I get by with a little help from my friends!

The guitar is all ready for Peats Ridge Festival tomorrow, and over the next three days "Circle of One Foundation" will be raising funds and awareness for The Thin Green Line

Big ups to my beautiful and talented friend Belle Cumming for helping me complete this guitar after I had a "slight" mishap whilst horse riding (ironically at Peats Ridge - Glenworth Valley). So, whilst broken ribbed, I am not broken hearted as I have wonderful, amazing, "deadly as" people in my life!

Thank you Belle! (and we can't forget Curtis - not just a pretty face, but the man can string a guitar too!)

Festival of the Overcast and Chance of Rain (oops! I mean Festival of the Sun)

What a wonderful weekend at FOTSUN! And while despite the Sun failed to show up for its time on stage, the performers at Festival of the Sun rocked it through the rain and the cloud cover!

We are pleased to announce that with the support of the FOTSUN team and performers we were able to take our Save the Kimberley painted guitar to raffle and came up with another $1070 for the cause! Big props go to Macron Music for donating a guitar for this project, FOTSUN management and crew for assistance in raffle sales and the signing by performers, DALLAS freakin' FRASCA (you rock my world woman!), and XAVIER RUDD for supporting our project and spreading the Save the Kimberley cause to the crowd at the festival.

More photos to follow.

On a final note for today, I am very pleased to announce: it's official! We are taking the guitar project to BIG DAY OUT!!!!! Thanks to Blue King Brown and John Butler Trio support we are taking this project to a whole 'nother level!!! Jah bless!!!! One love's the movement!! 1 Y

Save the Kimberley Guitar Project ready to rock Festival of the Sun

Photograph by Julie Lowe

This weekend we are taking the "Circle of One" guitar project to Festival of the Sun for Save the Kimberley. An amazing line up to hail in the summer and the crowds will be sure to dance up a storm... quite literally! Forecast for a down pour, but we'll be there campaigning for a pouring out of charity and support for our mob at Save the Kimberley.

You're alive. Do something.

The directive in life, the moral imperative was so uncomplicated.

It could be expressed in single words, not complete sentences.

It sounded like this:

Look.

Listen.

Choose.

Act.

STK and JBT have Calgary join the cavalry

Thanks to Emily Exon and Axe Music in Calgary we have raised $675 for Save the Kimberley through the painted guitar project! Not bad for an oil province! Big ups to all who supported through their donations, talents, and times! Canada is deadly as eh!

Photos to follow shortly!

We wish John Butler Trio all the best with the rest of their North American tour.

Next stop for STK guitar project: Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie!

STK and JBT hit Winnipeg in a flurry of goodness!

I know I can win you all over with the following statement: I love Canadians!

But seriously, I do! I'm so proud to announce that Chelsea rocked it with John Butler Trio in Winnipeg, raising an outstanding $1110 for Save the Kimberley!

Thank you to the Trio and Chelsea for braving the snow and sharing a beautiful night of music, respect and power with crowd there in Winnipeg.

Next stop for STK guitar project Calgary! Let there be a stampede for the raffle tickets! Big ups Canada! You're all deadly as eh!

O Canada! Deadly as Eh!

We've sent out a call to arms for our fellow eco-warriors over in Canada! We're taking the Save the Kimberley guitar project on the road as we follow John Butler Trio on their Canadian leg of their world tour. With the support of John Butler Trio, crew and management, the Save the Kimberley message will be shared with Canadian audiences.

So it is here where I am most delighted to introduce you to one of our Canadian representatives: Chelsea French.

Chelsea has been putting her talents and creativity to good use painting guitars to be raffled at the Winnipeg show (November 24)/ She has teamed up with Mark Johnston, and together they have produced these beautiful guitars! It just blows my mind the amazing work they have done! It's such a blessing to know there are people in all corners of the world willing to put in the work, spread the word, and stand up for what is right!

"when one love's the movement, we're all included"

Big ups to you Canada! Look, Listen, Choose, Act!

Explorer you tell yourself this is not what you came for

This land like a mirror turns you inward

And you become a forest in a furtive lake;

The dark pines of your mind reach downward,

You dream in the green of your time,

Your memory is a row of sinking pines.

Explorer, you tell yourself this is not what you came for

Although it is good here, and green;

You had meant to move with a kind of largeness,

You had planned a heavy grace, an anguished dream.

But the dark pines of your mind dip deeper

And you are sinking, sinking, sleeper

In an elementary world;

There is something down there and you want it told.

