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Our featured artist for October, Julie Burdis, has expressed her breast cancer journey through both painting and poetry.  ‘Drowning in a sea of cliches’ Radio National knew. They told me. If the lump is hard, does not move or disappear between menses, Be concerned. I was. 5 years riding a roller coaster ensued. 4 G.P.’s, 2 surgeons , 6 mammograms, one ultrasound conspired to dismiss my concerns. Then I must be insane. They couldn’t all be wrong. Could they? They were. My brain fumbled in a fog of diminishing vocabulary, as the now concerned doctor, pronounced his verdict using a language, Not of my knowing. My blood went cold. Invasive ductal carcinoma, mastectomy, lumpectomy, Oncologist, pet scan, cat scan. I could nor form a 4 letter word. And yet the clichés kept coming. My legs turned to jelly. Tossed off the ship of life, left in it’s wake, dark clouds on the horizon, Storm clouds ahead. The earth moved – and so did my bowels. Had I so early, entered – The sunset of my life? Dreams manifested water, troubled and still, I was up the creek without a paddle And drowning in self pity. A sinking feeling engulfed me. Dejected, rejected, found wanting – of no further use. A specimen, in a glass jar. through which I could neither touch, nor be touched. An unwelcome stranger loomed. Loneliness. Let down, yet perceiving judgements and blame for having clasped in my bosom, this foul, sneaky, skulking disease. My head spun, my world crumbled, though night kept following day. I was stopped in my tracks. From the depths of these negative ablutions, laden with guilt and self flagellation, My subconscious funnelled through to the light at the end. You are pissed of, - it screamed. And, I saw the light. Use the energy of your anger as a fuel to nurture your mortality, urged this voice of dissent. Always look the Tiger in the eye, buy some chooks and never say die. And I did, I do, I did, I don’t and so, I am. N.B. - and totally cliché free. Julie Burdis. julieburdis@internode.on.net. An Occasional Blog published during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October 2017
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Carla from Broken River Writers and Michaela from Gallery Gigs have put together a festive creative program for the Benalla Festival featuring the Sugar Fed Leopards.  "Come and learn how to craft words into songs with the absolutely brilliant Sugar Fed Leopards on Friday, 10th November, 4-6pm. Don't forget $5 for supper.
And then, stick around for their Gallery Gig, 7-10 pm, $10 tix, which is an incredibly low price for an amazing musical experience"  Deb's BYO Mosaic workshop in Gallery 2 on Sunday 17th September had a wonderful atmosphere. Deb has scheduled another workshop on Sunday October 29th from 10 to 2 pm. Further details, including materials list, can be downloaded below.
 On Friday 13th November local writers met at NEA for the second of the Broken River Writers Discovery Workshop series, this time with Jake and Sam Bowtell of Killer Pig Productions. The focus in this workshop was to discover more about writing for film. Having immersed themselves in film production since 2009, if not before, Jake and Sam proved to have much to share with the group. Jake and Sam introduced us to the story behind, then screened their film 'Slope'. It proved to be a wonderful springboard for a rich and vibrant discussion during which we seemed to switch seamlessly between responding as viewers and responding as writers. While the session included a rich 'film appreciation' element, the writers' process was regularly interspersed and explored by Jake and Sam. We left Jake and Sam's thought provoking discovery workshop with an understanding that writing for film includes writing for silence; that the excitement of film making relates to its many facets - with considerations about the use of particular actors; sound; lighting and so much more involved in film production. Thank you Jake and Sam! Watch out for Carla Gardner's writing about this event on the Broken River Writers' Facebook Page!
An Occasional Blog' by Bev Lee "This image of the four people came walking towards me on a village street in England. I immediately thought of the title. As with most of my paintings I put the image onto paper so as not to forget. It was 2011 before I decided to pull it out, and do a preliminary small painting before putting it onto a larger canvas. I used to take it to a Wednesday night art class. When I got home, I decided it was what I was aiming for. Why I decided to put it into a city I don't know. In the top left hand corner I had planes in the sky firing at buildings. I flicked on the telly, only to see my painting in action as the aircraft flew into the Twin Towers in America. My hair felt as though it was standing it was standing on end. I realised I would never be able to do that painting and so it was put away, {with a lot of others} for future thought. Deciding to attack the 'paintings waiting', I thought this painting was in sync with the 'On Ageing' theme of Violet Town's Honey Suckle Art Show in 2017 and smudged out the planes and put in the rising Sun. A new day'. Julie Burdis Julie's 'The Circle of Life' entry won the Honey Suckle Art Show's Painting and Drawing Award in September 2017. An ideal choice to feature in October for Seniors' Month .  |
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