WEBVTT
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Welcome to the Shift Stirrets.
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Before we dive in, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands where we record.
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Michelle and Roseme work on the lands of the Bon Worang and Warangeri people of the Kulin Nation.
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We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging.
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As we talk about transitions and shifts in our own lives, we recognise that First Nations people have been adapting, surviving and thriving on this continent for over 65,000 years.
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The world's longest continuing culture.
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Sovereignty was never ceded, always was, always will be.
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Hello, welcome Michelle.
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And today we're really stirring the shift.
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How are you?
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I'm good, thanks.
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It's good to see you.
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Great to see you.
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And when we start our episodes, we do talk about why we stir the shift.
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And it's about helping people get curious about getting some more art into their day and into their life.
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And I've pulled this morning this the artist way at work off my bookshelf because I think I'm going to work through it and let you know how I go.
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But workplaces could have more creativity in their daily and their task list.
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So how would it be if CEOs, any CEOs listening here, had a creative skills matrix as well as a traditional skills matrix, and you might find that your engineer could create some intro music for your webinars.
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Anyway, welcome Michelle and let's get started.
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Hi.
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I remember the beautiful porcelain piece that you created from your crab balls inspiration, and so I can't wait to hear about your trip.
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Now tell us about that and where did you go?
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Well, Roseme, yes, I have had a hiatus and been running around Australia.
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I planned a trip for photography education.
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I think that as an artist in any field, these days your photography skills need to be on point.
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I looked up a course that was in Christmas Island, and my husband and I went there for a holiday.
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We added some scuba diving into that, and we also went to Perth as well, spent four days in Fremantle and another four days in Margaret River.
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So yeah, I feel like I've journeyed around the world and back in the last few days.
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Wow.
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The video that you sent was absolutely stunning and what a beautiful experience.
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And the actual sound, I was going to say music, the sound in the underwater was beautiful as well.
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Thank you for sending that.
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Yeah, the video that I sent wasn't made by me, that was made by Chris Bray, who was the photographer who was educating us.
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So yeah, it was lovely.
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It was a very fun trip.
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Yes, and because you marine it, weren't you?
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Yes.
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That's great.
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When you go on a trip like that with your creative eyes open, are you intending to find something?
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What are you looking for?
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Or do you just let things find you?
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I think it's a bit of both, Rosemary.
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I think when we did the underwater diving, I definitely looked for things.
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I like looking at coral.
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I like looking at things like sea and enemies and how they move in the water.
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And so I actually am looking for those inspirations underwater.
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But then there's cases where the inspiration finds me too.
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So Christmas Island is known for the red crab, which is an endemic species that is on Christmas Island only.
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I started looking at those red crabs and I started noticing that each crab's back is slightly different.
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And so I became obsessed by photographing the crabs.
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So they've inspired me.
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So there's I I was working yesterday and I said to my husband, there's um I'm I'm inspired by my inner crab.
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And then I became obsessed, of course, with macro photography.
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And I have a macro lens, and I I want another macro lens as well.
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And I was, you know, enjoying doing all of that.
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I'm not very good at taking photos underwater, but I'm always pointing to Mark, who actually I'm going underwater, I'm going, take that, take that photo, because he's got a GoPro.
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Whereas I find like I'm dealing with all this equipment that's on my back and breathing and doing all those things, and I can't see very well into the camera.
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But Mark's really good at taking the photos underwater.
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Great.
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So for our listeners, can you describe macro photography?
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Macro is actually taking the small things, the tiny things in photography, and you're focusing on a very small point, which when I photograph my work, I'm concentrating on where the light is coming from.
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But it means like you're taking photos of very small leaves or little spiders or things like that.
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And I actually found that very interesting.
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The course was more about how to use your camera, and a lot of people were taking you know sunsets, and I was taking the little flowers and little things rather than actually the big things.
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So it's become something that I want to do more and more of, and I find it very inspiring.
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Interesting.
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And so the did you say red crabs?
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I think they were in a video you sent us, they were fantastic.
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Yeah, I've got a photo that I'll put up here that's Mark had one on his back.
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I didn't want to hold them because I'm I'm a bit nervous with spiders, so to me they're a bit spider-ish.
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But I love them, and in fact, I fell in love with them whilst I was there.
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So our question, what stopped you in your tracks?
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Would that be the red crabs or was there anything else?
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Everything stopped me in my tracks.
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I think every day that the course was so good that every day is a tiny little island, but it's 63, I think, percent of it is actual a national wildlife park.
