​A thought experiment: What if you combined color theories?

​I was curious to see what it would look like if you could see colors in the body associated with chakras, emotions and facial expressions and how they would correlate. Do they correlate? Imagine if this is what we could see in each other? Would it be easier to understand each other?

Wouldn't it be more accurate to define each other with a wider range of color descriptions beyond black, white and the blends of the two? And how very inaccurate that is anyway, if people were black or white, then surely the two combined would be grey? Strange that when we refer to a combination of black and white in people, we called them colored. Imagine how unpleasant it would be if we referred to them as grey?

And imagine if we turned blue when feeling sad. Funny that we do say that: "feeling blue" but never say "feeling red" or yellow, orange, green or purple.

In my Mannequin, I have combined the three theories, I think its a fun result. 

​After almost 18 months of making my dolls house, its finally no longer this thing in my head, what a relief not only for myself but for those around me to see what I've been aiming for...I've had a lot of head tilting puzzlement to contend with. Not helped by my mumbled explanation because I really didn't know what I was doing either. So now, here it is, this massive creation that happened.
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Its been really interesting to witness how people respond to it. The most recurring reaction is this natural tendency to "dream into" it. This term "dreaming into" is something I heard from my friend Dain Peters, a practicing psychotherapist.

I have been aware of the therapeutic aspect of a dolls house my whole life, having lived in my own as a child. So this lovely phrase resonated for me. Of course, this is exactly what we do in play, this dreaming and enacting. (I had a giggle watching this grown man bending arms and legs of the mother doll, wanting to find a natural position for her to sit, This, his first time "playing" with a doll of any kind. "She looks too stern!" he says, tilting her head a little.)

He told me of a Doctor J.L. Moreno who came up with the concept of psycho drama. A practice that has been used for individuals as well as entire communities to understand and process trauma or conflict. The concept involves role play, story telling, and witness. This allows the protagonist to step back and view their own story from all sides. To analyse actions, thoughts and choices connected to an event or a problem.

Is this not what a dolls house allows also?

Our conversation led on to to all the details and layers in our lives and homes, these things that when represented in a dolls house allows the illusion of a reality. We dreamed together about the personal life this woman in the house may have, and the glaring absence of a male figure...because I haven't made one...yet.

The image of a bunch of letters tied with ribbon came up. Personal things; letters, jewelry, papers.

A treasure box in the house, things you wont or cant immediately see. What a sweet layer that would be .

The idea of course stuck and manifested in a little video complete with historical background and appropriate sound track. But there is a problem...I broke the law! of copyright that is. Due to the music the video was rejected by both Facebook and Instagram. so disappointing!

After hours of researching this rather dry subject I have managed a compromise. I have uploaded this video to YouTube and they have allowed it but with restrictions. Be warned, the video may not work on all devices, probably not on a cell phone or ipad but may work fine on a laptop or desktop PC. Also, it may be riddled with adverts. Ce La Vie. At least it remains as I intended.

The song in question is a sweet and poignant one, originally written for a screen play in 1945, it was put on the map later by Ketty Lester who sang it in a gospel style for the first time and gave it a whole new lease on life. This is the version I chose. It has been covered by so many others; Elvis, Tom Jones, Allison Moyet and many more in between and since.

The love letters themselves were written by famous people. Some surprising and some we all know about, like Beethoven's "immortal beloved" The copied letters (including Beethoven's) were written by Burt Reynolds, Winston Churchill , Zelda Fitzgerald, Henry Ford, Johnny Cash and Jimmy Hendrix. What a motley crew.
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I hope you manage to view my offering and enjoy it. I know! its very sentimental but very much speaks to my own life and mood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ausipzY5_cE&t=4s

As a part time social media manager, specifically Facebook Pages, I have had to explain the workings to many, Some businesses would like to have a Facebook Page but are not Facebook users themselves at all. I have attempted to make an info graphic; it may just bee too much info though!! I hope its useful. Click here to download.

If you had to imagine colour, specifically the 7 chakra colours as a volume equalizer, the bottom beginning at the base of your spine, the top ending at the crown of your head, how tuned in would you say you are? My math is rounded off in the percentage bar.

Happy New Year to one all! I know! its already 8 days old but my New Year begins now. 

I would have to say that 2014 was a challenging year to say the least, chock a block with extreme highs and lows. As you all know, that kind of year, while not easy, is bound to lead to growth; and it has! Ending the year with an online course to sort out my understanding of the business end of my artistic practice, has at the very least left me with a to-do-list of impressive proportions and I LOVE me a to-do-list! 

