Jellyfish

I see the sea and the sea sees me.

I don't see the sea just now, so I've been needing to get my fix on Flickr instead, indulging once again in jellyfish. I am always astounded by them, they are so profoundly beautiful, so other-worldly. Nearly all the images shown are in aquariums as they are easy to take, but it is SO SO SO important to defend our oceans so that these amazing creatures, and all the other under water wonders, can be preserved. Our seas and oceans are under enormous threat from humans yet we have the power as individuals, as voters and as consumers to help turn that around. Also, see the end of this post for how your art can help. But first, the jellyfish!...


Portugese Man 'O War (i think)
originally uploaded by entertreynment


left pic originally uploaded by FlgCEH
right pic originally uploaded by rosswebsdale

My brother and I once swam in a lake somewhere in the East coast of America which was filled with 100's of 1000's of tiny see-through jellyfish the size of a 10p piece (or a quarter in US) a bit like these. They didn't sting, at least, not that we noticed, and it was better than being out of the water where the biting flies were.

You Tube has a nice clip of a mass of jellies floating about, though these are much chunkier, denser, more complex jellies and there are far fewer of them - but they are in dreamy green water. I noticed lot of the You Tube jellyfish clips have innapropriate music with them but I did find one that worked, at least for me it did- large floaty see-through jellies wafting through blue water like ghosts with Enya singing Carribean Blue, very fitting. I like Enya, not the hits so much, but the other stuff. The ethereal ones.




both shots originally uploaded by mafic

Now I've got Enya in my head. I just found one of my favourite Enya tracks Exile on You Tube and noticed for the 1st time that Enya looks a bit like Ulla. Actually the Carribean Blue video (see here) is very 'Ulla'. My favourite track, usually, is 'Evening Falls' (lyrics here, short Last FM soundclip here and full track with video on here). It really reminds of how disconnected I felt when I was living with my crazy Aunt, but in my own house.

So strange to have your home, your things, your pets and your neighbourhood right there but to feel like you are in a strange and horrible place where nothing is safe, everything familar has been transformed into something threatening. You remember everything as it was, but it's not like that anymore (and never was again). I got through it by really going into myself, it was like there was an out of focus film between me and the life I used to have, but if I tried to have any of that old life she would try and destroy it. So I withdrew so that she couldn't identify anything else to attack.


originally uploaded by itsray


Portugese Man 'O War tentacles in a jar
originally uploaded by mastergeorge

That Enya song really reminds me of that feeling. I think I would have gone crazy if I hadn't withdrawn and become a 'Stepford Niece'. Not that it made much difference, my family seemed to think I was pretty crazy anyway. That was the hardest part of all. Escaping her to visit them in LA during holidays only to find that they saw me as being like her, the enemy. After that I think I pretty much gave up realising there wasn't anywhere where it was ok to just be me.

We all get on ok now but I have never felt part of my family since then. Not that I ever felt like I fitted in anyway, but I at least felt like my Dad used to understand me. But after living with his sister he never looked at me the same way, I was like tainted goods, tainted with her craziness. It doesn't help that I look a bit like her - which is why I hate my cheekbones even though people keep telling me cheekbones are great.


originally uploaded by kasiaeryn


originally uploaded by seancadzow

That's why I love blogging, you lot seem willing to let me be myself, all the sides of myself. I can do a post that starts off with me being all happy about jellyfish and then unexpectedly (I never saw this coming) slip into some bad memory, but I know you'll forgive me for it and that I'll come out of it feeling fresh and posting about my joy in what is around me, like today's freshly opened peonies (photo soon).

Blimey. What a mini journey. I just looked at where I started this post, I see the sea and the sea sees me. That pretty much sums up my love of the sea. I feel at home there (mermaid wannabe) and when I stand on a quiet beach with the wind tangling my hair into thousands of tiny knots and my eyelashes building up a layer of salty air I do feel like finally some'thing' can see the real me.


originally uploaded by kyoten


originally uploaded by fiveholer
clearly not jellyfish but it's so very very 'me'

I never show you my 'serious' artwork. but a lot of it is work around that stuff. About not being seen, about people projecting ideas of what they think you are onto you but not actually seeing you at all. About the body being like a seed, all full of potential, like a shell with the inside often very different from what you see on the outside. I'm very interested in symbiotic realtionships and how amazing they can be and you see a lot of that happening in the ocean, another reason why I'm drawn to the water. There's a LOT of symbiosis in the oceans.