— Gwendolyn MacEwen "Dark Pines Under Water," The Shadow Maker (1972)

From chaos in our lives comes another order - a para-order

"From chaos in our lives comes another order - a para-order

this is actually more real than the order we feel guilty about giving up

- the one we feel we should conform to -

because it is informed by chaos" Joel Faflak

Save the Kimberley Guitar Project (update)

As promised, here are some images of John Butler Trio and Blue King Brown with the guitars painted for the Save the Kimberley cause. In total we have raised $2300 for the cause and had thousands of petitions signed urging our government to heed and respect the wishes of the custodians of the Kimberley Country and to respect the culture and the land. For more information and to support the cause please visit www.savethekimberley.com

A big thank you again to Macron Music for their generous donation of the guitars for this project. Thank you to John Butler Trio, Blue King Brown and their crew and management for their continued support. Thank you to the Save the Kimberley crew and mob for their persistent passion and drive. And an amazingly huge thank you to my wonderful team: Julie Lowe, Jason Weeks, Anita Tassone, Vanessa Young, Wazza Jones and Jennifer Rose. What a deadly as team eh!

We are excited to announce the next stop for the Save the Kimberley guitar project is the Canadian leg of the JBT tour. Following this; Festival of the Sun (Port Macquarie), Peats Ridge Music Festival (Central Coast - supporting The Thin Green Line) and drumroll please..... Big Day Out 2011!

amorphisms and aphorisms

These are some works from late last year. I call them amorphisms because they can take any shape, or direction, and their form is arbitrary. I love working with the ink and the line, and sometimes the lines become a combination of these amorphisms, figures, and text. The text is usually appropriated from music or literature, and stands as a sort or aphorism, capturing a moment or thought or desire.

Summer is coming

Well, with summer on the way, the music festival season has kicked off.

It was good to get away this weekend with Jules and chill out at Stonefest in Canberra. Jules and I are just warming up for the season and the Circle of One Guitar Project is about to launch. We have confirmed the projects involvement at Festival of the Sun in Port Macquarie and the Peats Ridge Music Festival on the Central Coast. Our plans continue to evolve with the support of Save the Kimberley and artists including John Butler Trio, Blue King Brown, Mama Kin, Xavier Rudd and Dallas Frasca.

I will post some of the guitar designs as they all come together. This is just a quick one to say "summer is coming, it's time to smile" :)

Gratitude

Things I'm grateful for this weekend:

1. Generosity and support: Big thank you to MACRON MUSIC of the Central Coast for their donation of two guitars for the Save the Kimberley guitar project.

2. Helpfulness: from the friendly man at Bunnings who gave me tips on finishing the guitars.

3. Time: to paint, to enjoy the sun, to talk with friends, to smile.

Save the Kimberley Guitar Project

We are teaming up with the Save the Kimberley crew to help support and raise awareness of this issue. We will be painting guitars and having these signed by the John Butler Trio and Blue King Brown who are currently touring Australia. These artists create "conscience music". They demonstrate a passion for raising awareness and taking action against the atrocities of our government's greed for wealth and power.

We met with JBT and BKB last night after their amazing show in Newcastle. We are so very pleased to have their full support for our guitar project and look forward to seeing the great things we can achieve through the collective of passionate beings who have the courage to stand for what is right!

Here is a quick sneak peek at the design for the Blue King Brown guitar (artwork appropriated from Worldwize -used with permission from Natalie Pa'apa'a and Carlo Santone)

Some words from BKB's "Worldwize"

This music is about life, its about the people and this planet, the world we live in today, the challenges that prepare us, the history that inspires us to change, the battles that surround us, and the victories that wait for us, this era that demands our ATTENTION, and the training of our minds to be MIGHTY, informed, in touch...

and here is the design for the JBT guitar: Boab trees representing the bounty of the Kimberley.

some words from JBT's "Revolution"

Big heavy pirates man digging those holes, messing with something that they can't control

Trespassing lands where they don't belong, all I hear is screaming where there once was songs...

The threat to the country, the culture, the song lines, the pristine environment is not something to be ignored! Check out www.savethekimberley.com and be informed about how our government has plans for compulsory acquisition of the land. Take a stand! Make a fuss! Our government speaks of "moving forward" let's not move backwards into colonialisation, theft and invasion.

www.savethekimberley.com

About Save The Kimberley

This website has been put together by the “Save The Kimberley” group (Formerly known as CHEAK: Cultural, Heritage and Environmental Advocacy for the Kimberley). We are an independent awareness organisation and have been established to:

Two of 400 protestors who attended the December 12, 2008 Anti Gas Hub Rally in Broome. Press image for enlargement.

