Sunday, December 5, 2010

Polaroid; portraits in process

The body of work Lilly and I each bring to the BIG table arrives full and open, and the resulting frisson between our worlds, connections and ideas is spinning this BIG thing into overdrive. It is fast. The process quite like an animated flicker book with the occasional still of a Polaroid. In this last week our baby girls each celebrated a birthday and we paused in the frame.
Birthday girls. Small bluebirds of happiness. Now one, and two.

We begin to glimpse how the other half lives through the detail in the descriptions of each BIG thought process and provocation. It becomes personal as we both lay it on the line, anxieties and all; big breaths, big moments, big risks, big sharing. Our differences and similarities feed one into the other in a series of continuous landings and arrivals marked by interruption, exhaustion, pressure, anticipation, serendipity, work, laughter and time difference. We watch potential turn into action and stick stamps on the back of our hot-off-the-press postcards so people can hold the BIG world in hand. The tide is high. If you feel like partaking in a bit of BIG action, become a BIG follower and click on the 'follow' button to the right of the blog. Be one of the first to board.

Lilly scans work before the ink is dry / holds a circus in each palm / scours unusual stores for clues / ties treat bags with chalk and pencils that hold everything you can imagine / catches rain with her birthday girl / sketches boat fleets and birds / buys paper dolls and tiny illustrations in match boxes and tucks them into the pram with little boxes of sultanas and star pretzels...

Jo writes cities in miniature suitcases / makes notes and lists and leaves them in her car, bedside, pocket, kitchen top, drawer, laptop, garden / rests in the wings / careers to school pick up / times everything to within an inch of its window / lands easily in the dance work and whir of the studio / checks postcard proofs with a wriggling girl in arm and leaves with a printed baby / sends it all in the mail and hangs out the washing (again)...

Twyla spent her entire 2nd birthday party dancing in warm summer rain

2 comments:

  1. What are Jo and Lilly up to? 
 I have no idea whatsoever! It is a complete mystery. And that's what makes it so wonderful.
    
In our constant quest for meaning and certainty we occasionally forget the adventurous path from innocence to wisdom.
    
The signposts invite us to thicken the plot, to dart down sidetracks, to pay attention to glimpses, fleeting birds, rich earthy fragrances, fallen leaves.
    The signposts call out to us to unravel and confound the chain mail of our certainty, to unpack our flotsam and jetsam, to travel, lighthearted and light footed, deeper and deeper into the darkness. And once there to sit, to be still, to watch and to listen.
    All along that road less travelled and in the heart of our unknowing, lie simple miracles, patiently awaiting our expectant and wide-eyed approach, waiting for us to deepen the mystery.

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  2. Thanks for your generous comment Paul. Indeed, we find and reveal as we go. Here, clarity evolves in an open frame. An interesting viewing platform, challenging and real in its locating and sharing of process. You inspire us to continue to tell it like it is. To be clear in the transparency of form and function as well as the poetic. What is this BIG thing exactly? Watch for a BIG explanation post coming soon! Jo

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We love reading your BIG thoughts and really appreciate your comments, thank you!

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