See the amazing jellyfish sculptural window display at Magic Pony, Toronto here.
Jellyfish street lighting here.
Cute painting of a jellyfish by Christel Weixelman.

And on the subject of art - Greenpeace are asking for your ocean inspired art which could potentially shown in their art4oceans gallery. Find out more here.

Anna Peach

Anna Peach 'seed' & 'weathered' 2003

Ever get that thing where you want to post about someone but no matter how many times you write, edit, re-write it just doesn't do justice to what you want to say? That's where I've been at with this post about the wonderful Anna Peach. It was easy to do this post about her last April because I didn't know her at all, I was simply responding to her amazing Coconut Couture (above & below).


Anna Peach 'Coconut Couture' 2003

Now, through the wonder of the internet, I do know her and the more I know the harder it is to post something that encapsulates the complete creativity that flows from her every action, word and thought. I am totally captivated by the way she sees the world and how she then expresses it in her art and her poetic writing (she doesn't call it poetry, but read Mapping the Wind and you'll see what I mean).


Anna Peach 'island' hemp fibre & cording 2003

Anna works with themes that are very dear to my heart, particulary when working with water (see History Viewed Through Water), she has such an affinity with waterand environment. Everything she does exudes an appreciation of her immediate environment, of the history of place. I find her work so pure and honest, and brave. She is so dedicated to her projects, which are often incredibly labour intensive works like this breathtaking piece...


Anna Peach installing Spirit House in Wisconsin
photo via Kelknits courtesy of John Michael Kohler Art Centre

The absorbingly beautiful Spirit House is a dress/installation made from 100's of pieces of hand made lace. It is breathtaking on so many levels. All my attempts to write about this have been sadly inadequate, the best thing is to read Anna herself talking about it in this interview with her in Hana Hou, it does her more justice than my poorly crafted words are able to.


Anna Peach inside 'Spirit House' 2003

While she was in Switzerland (having moved there from Hawaii) we had some great email conversations talking about life, work, travel & experiences- she's a natural storyteller. Her writing style and openess as inspiring as her artworks so I said I really thought she should start a blog, and am pleased to say she has! She's been moving again (she's very nomadic in her way) hence me stalling this post for a few months. But she's settled again now and back to her new blog The Golden Egret Studio which is already one of my favourites, filled words, images and observations that really get me thinking in a more reflective way.

She makes such beautiful work but as you will discover if you delve deeper, she is more than willing to get in amongst the cold, the wet, and even the unpleasant to find often elusive truths of a place, of it's history, it's processes. Ah, I curse my inabilty to write eloquently - I know what I'm trying to say but I haven't the vocabulary to convey it. Just look at her work, read her blog - if it speaks to you then you will know exactly what I mean.


One of Anna's underwater installations. See the tiny fishes inside the gloves

Here are a few more articles about Anna which are worth reading as she always reveals wonderful stories from her past when she talks - one from Hawaii Craftsmen and a more recent one in Honolulu Star Bulletin.

Anna - It's good to see you immersed in a project, albeit a chilly one for the moment. May your coffee be always hot and your sleep be deep, when it comes. I thought of you when I saw the burdock burr women made by Ceca Georgieva.

Articulated fish

As promised, photo's of the articulated fish earring that came from the palest blue Karen.

I thanked her here, but lets just say THANK YOU again. She really 'gets' my taste, that old French envelope with it's gorgeous handwriting and the stamp, oh god, I was nearly drooling on it. And the little band made from the envelopes, well you all know how I'm obsessed with those blue papers so this was an especially lovely touch. And such a great handmade card - Karen, you should be showing more of your creations on your blog.

I don't wear earrings but little fishy will be popping up in one, or more, of my jewellery clusters that I make. Not that you ever get to see those, but Karen, I'll let you see. And it'll be nice in some of my collages too. Everything in my house gets used multiple times. There'll be more about that soon, still working on the post about my arty past. Also more on articulated fish, including the best one I have ever seen that belonged to my great Aunt.