1. Educate the Australian and international community about the threat to the Kimberley Coast and its inland wilderness areas posed by multi-billion dollar gas and large-scale industrial development proposals.
2. Engage support to ensure that the Kimberley is protected for the enjoyment of current and future generations.
3. Produce educational material about the impacts of the proposed developments.
4. Disseminate information about the Kimberley’s globally unique cultural importance and the threats created by uncontrolled development.
5. Save the Kimberley does not oppose development. Save the Kimberley supports appropriate development that looks after people and the environment of the Kimberley.

For more information go to: www.savethekimberley.com

business cards on the way

I've ordered some business cards to help promote my artworks and commissioned pieces. I've also set up a new email address for inquiries about my work: everything_is_transformed@hotmail.com

Everything that happens is from now on

In June and July I started drawing black crows. I was drawn to a song by Bon Iver (side note: the name Bon Iver is a play on the french term "bon hiver" - good winter, and this winter for me ironically was not... regardless I listened to a lot of Bon Iver to get me through) anywho! The song is called Re: stacks. The line that inspired these drawings goes:

"there's a black crow sitting across from me, with his wiry legs crossed, and he's dangling my keys, he even fakes a toss, whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss"

This image stuck in my head, and I just had to get it on paper.

Deer Heart

The month of May saw the return of the doe-eyed girl. I worked from a photograph taken by one of my favourite photographers Frank Petronio. http://frankpetronio.com

I absolutely love Karen's heart tattoo and wanted to capture this for the collection of doe-eyed girls.

Bluesfest, Tibet Guitar Project, Deadly as Eh!

April was an epic month! I had the opportunity to catch up with my beautiful friend Jennifer Rose, cruise up and down the east coast of Australia, and meet an incredible crew, now known, for all intensive purposes, as "Deadly as Eh!".

I was able to collaborate with Wazza Jones for his Tibet Guitar Project.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tibet-Guitar-Project

For the past three years Wazza has painted guitars and had them signed by the artists performing at the Byron Bay Bluesfest. The mission of the Tibet Guitar Project is "To raise as much money for the Tibetan Refugee Centre in Dharamsala India through the auctioning of hand painted guitars personally signed by Musicians at the 2007 , 08 ,09, 10 Byron Bay Bluesfests. To raise awareness of the Universal responsibility we have to be the voice of the Tibetan people."

Wazza, Rosie, Julie, Angus, Anita, Jason and myself rocked Bluesfest '10 raising awareness and spreading the message of change. With the support of the artists and performers at Bluesfest, we had three guitars signed, raising funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Tibet Guitar Project.

In addition to this, we also asked the artists and performers to sign a "world invitation to change". Green organic silk banners were signed as part of Satish Sikhar's mission: www.ourworld-wewill.com.

So, overall the Deadly as Eh! crew was on a mission to use our voice and "be the change we wish to see in the world". It was an inspirational and amazing experience to be surrounded by people passionate about their music and creativity and most importantly passionate about making this place a better place to be.

Its been a while...

... I know I shouldn't have kept you waiting

and now if you can forgive me for the indulgent Britney Spears reference, then perhaps you can forgive me for the long awaited blog post!

Its been a few months, but by no means has "nothing been created". This Fall/Winter has been a time for adventure and exploration. And so, its time to get up-to-date on "everything that has been transformed".

amour et lumiere

Reba Jayne

There is freedom around us

"There's better people with more good to do".

I truly believe that success and happiness in life exists in doing whatever you can, be the deed big or small, to make changes for the good and to reach outside of yourself to nurture the beauty and gifts of life and humanity around us.

"Be the change the want to see in the world".

I painted this portrait of my friend Jen, a beautiful soul, passionate about making positive changes in our world.

You can read more about her adventures, experiences and insights in her book GAIA journey free.

http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1231957

http://www.blurb.com/books/1231957 (book preview)

It is truly an inspiration to know there are people like Jen doing what they can to "maximize their life and enrich their being"!

doe-eyed

doe-eyed  [doh-ahyd]

–adjective

1.

having large, innocent-looking, dark eyes.

2.

naive; too ready to believe.

I want candy!

Check this out - - - couture candy!

http://mobiandjet.blogspot.com

and

http://kaptonhook.blogspot.com

This is kitsch kandy from kaptonhook! (sorry all this sugar is making me alliterate!)

If you're looking to satisfy your sweet tooth with sweet sentimentality then this is for you. Custom made hard rock candy.

Whether it be for a wedding, a 21st, or you just like having your name on things, this custom made candy is the perfect personal touch.

I say indulge, you're kitschy side will thank you.

WEDDING CANDY HAND-MADE BY KAPTONHOOK..
for the finest bonbonierre for your special day
contact Damian on 0406 808 270