carpet so I could stomp down the hall which ran the length of the house and the carpet would ripple like waves...very cool.  I slept alone on the floor in the centre of the house to awake in the morning to NO POWER...NO CUP OF TEA. That’s the reason I left my rural home. I called for help from my sister who did have power. A friend arrived in a Toyota Land Cruiser, a real sturdy beast that powdered through the storm to get me to an electric jug and a hot cup of tea.

Day 15: Shadows v Reflections

I'm still thinking about this. I like shadows but there's something very evocative about reflections.

Day 14: He flew in on an aeroplane

 I’ve been thinking of Len Lye and the proposed Len Lye Centre for New Plymouth since my morning cuppa at which time I read a midweek article (online) about the whinging that’s been going on in the community. There’s a desire to write exactly what’s on my mind....which would insulate many people, but it’s so frustrating...doesn’t anybody read past a news head line. LET ME SAY THIS SLOWLY...the Len Lye Centre is not being built with tax payers’ money. The arts community (instead of whinging) went out and raised the money themselves.

There’s got to be a lesson in this. Not sure what it is yet, even though I’ve taken all day to think about this before making comment.

PS: I’ve deleted many in between sentences that were just too emotive to be of value to my daily comment...I’m now heading for bed and as usual I have my cup & saucer, teaspoon for my honey, grater for my fresh ginger and water in the jug ready for action in the morning.

Day 13: Talking to myself

Work hard and be nice to people

Day 12: a thoughtful day

100 days project: an exercise in balancing inspiration and discipline