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And of the ocean it's the same amount.
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So we were going to places with someone who knew the island extremely well, had photographed the island and has won awards with his photography, not just of Christmas Island, but all over the world.
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And so every day we went to a different place and saw, um, I think there's about there's a lot of endemic animals on Christmas Island, which are animals that are only found on Christmas Island, and a lot of them are endangered.
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So the course he took us to lots of different things.
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Like one day I was inspired by little endangered lizards.
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We went and had a lecture on them, and we had to help find the eggs, and I found a little lizard egg in these endangered species tanks because they're trying to to stop them being endangered by breeding them in captivity for a while.
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Another day I watched uh Chris, who was a uh photographer, actually they have a bird called is it uh the booby bird?
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And this bird, once it lands on the ground, it can't actually get take flight from the ground.
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It needs to take flight from a tree.
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And so uh I was has it got blue feet?
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Blue booby boobs.
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Some of them some of them have red, and I think some of them had red feet.
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So there's a red-footed booby and a brown booby, and yeah, there's all sorts of different boobies.
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Anyway, so he actually got this bird to s to to get onto a a big stick, and then he ran down the road, and then the bird could fly.
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And I didn't take photos of it, but that was actually a beautiful moment where you know he'd actually saved this bird from being on the ground and and things like that.
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So every day I was inspired by nature and what was you know, blowholes, taking photos of water droplets, things like that.
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Just yeah, so Rosemary, it was like a everything stopped me in my tracks.
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Yeah, it was magical.
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Yes, what a wonderful trip.
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And then we talk about colour and texture and shape and that sort of thing.
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So you've talked through some of those and the water droplets, the blowhole, and then the the crab's shell was hard, I guess.
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Anything that you want to talk about about that?
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Well, again, getting back down to the little things, I became inspired by and and I will put some pictures up in the the video as well so that we can look at them.
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I was inspired by things like uh the volcanic rock, and you actually the volcanic rock forms very roughly, and you'll be looking at it, and there'll be a little hole there, and I I'd actually photograph the rock, but I'd be photographing that little little tiny hole that was in the rock.
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And so, yeah, and and the brightness, so the crabs that are are really big on the island are called the robber crabs, and they're massive, absolutely massive.
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And uh the video I showed you had one of me trying to chase one off the road, right?
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And they could they when their legs are open, they're up to 1.5 meters, right?
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With their including their leg span, and I've I actually have a photo which again I'll put up of one actually carrying a coconut across the road, right?
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So that's that what they eat, yeah.
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Coconut they can crack open a coconut and eat coconut.
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In fact, I saw two fighting to see who was going to eat the coconut.
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Wow.
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But they are multicoloured, so some of them are browns and creams and greens, and then there's other ones that are pinks and reds and blues.
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So yeah, and and it's a jungle.
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I fell in love with the jungle, and everything's so crisp and coloured.
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There's very few people who who live on this island.
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I think it's about 3,000 people in total.
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Now, most of them are working either in the in the national parks and their research is protecting the animals, or there's a phosphate mine there as well.
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So they'll be that the other third is a phosphate mine.
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So yeah, so there's very few people on the island and it's it's a pristine environment.
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Wow, that's great.
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What a injection of creativity.
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Now you say that we are all broken, we are all fragile, we are all broken.
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That's your is it called mantra?
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Yes.
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And did you find something that stopped you in the tracks that was we would say broken?
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Well, I I think I've decided I think that I like the ugly beautiful.
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I really do.
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Like, for instance, in the jungle, there's tree roots that are actually growing out of the ground.
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And they're stunning and spooky, and as I said, the the the robber crabs are very prehistoric in their look.
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Yeah.
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Even down to, you know, I took photographs of fungi and uh like logs that I just loved the the way the texture formed.
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I did want to take some clay and imprint things, but I just felt uncomfortable taking it onto the island.
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I think that the ugly beautiful, like everybody's taking photos of sunsets, and I'm taking photos of little tiny rocks and creatures, and so yeah.
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Wow.
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And uh was there something that you kept photographing multiple times?
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The course was all about you need to photograph things multiple times.
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Right.
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And I think that you don't you don't take one shot, you you need to take things from different angles.
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And I found that I came back and took photos to to to post on my Instagram, and I was more inventive about how I what angles I photographed it from.
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Because you can, you know, you you can look then on light light room or something like that, and you can go, you can compare photos and see which one's the best photo.
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Or so I think it's I think that the idea is that you do take lots of photos from different angles.
