The Ramblings Of Linden Langdon

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More Etching

Sunday 30, September

I have decided to work frantically and finish off my degree as fast as possible. This isn't such a strange thing, as I always intended to finish earlier than the full length of time allowed for part time study. So the next few months will be busy in the printroom for me. I've also made the shift to night printing and weekend as the business of the uni starts to bog me down. Precipice 3 is on the way, as is Precipice 2 and even 4. Precipice 3 is concerned with the domestic space, which can be as much a place of trauma as it can harmony. To illustrate the point I'm using an old Queenslander style house, which in Brisbane tend to be divided into two and rented as flats.

My house is going to become a dichotomy as the two halves are treated with different intensity to create a dark side and a light side. At the moment they are just etchings, but the next stage will introduce aquatint and at some point lithograph will also make its presence felt. I must admit that I was really enjoying the tight marking, but I have made a shift on the next state as I didn't want it to be too illustrative.

Books

Thursday 27, September

In a moment of relaxation I was reading the current Imprint magazine and got excited about old books again. My interest was sparked a few years ago when I found that one of my relatives was a publisher in England in the 1800's, so I'm always looking out for books that he may have published. It is a project that is just sitting in the background and waiting for me to start delving into a bit more. Anyway, the article referred to a website called Mirror of the World so I checked it out and it is really great! There are some very interesting books online that you can view and zoom in on. All good stuff. It is an initiative of the State Library of Victoria and especially the wonderful dome reading room they have. I took a couple of snaps when I was there last year - it is a really wonderful space.

Bright And Beautiful

Thursday 27, September

Yesterday I popped into the library for a look at the current exhibtion. Bright and Beautiful is a sample of the collection of illistrations of natural history that were published in the nineteenth century. The inspired hand coloured lithographs representing the specimens encountered by the English and Frecnch explorers as they travelled the oceans are superb. The exhibition runs until November 24th at the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts which is located on the ground floor of the State Library. If you follow the link then you will also find a selection of previous exhibitions which has some really interesting work as well!

Golden Syrup

Tuesday 25, September

Every now and then something a bit out of the ordinary happens. Recently in our garage clean up I came across an old tin. I had assumed that it was full of some horrid substance left by the previous owner, but to my surprise it is still full of the golden syrup it was canned with! Seems a bit odd. Sitting down there in the garage all these years. I guess the cold has been good to preserve it as the syrup still smelt good - but no I didn't try it. Lets face it, it has the old pounds measurement on it rather than the metric we have now. So it has to be pre 1976. According to the Government website for measurement (yes it exists) conversion began in 1970 and by 1976 we were metric. So the syrup must be at least 30 years old. The CSR Ltd website was of no use for history, so I have sent an email off to the TMAG to see if anyone can tell me how old it is. I'm sure there will be a trick to finding the age of a tin of golden syrup!

Ten Years Ago

Sunday 23, September

There seems to be a few people thinking about how the last ten years has flown by and wondering what was happening back then. Which started me thinking about it too, of course. I just moved to Hobart in January 1997, and the house was full of towering teenage boys playing pool in the 'dining' room, dashing in and out as they caught up with friends and eating vast quantities. It was a rule of mine to never turn on the oven without making at least three batches of whatever (cake, biscuits etc) and meals were prepared in kilos rather than grams. I started uni. English. Just one unit to see if it suited me or not. I know I'm still there, but I still haven't decided if it suits me or not. So back in '97 I was reading Shakespeare and Chaucer, the 4th edition of the Norton Anthology of Poetry, some contemporary Australian authors including Andrew McGahan and Kate Grenville, and in Critical Practice it was an analysis of the Master and Margarita by M. Bulgakov.

I certainly would never have imagined that I would still be at uni ten years later. I thought, back then, that I would be employed in some nice career driven job and life would be altogether different. I was still on the early side of the thirties, lived and breathed every day for my family and just began a little seed of hope for my future as me. One of the things I hated was the grey carpet in the 'dining room'. I certainly would never have imagined that it would still be there ten years on! The front yard was open and exposed to the trafiic fumes so I planted it up with natives which now form a thick hedge. So healthy, in fact, that I have had to do a huge cut back last week so that we can see round the corner when we drive out of our street. But thats a good thing in my book.

Myers Burns Down!

Sunday 23, September

It is really quite a sad event. The beautiful old Myers building in the centre of town caught fire yesterday afternoon and there was little the fire fighters could do as it took hold in the cavities between the floors and took hold of the whole building. It dates from the early 1800's, so is quiet an iconic site in Hobart. I just loved the big old staircases in the middle of the shop floors that took you to each level. I used to think about taking photos... Anyway, the Mercury Newspaper has some dramatic photos of the fire and an article online.

Painting

Saturday 22, September

Spring is well and truly letting us know it is here. A swallow dipped low in flight over me, plants are stretching out new leaves and soft branches and flowers are opening to show off their bright colours. The vegie garden is no more in my backyard, but thats not the end of growing vegies at all. Last year we had great success with growing a tomoato and capsicum in a big pot, so this year it is gardening in pots (up on benches) on a bigger scale! This is the easiest way to keep the dogs out of the food and the birds away from the young plants. Thats is the plan anyway. The herbs are the first to show promise for a good future and finally we can enjoy fresh cut herbs in our meals again. There really isn't anything like the homegrown variety.