I'm absolutely longing to get back into my studio, having spent allot of time on my computer with this course and tackling the biggies on my list, like this website. Check! (pats own back) ending the year with a week long yoga course that was both excruciating and  fantastic. This in preparation for my next adventure (more on that in a moment) 

BUT FIRST...
Spring cleaning my studio, people, summer in Botswana means I have mud caked implements thanks to wasps, ten different kinds of scary spiders and gecko poop everywhere! A clean slate is required. 
THEN....
Some immediate highlights of the year to look forward to will be kicked off with a Solo Exhibition of our fabulous Ann Gollifer's work. Be sure to NOTE: Opening event on the 12th Feb  and open to public from the 13th. Sophie lalonde Art Gallery, itower, CBD, Gaborone..... I know its going to be wonderful. 
AND THEN! 
YAY! I'm so excited! I'm off to India with a dear friend (yep, sorry for that lovely Husband) for a week in Bangalore! I have not been off the African continent for 20 years people! On the agenda is yoga, heeaavy breathing, delicious 
Ayurvedic treatments and (obviously) I have high expectations of the shopping! 

And thus beggineth 2015. Lets do it!

PS: The world is going mad..yes...Lets not go to the dogs ourselves, lets be mindful about doing things that make ourselves happy in order to spread some joy. The timing of assaulting our peace of mind with events like the Paris shootings yesterday, at the BEGINNING of our year, is not by accident. Chins up people! 

I have come believe that growing your career is like driving a car. The car will go where you eyes are focused. If you are distracted by the side of the road, you might just end up there! 

Every now and then I get absolutely side tracked into community activities. Its Poster for Tomorrow time in Gaborone again. Brushes and paint are put aside and I look forward a week of hearing from our people, what gender issues are at play in our city and what our young designers will come up with in answer to them. 

from the students brief, for the Balancing Genders workshop starting on Monday at Limkokwing Botswana:

"In order to assist you with the design thinking process, you will have the opportunity to hear from a number of speakers, from Botswana, who will be introducing you to a variety of gender related issues. The speakers will be talking to you as professionals, as well as from personal experience.
In order for this process to be beneficial to you and your design output, you are advised to approach the insight from the variety of speakers with sympathy and empathy.

# Sympathy means that you may not understand or feel what they feel, but you have compassion for them. For example, you may not have experienced divorce in your personal life, but based on what the speaker explains to you, you are able to feel for them.

# Empathy, on the other hand, means that you may have experienced something similar, and are able to relate. For example, you may be from a single parent family and relate to the experiences that another single parent relates, regarding their own experiences.

The insight you will gain from the speakers is not meant to define the direction that you will focus your poster design, but rather to expose you to a variety of informed opinions about gender related issues in Botswana (that you may or may not know about, or necessarily agree with). This insight, as well as the creative direction from the workshop Facilitator, should go a long way in informing your final design output.

The overall goals of this workshop are therefore to:
• Promote democratic values and human rights awareness
• Create a bridge between designers in developed and developing countries
• Transform every participant into an ambassador for human rights"

Well said!

You know Ann of course, an internationally renowned visual artist, who has spent much of her life in Botswana, forging close relationships with the Kuru arts Project, bringing us a beautiful account of the life of Dada, a bushman artist. Of Guyanese and English decent, her story is rich and complicated; her children are of that Swedish African flavour.

Her career is an inspiration of determination and fortitude. Her work ethic as an artist is admirable, her values as a person and a mother are too. 

Who has not noticed the graffiti in Gabs? Do you know that the kids in this small movement are purists? There are some that treat it as a serious art form. Driving past I see walls used like sheets of blank paper, practising and perfecting the typography of their tags.

As a graphic designer I understand the repetition as they work on the letter forms and icons relevant to their lives. Imagine a group of youngsters in deep concentration and long discussion of the craft and precise form of the “S” that differentiates one artists hand from another, the critique on how close I came, or not, in replicating these letter forms on the canvas.

As a mother I celebrate the youthful wisdom in their graffiti statements like mantras on the streets of the city. Shouldn’t all kids be telling each other that “your fear of looking stupid is holding you back”? It’s sweet and encouraging. Of course it’s also illegal and galls many a boundary wall owner. For this reason I give you an avatar, this is not a portrait of an actual person, but a representation of an attitude while preserving the anonymity that protects them.

These are our children Botswana, a cauldron of rebellious creativity, connected and informed beyond our imagining.  In what may appear as senseless destruction there is also a conversation marking the walls for anyone to see, voices to hear if you take the time listen. 

I want to show you the Swedish community of strong, tall, blond people, who live with one foot in Europe while completely integrated in the local community of Botswana, who raise tough African children who know exactly what being Swedish is about; embodied by the gorgeous Ulrika. 

My children have brought many connections. I first met Jackie at a pick up from a playdate and knew her for years after; an acquaintance, a mother and a professional person around town.  Illustrating so perfectly that people are seldom simply what they appear to be, I was surprised to witness her in the full glory of another persona.  When our cousin came to Botswana to graduate as a Sangoma, Jackie was there, a matriarch figure and in this environment utterly herself, the beads she always wore now making perfect sense.  

You see her here proudly watching the new graduates arrive from a final ritual, her skirts sprayed with blood just after slaughtering a chicken in celebration. It was then that she showed me the birds that were her companions; she called them “LBJ’s” (little brown jobs). I chose a mouse bird to represent them; I think it’s what she meant. Sadly Jackie has passed away and has left a hole in the landscape as people do when they are suddenly gone.