Tag: life

Uncategorized

Art Is A Many Labelled Thing

carolyncordon

When I used to say I was a writer, I didn’t also consider myself to be an artist, wrongly so, as it turns out. Because of course, writing is indeed an Art, the Art of Literature.

The book pictured above is one made up of writing, both poetry and prose, from people connected to my writing group, and I am proud of each one of them!

It is filled with responses to writing prompts given at our various events held, and the book is certainly correctly labelled as literature, such is the quality of the chosen pieces.

I am as proud to be connected with this book as I am of my own personal published books I have. But a couple of years ago, I took my first steps to another form of Art, that of Visual Art. I took up the idea of perhaps writing and actually illustrating children’s picture books.

And to do that, I would naturally need to actually draw the pictures to go in the picture book, right? Right! Well that idea, while a fun change for a while, didn’t really take off in my mind, and while I’m still open to the idea one day happening, it is off my list of things to to NOW!

But the idea of being a Visual Artist as well as being involved in Literature stuck in my head, and I decided it was somethng I had to do, and how I was going to do it was to take something I’d already been doing for a bit of fun, and treat it in a much more serious way.

I am a dog owner, and as my husband and I have been walking our dog (Lenny, a Greyhound, retired from racing), well I’d been picking up bits and pieces of rusty “rubbish” and putting them on our fence.

Over time, there were more and more things there, and as the fence itself is made of iron, and much of it has rusted. I thought about it all, and decided I would put it all together, thinking of the many important contexts touched on by what I was doing.

In the image above are some of the items that make up this Art Installation, a tiny section, some given to me, some found, but all of them either rusty, found or both rusty and found. That chicken now has a name, Chicky Chook, and she may well be the ‘star’ of a picture book, using photos rather than drawings … My mind comes up with so many different ideas!

Anyway, back to the Art Installation:
Obviously, recycling and reimagining items otherwise looked on as trash, and now considered as items put on display, and so assist in the creation of the “Redbanks Rust and Found Art Installation”, all went toward my thinking on what I was doing as Art.

Initially I was Creating an Art Installation, and now, having more than 750 individual items on display, with more awaiting placement, and of course more found every week, I am thinking more closely about what I am doing, and where the best place may be for each item to be put on display.

Previously I would just put things anywhere, now I consider the most effective way to place each item, filling gaps in the display, to make it more visually appealing to onlookers …

So yes I am indeed a Visual Artist, as well as being involved in literature. I in fact have been bringing the two Art forms together, and intend publishing a collection of written responses to this Art Installation, and launch it at a Festival put on by my writing group.

Writing will always be a much loved aspect of my Art, but Visual Art is becoming more and more important to me as well!

Those two frogs were giving to me by a friend who’d had some rearrangement in her garden and no longer needed them, and she automatically thought of me! I’m becoming famous about this Art Installation, in my immediate community anyway, and am thinking about ways to extend my breadth of connections regarding this, and turn both it, and my other Creative things I do into a paying business!

Exciting times, and I am gathering as many supporters together to assist in making this installation into a fun and interesting place for tourists, whether they’re intrastare, interstate, or overseas visitors. This idea is taking up much of my thinking at the moment, and I truly feel it may actually work!

I don’t need thousands of visitors, I just need enough visitors committed to what I have to present, and happy to pay for it. I’ll be working at making my site one for not fust looking and walking on, but getting involved in what is on presentation, as a form of Experiential Tourism.

This is really appealing to me, and I hope it will be of interest to many others as well. If anyone is interested in knowing more, feel free to contact me, I’d love to tell you about it! And tell your friends too!

meaning in life, Uncategorized, Writing

Finding Meaning …

carolyncordon

I’m finding some sense of control, as I work through putting together this anthology “Plague Invasion – Creative Writing Responses to Covid-19”. I can do this one thing, and I can stay at home to do it, and that’s what I know how to do, staying home and putting words into order.

my view if I get off my bum and look … part of our front yard

It helps me to do this, and I hope it’s helping those who are getting working on it with me, writing their own story about how their life is right now. These are not good times. Stay safe, maintain your social distance with other people, wash your hands …

And if you write anything that relates to Covid-19, and would like to share your words with others, please consider submitting it to me!

My view out in the front yard again. I love these lovely tall pine trees, that the Galahs also love, when it’s time to check out the pine cones in the trees, to eat pine nuts.

As in the image just above, the creatures are going on with things, finding food and shelter where they can, and they’re not having to thing about this pandemic that humans are having to think about, and deal with. Animals have their own things to worry about, and that road just outside of our driveway, has often been a sad scene, when the Galahs are eating the pine nuts, from cones knocked down onto the road, and fall victim to a car. Life and death, right there …

It saddens me to see that, but well, we have to die from something, and chowing down on food you enjoy eating, would be a good enough time to die. It would be quick, and so painless, I hope. I wouldn’t want to die that way, and really, can’t see any point in thinking about how I may eventually die. I just hope it doesn’t happen for a long, long time.

But back to more positive thoughts. I hope we can get through this together, doing the best we can. And I want to catch up with friends again, and share hugs with them!

inspiration, writing prompts

From Small Things …

carolyncordon

I’m quite excited about what the month of February might bring – a little work for me, in the posting of a new creative writing prompt on this blog, every single day of this month of February, as well as the birthday of my super dooper bestest ever best friend, also known as my husband, Graham.

