Category Archives: Creativity

September! Plus some video bits.

In keeping with the new season, it’s a warm day today in the Sydney region—and very much so in sunny Katoomba! 🙂 Let’s open doors and windows, and switch off those heaters (well, today only).

Jenny Mosher is a darling: she’s uploaded shorter videoclips of my 30-minute interview. Here are Jenny and yours truly discussing my sources of inspiration.

FF Jensen on finding inspiration for ‘Bittersweet Symphony’.

And here’s what I call the ‘cruel’ part of the interview: Jenny and I get into ‘killing one’s darlings’.

On feedback, editing and killing my darlings (ouch!).

Enjoy! And of course enjoy the warmer weather, FFJ

Dr Lindsay Duncan and the magic of quilts

Well, we finally made it! Dr Lindsay Duncan had lunch together last Thursday. If I had to mention all the very many topics of conversation that we discussed in … an hour and a half, give or take a few minutes, you’d be mightily surprised. Lindsay is a registered psychologist specialised in Private Subconscious-mind Healing (or PSH Therapy), a published author in the area of psychology and an editor. You can buy his excellent publications on Amazon.com.

His other ‘claim to fame’ is his artistic work, which starts with pottery and continues with quilting. We spoke about how his artistic life changed after losing two pottery workshops. After his divorce, he moved out of the property where he used to run his first workshop. He was the Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Head of Ceramics at the University of Wollongong for 15 years, where he ran his second workshop. A flood destroyed that workshop, and unfortunately it wasn’t reopened. It was then that Lindsay’s creative life took a turn in a different direction, from pottery to quilting.

I can hear you say ‘wow’. From pottery to quilting. Lindsay explains:

When I was growing up, my mother had a cupboard that was full of different kinds of fabric. As a child I loved the colours and textures.

This ‘childhood connection’ seems to fuel many artists’ creative lives in adulthood. The same artist can live several creative lives in their lifetime. Creativity is an inner fire that transforms itself and doesn’t stop burning—even if there’s a flood!

I leave you to appreciate the beauty of some Lindsay’s work for his latest exhibition ‘Chevronesque’ (Hat Hill Gallery, Blackheath, from June 7th to June 29th 2014).

orange_wave
‘Orange Wave’, from Chevronesque. Copyright Dr Lindsay Duncan.
'Saigon Blue', from Chevronesque. Copyright Dr Lindsay Duncan.
‘Saigon Blue’, from Chevronesque. Copyright Dr Lindsay Duncan.
saigon_pink
‘Saigon Pink’, from Chevronesque. Copyright Dr Lindsay Duncan.