Why my profile picture is black!!! Important stuff for all New Zealanders!

Please join me in the blackout protest of the Section 92 of the Copyright Amendment Act, dubbed "Guilt by Accusation" bill which goes into law at the end of February. Read all about it by clicking here.

This law will affect everybody in NZ, including you!! If you are accused, not convicted, of downloading anything copyrighted, you face having the ISP forced to cut your internet connection. I support copyright protection, but this threatens personal freedoms. Draconian punitive actions are taken without being proven guilty by a jury of your peers. Scary stuff. It becomes law late this month. Please join the blackout protest by blacking out all of your profile pictures online to symbolise the dark age New Zealand will enter if this bill becomes law. Kiwis only please sign the on-line petition at http://creativefreedom.org.nz .

BeverlyClaridge.Com is online again!!

My base website, BeverlyClaridge.com is finally back up and running after a lengthy hiatus. My ISP changed things a bit, and family life changed a lot!!! Till lately, being a webmaster just didn't seem so important as, say, painting a picture or helping a family member with a problem.

Now, I'm back in the studio almost full time, and the family is up and about and getting on with life, thank God! BeverlyClaridge.com is a simple website created using MS Publisher. I know everytime I mention I use a Microsoft product as a web editor, you can almost hear the friendly ISP telephone customer service rep moan. In fact, when I set up the site a few years ago, they did moan loudly. Now, instead of using Front Page or Word, I'm using user friendly Publisher, mainly because it's free and I understand it. I'd appreciate advice on a better (and cheap) web software.

So, it would be really good of you to check out the updated website and let me know what you think. In the meantime, I'm back in studio painting like mad!!! And I love it!!!!

Kia Ora!

Gnawing a Bone

I'm still thinking about Rita. That's how my mind works...like a dog gnawing a bone until it is thoroughly crunched to bits. Now, observing our four Bichons, I know dogs sometimes bury the bone for later, presumably to keep other dogs from stealing the bone. But, I don't want to bury the " bone". I want to study it and chew on it...to taste every last bit of flavour. And, I want to share what I savour rather than hoard it.

Why my mind is stuck on Rita can be linked to observations made in my last post regarding my visit to the exhibition Rita Angus--Life and Vision at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Rita influenced New Zealand art. She was passionate about her causes. She was single-minded in her pursuits. She made herself vulnerable for her cause. She went out of her way to make excellent art. She networked with others. These are mostly good things that I, admittedly, am aiming for. Aim being the operative word. I shrink a little at posting these ambitions. I don't want folks to think I'm full of myself.

However, my pursuit of being a more excellent person has led me to study several leaders, including John C. Maxwell and Joyce Meyer. A few of the principles they expound upon is to dream big, don't limit yourself, and find someone who is successful , study what they did, and then adapt what you've learned to your situation. Which brings me back to Rita.

The caveat about Rita as role model is to realise that, as great as she was artistically, she also had her known foibles. Most notably, it appears to me, her self-centredness. And, I ponder a comment by my artist friend, made after reading my last post where I admit admiring Rita's vulnerability. He stated he thought it would be wonderful for artists, especially those who believe in Christ, to display a Christ-like vulnerability, while not burning bridges. Burning bridges. Is that what Rita did? It doesn't seem far fetched...someone like Rita...with such passionate causes. I need to read more.

I want to be passionate about my causes and be single-minded in my pursuits; however, as a follower of Christ, I also want to want to prefer others before myself. So sometimes my passion and single-mindedness takes a back seat. Difficult for a self-confessed melancholic who must work her plan!! And that vulnerability thing...such a difficult one for a recovering perfectionist. If I'm vulnerable, I open myself to the possibility that things will go awry...and they sometimes do . Then I find I must fight off that perfectionist's despair during those times. Thank God, for the grace to moderate those feelings!! Ok, burning bridges. I feel I've done enough of that in my life, thank you, so much so there may be enough charcoal for grilling steaks from now to the end of my time. But, I don't want to be smug. Some bridges need to be burned, especially if they lead you to places you know you don't want to go again. However, I do want to be vigilant. It's easier to keep friends than to win back enemies. And, how do I fit all this philosophising into my living, breathing, every-day pursuit of an art career.

This is why I'm thinking about Rita in the first place. Looking at her successes, her failures. Examining my successes. My failures. Wondering about my planned steps from this point.

So, what do you ponder in the quiet moments of your life? What thoughts cross your mind in the bid to make this four score and then some years of life significant? Please tell me. I'd love to know. Really. I would. Who has recently influenced your thinking about your job, your life, your legacy?

Ok. Back to preparing evening tea for the family. Then to the studio. For this time in my life, "Ephemeral Perception" is my celebrated cause.