I hope that by the end of the month, I, and anyone who wants to come along for the ride, will have at least 29 new pieces of creative writing, that one hopes, might go on to become something more than just the small thing it began as. From a single writing prompt, may come an entire novel! Or, as in my case, the improvement of a poetry collection, that goes on to be published!

If you’re reading this post, and are excited about what may happen for you, for this month, I’d love to hear about it, please feel free to leave a comment, and we may begin a worthwhile discussion about writing related things – hopes for our writing, ideas about how to improve what we write, anything. We are writers, and we write – may our words bring worth to us, and to all who read our words!

I have dreams, I have ideas. If anyone reading this blog is interested, I love to give workshops to small groups, especially those who aren’t really sure about the scribbles they do, when they feel the need to get the stuff in their brain out, and onto the page. This writing can be rubbish, at times, but it can also be wonderful.

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Sometimes you can match the rubbish up with something else, give it bit of a polish, and it can become something far larger than the individual parts! Dare to dream, dare to write, dare to be your most fabulous self! And remember to tell people I helped you! Haha.

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An image I took recently, when there were so many very important things going on, that I knew I had to capture images of, but I felt impelled to take a photograph of the ground at my feet, and in that image, are so many individual things. Stones, pebbles, sticks, leaves, sand, dirt, and who knows what else. There’s the toe of my foot, and part of the chair I was sitting on, and a tiny piece of the pants I was wearing …

Is it, could it be, inspirational, who knows, but right know, at this very moment, I’ve begun thinking about the series of Cosy Murder Mystery books I’m thinking of creating, and maybe this image could have been taken by my amateur sleuth, Meredith, and it turns out to contain a vital clue to the question of ‘Who done it?’

Inspiration, what a lovely word it is. If I can inspire more loveliness in February, how awesome that could be, would be, should be! I ask of all to help the awesomeness manifest, for the month of February! Let this blog be inspiration for a more awesome world, filled with the awesome creative writing from February!

 

inspiration

Write For What’s Right!

carolyncordon

I am a writer, I write for a number of reasons, but I’m thinking right now, I can use my writing skills for assisting good things to happen. Not good things for me, but for my community, my country, and for the world!

I am the editor of a monthly newsletter, that goes out to my local community, and beyond. I have hundreds of people who read that newsletter, the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle. As editor, I have complete control over what gets printed and distributed, and I feel like this avenue is a fine one to assist me in helping good things happen.

I often slip in little items of interest, random thoughts and ideas, so from now on, some of these items may begin to get a lot more serious. The country is burning, and my passion for doing what I can to help is also burning. We all can do something to help, whether by growing trees with Trees for Life, getting involved with a community group that helps other people in various ways, or something else that truly speaks to you.

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I’m looking for the good in all, in the hope others will want me to see it in them too! That’s my take on life, especially right now, thinking about the way our country is burning, people, property, animals, habitat, dying … But there are wonderful people doing wonderful things, both big things and small, and in this way, Australia can keep on going, doing the best we can.

As a writer, I will use my way with words for good, sharing good being done, finding good within myself, and in others, sharing the good news, and spreading hope and help however I can. I suggest that I’m not the only person out there, there are many writers with a much wider audience than I have, and I welcome anyone in this position top do whatever they can do too!

If you have a voice in the community, use it to speak good things, spread good news stories, engender hope, and together we can be forces for good!

poetry

Write What You Know

carolyncordon

I very much believe the writing adage of ‘Write What You Know’. I’ve done this in several of my earlier published books and in my most recent book. I am a poet, I know about writing poems on a vast range of subjects. I feel that my writing group exercises of writing on set topics have helped me with this, a lot.

But writing about the more personal things, things I know because I’ve lived them, these can be the very best of my writing, I feel. And my most recent book, is based on what happens when you have a broken ankle, and I know about this subject, because two months ago, I fell over, and yes, I broke my ankle!

I now know a lot more things about breaking your ankle than I knew before, and because a broken ankle means getting around is difficult, so you spend a lot of time just sitting … But because I’m a poet, I didn’t ‘waste’ that sitting around time, I wrote poetry about it all., instead.

Sitting on the sofa, with my broken ankle up high, to try to reduce the swelling, worked well – the swelling in my ankle is now much reduced, compared to how it was when I broke the ankle. And it also meant I had enough poems to fill a chap book sized publication.

So I put the poems together, asked a publisher I know if they would be interested in seeing my poems, and they said yes! Hooray to that. It turned out a broken ankle was not unknown by one of the people at the publisher, and they were keen to publish my book, “Angles on Ankles”.
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I’m proud of this little book, and am happy to now have copies of the book available for sale, at the very reasonable price of $5 (plus postage and handling). There are 21 poems in this collection (more if you count each of the Senryu in the collection as individual poems). The poems are honest, true to my experience, and I feel are thoughtful gems of wisdom, as I take a poetic look at hospital, healing, rehabilitation, and life.

I’m thrilled that I will be the guest poet at the next Gawler Poets at the Pub event, 2-4 pm on 29 December, where my book will be officially launched by well known South Australian poet John Malone. John didn’t think there were that many things to write about a broken ankle, and I’m glad to have shown him I could come up with many things!