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I learned how to use the rapid shutter, so you instead of taking one photo, you take you take 20 photos.
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And uh I loved using that to take things like the water coming out of blowholes, and I actually have some shots that I took, which again I'll put up of like you can literally see the water droplets as they're coming out of the blowhole, and I I love that effect.
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My husband on the other side, he prefers the the like seeing the mass of water, and so yeah, you you just do take lots and lots of photos, and uh the one thing, Rosemary, is that my glutes got a good workout because you that's good, you can you actually take photos like I I'd squat to take a photo and I'd have to stand up like I'd be holding my camera, and so I still have to stand up.
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So yeah, I got very good at squatting down and getting back, and I mean really squatting down.
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Yeah, you also lay down to take photographs, you you take them from all sorts of different angles.
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I uh you know it you need to you need to open up your eyes and look at things from different ways.
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So yeah, it's uh inspirational.
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Right, and I I'm guessing you must be coming a very good photographer now.
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Is there anything you wanted to find inspiration but you couldn't connect with?
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Not that I wanted to find inspiration from, but a lot of there was a lot of beautiful birds on Christmas Island, and a lot of the the photographers that were on the course were photographing birds.
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And I think it was maybe because my camera was all always set up to do the macro stuff, which is a different lens and a different, you know, apt to aptitude and a different shutter speed, and all of these things that I actually didn't photograph the birds, which is a big part of the the the island uh animal population.
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But it was because I wasn't set up, I was actually like off down doing this little thing, mushroom over here, and oh look at a bird.
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You gotta change your lens and you gotta put the different aperture on and the different shutter speed and the different light settings.
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So it's sort of like I wasn't concentrating on that.
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So it's not that I didn't find inspiration in the birds, some of them were beautiful, it's just that it wasn't what I was focusing on.
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So I think you can only focus on so much.
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Wow.
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Sounds amazing.
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Your brain would have been bursting.
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Now I see that you're in the studio today, and you're and I'm thinking about out in nature, back in the studio, out in nature, getting inspired.
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So uh can you tell us about can you while you're out there, did you sometimes think about back at the studio what you're going to do?
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There was a I I think it was a bit of both.
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So there were some things that were immediate that I started drawing and sketching, and I've got ideas from, and a lot of those were actually underwater.
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So there's a coral called the dinner plate coral, and I I came back and I started sketching that coral, and I started thinking about ideas with that coral quite quickly, and I sketched stuff whilst I was away.
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Whereas some of the other things I've I'm gonna have to sit and stew on and fester on and really actually get an idea of of what I want to do.
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I think I said to Mark yesterday I was I focused on my inner crab, and and I actually did some some work that I'm happy with uh that represents the uh Christmas Island red crab.
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But you know, I I don't want to produce something that's an identical replica of a crab.
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I think for me that wouldn't work.
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It's not where my artwork is, it's like my interpretation of that and and and things like that that I'm actually working through.
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So one of the things that I actually will look at is writing about them.
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And I think that writing for me is actually bringing through some clarity and actually help helps me form my thoughts.
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So yeah, I'll actually sit and write about what I saw, and then I can interpret it in my way so that people look at me and go, I can see where her inspiration has come from.
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Not that's a Christmas Island red crab.
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Is anything woking you in the middle of the night or found you while you're in the shower since that trip?
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Well, again, that for me is that occurs when I'm writing, it's like I'm writing away, and for some reason that writing, it's like I don't know which side of the brain it is rosemary, but one side of the brain is writing and and thinking about that writing, and then suddenly something pops in.
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So not yet, but yeah.
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Yeah.
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Mm-hmm.
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Great.
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And then just lastly, on thinking about like the inner conversation for for Michelle Benson, do you think that the distance between the actual place you holidayed being away from it, and then the changes, and does that change how you see what you found now you're back in the studio?
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No, and I I think it's because I look at photographs, I don't I don't want to be an award-winning photographer.
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I I want to be an artist who uses photographs as inspiration.
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So I and I realize that there's two types of photography.
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There's inspiration work, which I did a lot of, I took a lot of inspiration shots, like you know, macro shots, rapid water shooting, and then there's shots of my work.
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So for me, what I've got is now the inspiration shots.
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And and for me, I've drawn all my life.
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So I can go back through sketches that I've done for the last 40 years and find fine things and go, oh, that now is inspiring me to do this.
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And now I just have another tool to do that because as well as sketch, because I'm not going to stop sketching, as well as sketching, I now have this tool of being able to use my camera correctly.
