Sep 2010
Stop Press!!! Red nose NEWS!!! <(:o)}oooB
21/09/10 18:51
At the moment I’m so excited I can hardly sleep!
This is me in 2007 before going to Russia to clown in hospitals and orphanages with Patch Adams and a wonderful crew of clowns from 13 countries. We had to travel to Russia in costume and I was the only one coming from Australia - and had a 24 hour stopover in Bangkok and a flight change at Vienna. That was challenging!
Anyway, I’ve been really interested in therapeutic clown ever since learning about and reading up on and meeting and going on clown rounds with and auditioning (unsuccessfully, sigh) for Clown Doctors a few years ago. I’ve taken clown classes in Sydney, I’ve clowned at fetes and experimented at Hyde Park and Circular Quay and have taken clown and circus classes in Wollongong and have clowned with elderly folk and with people with dementia. Amazing stuff! But working all on my own I burned out. I hung up my nose, but kept it (and my yellow bike with 7” wheels and juggling balls and silly shoes...) thinking that one day...
Well...one of the things I did to become a better clown was to take amateur drama classes. One of my drama teachers came to see my exhibition of paintings (I cartoon and write and illustrate as Kerry “Millard” and paint as Kerry Thompson - www.kerrythompsonsgallery.com) and as we chatted and I mentioned clown she asked if I’d like to come and teach clown to her class of young adults with autism, Down’s etc. I said yes! It was challenging to know what to offer as I hadn’t taught clown before, but they seemed to have a good time and I hope got something new out of it. But in the process of preparing for the class I revisited clown and was taken back to my wonderful clown classes and various quite profound experiences. I was tired but happy after the class and excited to be thinking clown again.
Then...the very next day I had an email from a friend wondering if I knew that a new group embarking on setting up Clowns Without Borders here in Australia was meeting the very NEXT night here in Sydney!!! I had read about and looked into CWB and almost met up with the Quebec version in 2007 but didn’t quite make it...it was an idea I was VERY excited about!
Well, I went to the meeting, met the lovely people getting it off the ground, and have JUST heard from them today that they’re excited to have me on board getting it set up!!!!!!!!!!!!! The idea will be to clown with people who are under different forms of stress (detention, earthquakes, internally displaced, disadvantaged) in the Australasia region, at home and overseas, in schools, who knows where else??!!! It will comprise a vast range of people with different skills and will look for funding so performers will only have to donate their time and skills. It will be WONDERFUL!
So you can see why I can hardly sleep!!!
Stay tuned!!! <(:o)}oooB
Tunnel vision...
21/09/10 15:47
So, I was at a lovely gathering, at North Ryde, of lovely artists who all work on The School Magazine, Australia’s oldest children’s literary magazine (continuously published since 1916), which I’ve drawn for for about 10 years and which is sent all over Australia.
Afterwards I was delivering “Red country”, one of my paintings, to Salmon Galleries at McMahons Point.
Now I don’t know how your brain works, but mine has separate maps of different bits of the city depending on which direction I’m approaching the bits from which generally speaking don’t join up. I think I’ve just about figured Chatswood out after 26 years but I wouldn’t swear to it. Anyway, I like adventure so didn’t check my street directory and opted to use my GPS instead to get me from North Ryde to McMahons Point. My GPS and I have a strange kind of love hate on again off again kind of relationship. Kind of.
So I set it to Salmon Galleries and decided to put myself in its hands for once and maybe learn a new way of getting across that portion of the city.
I wasn’t confident when the thing turned me onto the Epping Road, but agreed to go along with it; the gathering had been nice and I was feeling expansive. But then it began to drop hints about making me take the Lane Cove tunnel. I have NEVER taken the Lane Cove tunnel. I object to paying to drive on roads across the city, particularly when lanes are changed to make it excruciating for traffic NOT using those roads or tunnels as the case may be and in fact, because you’re paying attention you’ll be aware, was. Particularly when private investors are profiting from my toll rather than my hard earned money paying off the construction costs which I can accept. Bah! But it became increasingly obvious that’s where the GPS wanted me to go.
OK, I said, I’ll pay the toll (little gizmo, you owe me) and will treat it as an adventure (see above) and maybe learn a new way across that particular part of the city (ditto).
So, I sailed into the right hand left hand lanes (we drive on the left) (unless we’ve only just recently returned from a long trip to Canada) and thought, magnanimously, how this would be a GOOD experience in that I’d finally see where the tunnel goes. I wondered where the GPS would bring me out. I congratulated myself on my flexibility and generosity of spirit.
I entered the tunnel and sat back, prepared to be led out whatever the appropriate exit was and ushered to the Gallery. I had absolutely no idea where I was or where I was going.
The GPS beeped. The GPS went blank. The GPS burped - “LOST SATELLITE CONNECTION”.
OF COURSE!!!!!
THE STUPID THING DELIBERATELY SENT ME INTO A TUNNEL AND THEN, OF BEEPING COURSE, COULDN”T CONNECT WITH THE SATELLITES (do you think there’s a separate little satellite up there for each GPS?...just wondering...) SO DIDN’T KNOW ANY BETTER THAN I DID WHERE THE HECK WE BEEPING WERE!!!!! WHAT THE BEEPING HECK DID IT EXPECT???!!! WHERE THE HECK WAS I BEEPING SUPPOSED TO EXIT????......WHY BEEPING THE HECK HADN’T IT THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE???!!!!! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOT KNOWING WHERE I’M GOING AT 80 KPH????
