In two days we’ll be launching the brand new Colour Girl website – www.thecolourgirl.com.

It’s very, very cool – or should I say hot...in no small part thanks to the fabulous logo that my old surfing buddy Lionel Taylor (www.taylormcallum.co.nz) came up with. If you need a very talented, creative, professional graphic designer he's your man. Not only is his work amazing but he's such a honey – when I asked him where my invoice for all the hours he put into creating my awesome logo he said he’d much rather have one of my paintings – so I’m going to send him two!

"Hey Girl, What invoice??" he wrote to me, "Don't think I ever mentioned charging you.... ha! Send me up an art piece - one of yours. It will appreciate more than any funds sitting in any bank these days. Studio colours are Black, Greys, White walls with lots of chrome and splashs of red and burgundy. x"

So instead of the currency of money we're trading passion, purpose and skill. Here are the two paintings I am sending up to Lionel today - both were created with extreme passion and joy with Max Gimblett at the Sumi Ink workshop he ran on the island of Maui last year.



I think they'll go perfectly with Lionel's new colour scheme. Here's hoping he likes them, so far he seems optimistic! ""Right, send me up a piece ... before I can't afford one - Carp Diem... Seize the Day, it will look good in my studio, talent of the year, with creds and a web address of course.... chur!!!"

Keeping it simple- making it real - the art of Sumi
I came across this while researching Max Gimblett who very much is a fan of this technique (as am I ...it is so serene and beautiful...even tho you may say at first "anyone could do that" I don't believe this is so....a good stroke is a beautiful thing and requires much skill)

"The Philosophy of Sumi-e is contrast and harmony, expressing simple beauty and elegance. The Tai Chi diagram demonstrates the perfectly balanced interchange of the two dynamically opposed forces of the Universe, the dot represents integration.

Sumi-e employs these principles of nature's vitality in its design and execution. The balance and integration of these forces and the eternal interaction of Yin Yang are the ultimate goal of Sumi-e. The art of brush painting, aims to depict the spirit, rather than the semblance of the object. In creating a picture the artist must grasp the spirit of the subject. Sumi-e attempts to capture the Chi or "life spirit" of the subject, painting in the language of the spirit.

Patience is essential in brush painting. Balance, rhythm and harmony are the qualities the artist strives for by developing patience, self-discipline and concentration.

The goal of the brush painter is to use the brush with both vitality and restraint. Constantly striving to be a better person because his character and personality come through in his work.

Sumi-e is more than a technique, it is a Spiritual Journey."

Labels: Commissioning a work of art, Spirituality in art