Painting

Monday 17, September

It is the school holidays at the moment, so working at home is a good option. The backyard is in the process of being converted from an uncomfortable place to a comfortable place to be. This means a lot of digging and carting of dirt, with a bucket because I don't own a wheelbarrow, and placing of steps and paving. It is really making a difference, but is hard work, so half a day is about my tops at the moment. So what to do with the other half? Well something arty of course!

This is the first acrylic painting I've done, and I must admit it was not as bad as I had imagined it to be. I think I have played with arcylic on paper before, but on canvas it still has a feel that is somewhat like oils. Not that I want to abandon my love of oil paint, but I really had to try out the arcylic as next year (I say with buckets of hope) I will be having a trip into the desert with my mum. This means that painting with oils would be quite difficult due to the drying time, so acrylic it has to be. Of course I also intend to work with print, but that's another story.

Moonstone Mandala

Saturday 15, September

Sally Horne has a new website up and running. She paints the most superb mandalas using rich oil paint and a strong sense of what she is creating. The result is quite mesmerising. Check out Moonstone Mandala for a deeper understanding of the creation of a mandala. Sally lives at Windgrove on the Tasman Peninsula with her partner Peter Adams, and what a wonderful place to allow creative energy to bubble to the surface and manifest itself in art.

Notes To Self

Saturday 15, September

But you can read them if you want...

Most people, it seems, have been raised in a conservative environment and coupled with the conservative governing we find ourselves under, there is a flourishing of righteousness and of course along with that there is bullying by the people who feel most feathered by their current status. And of course in a conservative society where economics is the rule rather than concern for people and therefore acceptance of breadth and length of variation, it is economics that drives each and every facet of daily living. Oh what a shame, shame, shame, shame...

It is also abundantly clear, now, today, that writing a fine arts paper has to be done with extreme caution to avoid confusion for the readers. It isn't their fault really, having been raised from a spawn in the heart of the state, fed a diet of specifics and bounced into positions of power through following suit. Caution, yes, the kiss plan of abc. However, it must be stated, that, to sit in a position where you are delivering a paper in what is supposed to be an academic room of excellence and not cover all your bases with sound reference and breadth, would be a disgrace, in my book.

Recently I watched Tibet - Cry of the Snow Lion which was perhaps the most poignant reminders of the very real battle ground of humanity and economic power. It is being played out like a broken record over generations of survivors, but no one has been listening to the creak and crackle of the same tune. Watch it, please watch it, at least to hear the message again from a different voice, with a sound length and breadth of background understanding and documentation, quality fine tuning on the cutting room floor and a beautiful message of caring, not beating down beacuse of difference.

RHD 2007

Saturday 15, September

It went a bit like this...

• seconds
• fall
• striking the taut surface
• resounding the thunder slap; around her
• empty
• heart

Jamin At Devenport

Tuesday 12, September

Jamin has a solo exhibition at the Devonport Regional Gallery. Running until October 7th, I can see this raising a few ruffles about the place! You can check out the images of the exhibition work online on Jamin's website or if your in the area then there is nothing like the real thing. The gallery is located at 45 Stewart Street, Devonport, but unfortunately they haven't updated their website (as yet).

Flowers In The Gardens

Sunday 9, September

Speaking of the Botanical Gardens, a stroll about yesterday meant that some of the magnolia's were at their peak. As well as a few other beautiful flowers all letting us know it is spring!

It was too early for the cherry blossoms, so there is another trip to the gardens on the agenda for the next few weeks at least.

Body 4

Sunday 9, September

Despite my apparent lack of blogging in the last week, there has been a bit of action in the printroom. This is because it was mid semester break so the space was a bit less busy for me to work in. One of the prints I managed to complete in the week is Body 4. This group of prints will possibly end up as a frieze, but I am growing more and more fond of the leg section of the print on its own. Perhaps not so surprising in light of the previous years of printing legs!

Afternoon Tea With The Governor

Sunday 9, September

To celebrate the end of the Living Artist Week in Tasmania, the Governor of Tasmania (His Excellency the Honourable William Cox) and Mrs Cox held a reception at Government House nestled in the Botanical Gardens. I haven't had the opportunity to have a look inside this piece of Tasmanian history, so I picked up the camera and joined the hundred or so people who attended the event.

It was an enjoyable hour or so with plenty of trays of beautifully laid out nibbles and drinks floating between the crowd and a peek into a couple of the rooms. A good way the finish the week and meet a few of the people who had organised and participated in Living Artist Week.

Uni Talks

Sunday 2, September

On Friday I had to do a test run for my research talk in a couple of weeks. I have discovered that most disciplines don't have to do this. Deliver critique style talks about your work to date with extensive slides and informative quips. It seems to be a thing for the fine arts though, much to my horror. Public speaking is about the last thing on my list of activities to relish - behind playing mechanic even. It isn't like the small crits you have within your own fine art field when a few of your classmates offer some hints and tips. No it is more like standing up in front of the headmaster and hoping he isn't going to wack you with that cane again (yes it hurts, especially on the palm of the hand where they love to deliver the blows). It tends to be utterly humourless, and if a friends analogy of feeling as if he had lost his arm when he handed in his thesis (philosophy) then perhaps the talks could be seen as rolling up the sleeve ready for the chop. The whole point is that no matter what I write, no matter what I show, no matter how I present it - it won't suit everyone. And that is the nature of the beast of fine art - it is what it is - personally percieved and created. The best anyone can hope to achieve from delivering a speech about what you do is that someone will be on the same wave length at that particular moment in time. I feel better now.