Bravely I got immediately into the left hand left hand lanes and decided to take the first exit available (assuming it would be on the left) in case to do otherwise might have left me with no options but to visit the airport or Perth. Not that I mind the airport or Perth, but Salmon Galleries closes at five.
The tunnel went on and on for a disturbing amount of time (Perth was seeming a possibility) then finally there was daylight and shortly thereafter out I popped...gradually recognising where I was, gathering my wits and being unimpressed when the GPS reawoke, looked around, and said with more than a hint of exasperation...“Recalculating”.
Well, we found our way to the Gallery; even I knew how to get there from that end of the tunnel...the painting met with a wonderful reception and is now hanging happily in the window. I left the GPS on for the trip home just so it could witness that I knew how to get there perfectly well on my own.
I don’t know - silly thing - imagine being so thick as to forget it wouldn’t work in a tunnel??!! Sheesh!
Afterwards I was delivering “Red country”, one of my paintings, to Salmon Galleries at McMahons Point.Now I don’t know how your brain works, but mine has separate maps of different bits of the city depending on which direction I’m approaching the bits from which generally speaking don’t join up. I think I’ve just about figured Chatswood out after 26 years but I wouldn’t swear to it. Anyway, I like adventure so didn’t check my street directory and opted to use my GPS instead to get me from North Ryde to McMahons Point. My GPS and I have a strange kind of love hate on again off again kind of relationship. Kind of.
So I set it to Salmon Galleries and decided to put myself in its hands for once and maybe learn a new way of getting across that portion of the city.
I wasn’t confident when the thing turned me onto the Epping Road, but agreed to go along with it; the gathering had been nice and I was feeling expansive. But then it began to drop hints about making me take the Lane Cove tunnel. I have NEVER taken the Lane Cove tunnel. I object to paying to drive on roads across the city, particularly when lanes are changed to make it excruciating for traffic NOT using those roads or tunnels as the case may be and in fact, because you’re paying attention you’ll be aware, was. Particularly when private investors are profiting from my toll rather than my hard earned money paying off the construction costs which I can accept. Bah! But it became increasingly obvious that’s where the GPS wanted me to go.
OK, I said, I’ll pay the toll (little gizmo, you owe me) and will treat it as an adventure (see above) and maybe learn a new way across that particular part of the city (ditto).
So, I sailed into the right hand left hand lanes (we drive on the left) (unless we’ve only just recently returned from a long trip to Canada) and thought, magnanimously, how this would be a GOOD experience in that I’d finally see where the tunnel goes. I wondered where the GPS would bring me out. I congratulated myself on my flexibility and generosity of spirit.
I entered the tunnel and sat back, prepared to be led out whatever the appropriate exit was and ushered to the Gallery. I had absolutely no idea where I was or where I was going.
The GPS beeped. The GPS went blank. The GPS burped - “LOST SATELLITE CONNECTION”.
OF COURSE!!!!!
THE STUPID THING DELIBERATELY SENT ME INTO A TUNNEL AND THEN, OF BEEPING COURSE, COULDN”T CONNECT WITH THE SATELLITES (do you think there’s a separate little satellite up there for each GPS?...just wondering...) SO DIDN’T KNOW ANY BETTER THAN I DID WHERE THE HECK WE BEEPING WERE!!!!! WHAT THE BEEPING HECK DID IT EXPECT???!!! WHERE THE HECK WAS I BEEPING SUPPOSED TO EXIT????......WHY BEEPING THE HECK HADN’T IT THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE???!!!!! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOT KNOWING WHERE I’M GOING AT 80 KPH????
Bravely I got immediately into the left hand left hand lanes and decided to take the first exit available (assuming it would be on the left) in case to do otherwise might have left me with no options but to visit the airport or Perth. Not that I mind the airport or Perth, but Salmon Galleries closes at five.
The tunnel went on and on for a disturbing amount of time (Perth was seeming a possibility) then finally there was daylight and shortly thereafter out I popped...gradually recognising where I was, gathering my wits and being unimpressed when the GPS reawoke, looked around, and said with more than a hint of exasperation...“Recalculating”.
Well, we found our way to the Gallery; even I knew how to get there from that end of the tunnel...the painting met with a wonderful reception and is now hanging happily in the window. I left the GPS on for the trip home just so it could witness that I knew how to get there perfectly well on my own.
I don’t know - silly thing - imagine being so thick as to forget it wouldn’t work in a tunnel??!! Sheesh!
Paintings, technology, and postcards
01/09/10 08:07
This technology is amazing - with a bit of fiddling on the computer I can put a link here so if you wished, you could purchase postcards, greeting cards, prints, posters etc of any of my paintings with just a bit of twiddling on your computer. And we might both be sitting at our kitchen tables in our pyjamas at the time! Clever electrons!
To purchase cards, posters, prints etc of any of my paintings, visit me at RedBubble
To purchase cards, posters, prints etc of any of my paintings, visit me at RedBubble