My own experiences this year have encompassed the whole gamut.  Life is about getting on with the nitty gritty. With an exhibition to create in three months, over the heat of summer, with Christmas looming, I am exhilarated. The new studio, a year old next month, took its time arriving, but I knew it would happen one day. That day arrived with my builder son – in law and his offsider during the first week in December last year, and the studio was completed in time for a New Years Eve party.

This year’s events may not be quite as exciting but creating work in the new space is. Holding the odd workshop,  especially as a  new patio style carport arrives soon, will get even better in 2011. Here is a photo of the art studio..good things do come to those that  work at achieving their dreams…

Lyne Marshall's art studio

Meet me at Art Clique is on Stand D13 from the 11th to 14th November.  As well as displaying  paintings, I will sign copies of both my books More information on http://www.artsydney10.com.au/exhibitors/Art-Clique

The French master sculptor, Rodan, was once quoted as saying ‘ the artist enriches the soul of humanity and delights people with a thousand unsuspected shades of feeling’  For someone to reach this level in their creative output they first have to have a vision and a purpose for their life’s work. They may even need to get out of their own way and allow the real work to flow. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written several books on this subject which are great reading for artists.

Many have talked about an aspect of studio work where a spiritual richness emerges in the work as though they are being guided by higher power. Cy Thombly, an acclaimed American artist, has learned to wait on the flow. He is well known for his energetic scribbled paintings and like New York based artist Max Gimblett, gets in touch with the inner artist through eastern based practices of meditation. Whatever the principals behind creative work, you first need to be disciplined to turn up on a regular basis to the studio.

Value your creative time and the best way I find to do this is to create goals that are defined by time. We continually ask.. where did all that time go? Not surprisingly, setting goals for each day, actually gets things done.  Allowing time everyday for studio thinking even if not studio working, causes us to realise that everything needed is all around us, and the way to access anything is to value what you already have, and be grateful for it. How do others access flow? I would love to see your comments here

Passages 2, 122 x 122cm acrylic on canvas 2009

‘ I stand before the sea, my childhood drifting before me in the passage that separates the island [me] from the mainland [life]. The ebb and flow of the tide washes to the beach the flotsam and jetsam of ships and people that have passed by me. Exposed to this debris, life will continue; just every now and then I stop to clean up the shoreline.’   Lyne Marshall

Through rain and local flooding I headed off to Brisbane tonight to go to an interview and book signing with well loved singer songwriter Paul Kelly. His new book How to make Gravy is an unusual mix of biography, creative insights and Australian stories. I recommend it for a good solid read.  In the book Paul includes some of his songs such as If I Could Only Start Again, and Careless, amongst others. During the interview he told of how the songs came about, and then promptly jumped up and sang a few of them to us. We were all spellbound especially when he sang From Little Things Big Things Grow with a guest singer, Kev Carmody.

Before the show I was talking to a stranger seated beside me, as you do sometimes, and we discussed how Paul Kelly worked his way to the acclaim he has now. He didn’t shy away from the harder gigs, and the persistent grind of entertaining in bars and clubs. I recalled an interview Paul had on prime television  with Andrew Denton some years ago.  Ever the professional musician, with a long history of achievements, he came across as very humble and full of humanity. For that very reason I love to watch musicians play as they inspire my own creativity. They manage to achieve mostly through the strength of practice, and persistence, yet  it is very obvious they love what they do.

Here is a photo of Paul Kelly signing my copy of his new book. I do look  like I was having a great time, the cat that got the canary even ?

Remaining motivated can be a hard call at times. Creative people can be like boats, tossed about in the storms of life, as they sail for peaceful and fruitful shores. Their craft may have an excess of anchors, which dig into the sand and hold them back, so it is easy to get disillusioned. There are several versions of a saying, attributed to Babatunde Olatunji, and I particularly like this version “The clock is running. Make the most of today as time waits for no one. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.”

Today is always going to be the best time to be educating the mind, which is powerful and responsive to the best efforts to motivate and enrich us. Every day we can read something new, experiment, explore and best of all, research what gives us passion. I found this alone the most inspiring of all the tools for creativity.

Below is my painting  shortlisted for the 2010 Norvill Art Prize for landscape.

My Beating Heart, 122 x 101 cm, acrylic on canvas