The Roots that Anchor You

Do you understand what inspires you? What are your unique passions and preoccupations? Why do we each have our own? Take me, for example, I know that to be true to myself and live wholeheartedly I need to create art that celebrates my connection with nature. But how did I come to be like this?

I believe that we answer this question by looking beneath the surface and asking ourselves what roots anchor us, connecting us with the source of our unique personal power.

Your true self is like a solid tree trunk, firmly anchored by its roots in soil fertile to nourish you. The branches are the multiple faces you wear, that comprise your rich self; the leaves are your shifting feelings and thoughts, responding to your environment and conditions.

To stay strong, to grow and thrive, you need to care for and protect your roots, honouring them as your lifeline to an authentic life. They delve deeply within the layers of your family, culture and land, allowing you to ground yourself in values, beliefs, language and behaviours.

It was when I learned to acknowledge the rich tapestry of my heritage - all I had grown up with, the roots that sustained me, gave me life, - that I began to understand my own direction.

So if you ever feel like a tree uprooted, disconnected as though drifting in shapeless uncertainty, become a master gardener - feed and nurture yourself, from the roots up. 

Afternoon Blaze, Oil on Board, 50cm diameter, Sold

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Braving The Storm

As you may know I have been scouring the coastline of Sydney and braving the afternoon storms in the Blue Mountains to find subjects to paint over the past few months! I am excited to tell you that the result is a never-before exhibited body of plein air paintings which I carefully hung on the walls of the delightful heritage listed Braemar Gallery in Springwood on Monday.

I make this sound so easy and smooth sailing, but the 'hanging day' had moments of anxiety mixed with this gathering excitement.

Can you recall a time when you put your heart and soul into a project? Perhaps you wrote a song, built a piece of furniture or designed a new garden. Then you showed someone your efforts and in the few seconds before they responded, you realised with crystal clarity that by investing your unique talents, energy and perspectives in your project, you'd left yourself wide open, vulnerable to criticism.

And that's all there is to it! There is no fix-it or rescue remedy for enduring this uncomfortable storm. Being creative, investing yourself, is risky. On hanging day, while I was excruciatingly aware of this discomfort twisting like a knot in my stomach, 'I gripped tightly to the gunnel and steered my little vessel onwards!'

I'd love you to come and see this new work. Click here for a sneak preview of the show Of Earth and Air and for further information about the show.

Wintry Afternoon, Oil on Board, 40 x 40cm, $485

Nature - Beautiful but not Benign

Do you remember the Blue Mountains bush fires of October 2013? As an inhabitant of the vicinity, I witnessed the event unfolding with all its horror and implications. This is a recent painting made in response to that experience. It attempts to engage deliberately with the world’s difficulties. 

You don't have to look too far to see that although nature is amazing - beautiful, even exquisite - it can be a force of destruction, suffering and anguish. Tsunamis, bushfires and earth quakes are natural events that shock us out of any delusion that nature is benign. Even a cursory examination of the day's news reveals the complexity of living in a world of paradoxes – of beauty and cruelty, of plenty and famine, of presence and absence.

While my landscape paintings are arguably beautiful, they escape the banality of beauty for it’s own sake. As in my work, you intuitively recognise that nature is not controllable and its beauty is ephemeral. 

I feel compelled to make works that invite you to drift within them, potentially experiencing a non-rational space within which to encounter the paradoxes of the human condition; hope and despair, destruction and regeneration, fragility and power. 

What do you think? Can a landscape painting be both beautiful and speak about a catastrophic event? I'd love to hear from you - email me with your thoughts here.

Rising, Oil on Canvas, 101 x 101cm, $3500

Painting in a Landscape of Choice

Do you remember when you were a child, clutching your pocket money in front of the corner store lolly stand? You loved the anticipation of tasting the sweetness, but oh, how difficult it was to choose one lolly over another!

When I spent time painting outdoors last week, I felt that same tension of indecision. The beauty of the landscape around me provided the allure of so many distinct, sweet and exciting flavours I could explore in paint! How could I decide?

As I looked with deep attention at the water cascading over the rocks, as if dancing in the sunlight, part of me longed to spend hours mastering every small detail of that image on canvas. I yearned to be able to capture the appearance of even a small part of our mysterious world, with truthful realism.

Another part of me, however, searched for a different flavour within the glistening, transparent water, shifting clouds and transient light. Rather than paint the appearance of the landscape, I attempted instead to evoke the mysterious and transitory experience of being immersed in my surroundings. As I chose this path over the many others on offer, I felt a profound sense of vulnerability. I was exposed to the risk that I had chosen poorly, that the paintings would not touch you with the same wonder that I felt in the natural world. But ultimately, I stayed my course - navigating the uncertainty of my decision.

Perhaps you can relate to this experience, even if for you it is not with paint on canvas? I'd love you to let me know and also to tell me what you think of the paintings. You'll find them at www.corinneloxton.com.au/plein-air-oil-paintings

Still Morning, Oil on Board, 40 x 40cm, $485

Out of the Mouths of 'Babes'

While driving to Art2Muse Gallery on Saturday with my three children, my eldest son (14) asked me, "Mum, what did you say the other day about the number of artists in Australia that make a living from their art?"

I replied "Oh, I was saying that only a very small number of artists in Australia, probably between twenty to forty, make a good living from their art alone. What I mean is, they can take their family on holidays and do the things they want to do in their leisure time, like other families". 

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then responded, "That's not many... but there's about to be one more!"

I felt so touched by his confidence in me and the decisions I make daily to pursue art as a career, rather than seeking a waged job that might offer us more financial security. My children understand the dilemma I faced earlier in the year when I was offered a fantastic opportunity to work at a local high school with a very professional staff and highly motivated students. I agonised over whether to hang onto a reliable income or continue to face the uncertainty of casual work and the vagaries of the art market. 

The latter won out and I continue to strive towards my dream, motivated in part by the inspiration I hope to be to my precious children - that one day they too will have the courage to face their fears head on and choose to step into the unknown to follow their passions. In the words of Wes Roberts,

"Whether you are old, young or somewhere in between, whether you want to admit it or not, those coming along after us are watching how we dream and what we do with our dreams, and young people are naturally drawn to the older folk who do dare to keep dreaming, seeking us out, watching how we live into and beyond both our failed and successful dreams".

http://sevensentences.com/2015/06/09/keep-chasing-your-dreams/