Peeling off Layers

...... Sunday morning between Bondi and Tamarama .........
.... many good sculptures .... far too many people ........... "no offense" ....
.... I felt a lot like this soldier ....... lost in the crowd .............

..... some satisfying time spend in mixing, brushing on and wiping off hues of paint .....
.... I think I am nearing the completion of this picture as I am getting close to my initial idea of what this should express ..... I did not want the sky to be dark and therefore more 'dramatic' but at this stage it seems to be useful in holding all together ........ and the idea works with it as well ....

...... some small but satisfying work on the 'harbour' painting today ............ I wanted to re-paint those figures in the foreground but seeing that just adding darker tone would make them stand out much more and that would create desirable illusion of space I just used the phtalo blue that I had been using to glaze over the water and I deepened the tone of the figures with it...... the whole picture has almost unacceptable "rainbow" impact .... but on the other hand - the intention is to give a very strong "image" of a place which is unconditionally emotionally safe .....

... using this photo taken today and sent for consultation ..... this had been worked on and not posted for the sake of helplessness ..... why prepare another stage if there is not much hope left for the final one to turn "right" ..... one stage which feels like - the one of "no return" ..... perhaps using this as a "background" for some other - New and Better - picture would be an idea ...... and not waste time on this any more ..........

... I am apprehensive I would say ..... can we actually grow something? .... these seedlings are so small and so once I read that three plants are enough for a family to supply enough crop - I wonder how did I manage to be convinced that I need to get at least ten seedlings ..... we need trellis and straw for mulch ........

.... very very proud ........ we started THE veggie patch as off today ..... three not too big, raised garden beds from recycled stuff from underneath the house ...... soil will need some improvement in time, I think ..... perhaps starting good compost is the obvious answer ...... and so I planted one row of silver beet seedlings ..... parsley seedlings, two small sized egg plant seedlings next to two stakes to climb on as they are supposed to be climbers, many basil seedlings (in two colours), four lettuce seedlings (also in two colours) and many amaranth seedlings - all into one bed .....

.... photo taken at about 180 degrees turn standing nearly at a same spot as in the photo from the previous blog ...... industries ...... ancient military equipment ..... all adds to a pretty surreal feel of this place ..... on one side near pristine piece of rock platforms and beach preserved thanks to the close proximity to the other side filled with endless industrial horror .........

.... one mission is better than thousand options - I remember this again and I am on a very nice mission here .... what an amazing place this is .... and how incredibly strange is the name .... I suppose in a weird twist of history this part of the coast is as it is just because next to it is the enormous decimation of industrial world and harbour .... somehow being destroyed means at the same time preservation ...... it's hard to put it in words .....

.... another favourite .............. thanks for reminding me about him ..... and yes ..... I suppose I did have in mind just very similar compositional solution for my "Safe Harbour" painting - so I will see how I go .........

Below is an introduction from the wikipedia's entry on 'KEFIR' .... but there are many other sites much more informative ..... we used to make fun out of our 'olders' who swore that kefir is the best .... I love to make it now - it has so much added meaning to it ... after all these years ...... it surprised me once I was told Australians did not know/use yogurt - not until Italians and/or middle-eastern peoples introduced it here .... I suppose it's a similar story with the olive oil ......