Saturday 6 July 2013

What is a good life?


What is a good life? What is happiness? What is success? What is pleasure? How should I treat other people? How should I cope with unfortunate events? How can I get rid off unnecessary worry?

There are a lot of people out there, scientists, psychologists, researchers and authors that have good ideas about what makes a well balanced, good life.  Many of their ideas and "Golden Rules" do work, generally speaking, rules or guidelines such as love more, forgive more, worry less, work less, all help to try and create some form of balance.  However, we are all different and we all lead very different life styles that dynamically change from day to day, year to year, so it is therefore very hard to stick to such rules or guidelines at all times. 


Most of us have ideas about who we are and many, many rigid ideas about how life ought to be lived.  This is not to condemn us, for each of us is doing the very best we can this very moment.  If we knew better, if we had more understanding and awareness, then we would do it differently.  The last thing I think anyone should do, is to put themselves down for being who they are. 


It is the way we learn to think about ourselves and about our world.  For example, if you lived or were around people who were very unhappy, angry, selfish or very negative, then you learn a lot of negative things about yourself and your world - well of course you would!  So it is very, very important to surround yourselves with people who make you feel good.  Who make you smile and laugh, who make you feel good and whom you look up to and love.  Treasure Friendship.  Friendship cannot just be acquired, but must be nurtured and treasured in relations built on trust and amity.  


Love someone, be loved by someone, love yourself, be happy to be alive, respect and appreciate nature, see the beauty in everything, do your best.No matter what you are doing right now in your life, know that you are doing it for a reason, love what you do and know that life is dynamic and changes many times.  You may feel slightly spun off your axis at times but know that this will not always be how it is.  I think balance finds you and not the other way around.  It is very hard to plan out your life, especially if you are very busy, sometimes saying that you will put a few hours aside on a weekend for relaxation, or to catch up with family or go out with your partner, just does not always work out.  I think that true friends, family and partners who are meant to be in your life understand this and help you along your journey just as they themselves have their own journey. Remember, sometimes it isn't you that needs to change, but it is the people around you that may not be the 'right' people to be around.  You need to learn when to let go.

Never feel bad about being too busy because it is probably just what you are meant to be doing at this particular junction, just be happy that you are doing something you love to do.  There will be plenty of time to relax later in life.  If someone asked me what main things I want in life, goals such as say, wealth, a big house, regular holidays... I would not be able to answer this.  All I would say, for me, is that a good life is to be healthy, to be loved and to love, to love what you do and be passionate and most of all, just to be happy.


I am very much looking forward to going to see social researcher, writer and commentator Hugh Mackay about his new book 'The Good Life'The good life is not the sum of our security, wealth, status, postcode, career success and levels of happiness. The good life is one defined by our capacity for selflessness, the quality of our relationships and our willingness to connect with others in a useful way.  


If you are in Fremantle on Tuesday, I would recommend dropping by.  Check out the link below from our Mayor who will be speaking with Hugh.

http://cofremantle.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/talking-about-the-good-life-with-hugh-mackay/


Friday 5 July 2013

Minerals in art


Mineralogy is one of my favourite subjects... I have started my collection of minerals, gems and rocks from around the world.  Minerals are very complex but have also had many other uses.
The use of pigments in art dates back to prehistory.  Until recently, most of these materials were of mineral origin.  Some modern pigments are still mineral-based as their colours continue to outshine those of synthetic alternatives.

Thousands of years ago, when humans began to produce art on cave walls, there were no brushes or palettes, but there were colours made from minerals such as haematite, ochre, limonite and chalk, and from a material of organic origin, charcoal.

Up until 1790 the pencil, the artists basic tool, was just a simple piece of graphite (a natural form of carbon).  Its funny, when I use to suck on my pencil as a child, my parents and teachers use to say "don't do that you will get lead poisoning", now knowing that there is no lead at all in a pencil makes me wonder whether they actually did :)

Many other artists produce their initial drawings with charcoal, just as they had before and how many people still do today.  Thousands of years before our era, the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Indians and Chinese already knew how to grind minerals into powder fine enough to form beautiful colours.  They also discovered how to use binding materials with these powders to create forms of paint: water for watercolours and oils for oil painting.  

Sandro Botticelli's painting 'The Birth of Venus' allows us to appreciate the range of colours used by Renaissance artists hundreds of years ago, all made with mineral powders as their base.



www.jackgallery.com



So, lets go through some colours and what minerals they come from:


Blues:

Natural ultramarine blue, one of the most expensive and sought after pigments.  It was obtained from lapis lazuli and was expensive as gold.

Egyptian Blue, which has been in use since since the 5th century BC and is obtained by smelting copper compounds with quartz and calcium. 

Azurrum was the most widely-used blue pigment in European art until the mid 18th century.  It was made from azurite. 


Greens:

Malachite, which is a copper carbonate was ground up to form a brilliant green pigment which was favoured by painters until the 18th century. 


Yellows:

Limonite, Iron oxides were the main sources of yellow pigments.  Limonite was used to create a clear, pale yellow.

Yellow Ochre is used to create a wide range of yellow pigment.


Reds:

Haematite was the first pure mineral used as red for painting.  it appears in bison painted in Spain's Altamira Cave as long as 12,000 BC.

Red ochre consists of iron oxides mixed with clayey earth, creating many rich red colours. 


Whites and Blacks:

The oldest white pigment known as chalk, made from calcite but nowadays it is obtained by mixing finely ground gypsum with water.  The most widely used black pigments as mentioned earlier were not obtained from minerals but from charcoal (from burnt wood).


A great site to check out, and what I used when undertaking a geology unit was: http://webmineral.com/specimens/index.php  it explains each mineral in detail, shows a huge verity of minerals and also has some great pictures to look at the mineral in its natural form.