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And it's and and you think about it, like I've got I've got a beautiful camera, but the other thing I have is my iPhone, so I can actually just be out walking with my dog and my iPhone and find inspiration and take a photograph of it.
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It's something that you know, you actually it's easy now to actually get that photographic because we've all got phones, that photographic, you know, wow, this is the shot.
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And I mean, you know, iPhone shooting raw now, which is a better type of uh shoot camera shooting for editing and all that sort of thing.
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So I don't think that it's changed what I see.
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I think that it's actually gives me the advantage of having a memory, both physically and in my mind of what I've seen, and it gives me the ability to interpret more.
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Porcelain is, you know, delicate, unforgiving.
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And when you're standing on a beach looking at a shell or watching a fish move through the water, are you thinking in terms of what porcelain can and can't do?
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No, because when I actually am work, I I think that I I'm not a realist in my work.
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I I'm interpretive in my work.
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So I look at uh porcelain as a medium to express, not to create a like image.
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Yeah, that's beautiful, and your work is beautiful like that.
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Remember that crab ball piece?
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And uh so how would you think about translating something into a piece?
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I think a lot of it for me works on colour, and uh, I've been investigating the backs of the crabs and how they actually how each crab's back is slightly different from the other crab's back, and I I've been thinking about how I can actually add that to my work.
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I think with things like coral, I've been looking at how see it actually with see an enemy, which is ha which is where Nemo lives.
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Nemo lives inside the see an enemy.
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And I I was thinking about how I could interpret that into like a vase so that I can actually like create movement.
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And I think that for me, all of all of nature is about movement.
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And so my work is always about movement, as well as being, you know, broken and torn and a bit different.
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My work is always about movement, and I think it's about using the porcelain to create that movement in the pieces.
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.519
Yes, your m your pieces are all about movement.
00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.119
I know that they're beautiful.
00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:43.839
So let's move on to the bigger picture.
00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.920
And you've talked about how your art practice and the role it plays in your life.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:56.799
Does it act does actively going out to seek inspiration feel different to inspiration that just arrives from somewhere?
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.000
Well, you see, this is I I have a question back to you, Rosemary.
00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.559
Is any inspiration unbidden?
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.519
I I I would say no, it's not.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:16.559
I think that events of your past, what you've viewed through your eyes, and how you interpret it is something that is based on your life experiences.
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:22.240
It's not like I go out and a lightning bolt drops and I go, ah, that's the idea I'm gonna go with.
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:29.599
It's it's more that things come to the surface and you actually then are inspired by them.
00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:30.400
Right.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:44.799
And I think Julia Cameron talks about the artist's date, which is going out and looking for, or just going out and and sort of submerging yourself in something beautiful, could be a visit to a wool shop or whatever.
00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:51.119
So you've had that beautiful Christmas Island experience, and so you're all full of it at the moment.
00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:59.279
For anyone listening who wants to develop their own eye, whether it's practicing art or not, what would you say to them?
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.480
It's That inspiration comes from actually looking at the world in a different way.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:24.640
And whether it's you go to somewhere new and look at it from those that that this is new to me point of view, or whether you actually go somewhere and it's somewhere you've been before, but you put on it your photography eyes to look at it that and so you see it new.
00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:34.559
I think that that's what everybody needs to do is they need to actually have the eyes of a child when they're looking at things so that it's new to them no matter what it is.
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.680
That's awesome.
00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:41.119
And so what's the one image from this trip that keeps coming, you keep coming back to?
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.480
And do you already know what it's going to become?
00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:45.759
No, I don't.
00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:48.319
I have got one image that I say.
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.880
But I do think that one of the things about going on these trips.
00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:12.000
But I think that going on trips like this and actually doing things where you're learning and you're with a group, with a group of people whom you have a have a collective thought pattern.
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.359
So, you know, everybody was there to learn about using their camera better.
00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.519
Everybody was there to take photos.
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:24.640
So being part of that creative collective, I think for me, creates inspiration.
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:32.400
As in, I I feel free to to actually think more about what I'm doing with my artwork.
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:36.799
And I and I and I this course did that, but it's not just this course.
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:50.319
I went last year to Tuscany, to La Mer La La Merididina, and did a course on porcelain and worked with a group that again that collective energy was there.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:24:09.039
So the synergy of being around other artists, I think, is very important for any artist, whether they're an author, whether they're a serious, whether they're a painter or a musician, whatever type of artists they are, that collective group of people helps you to free up your own ideas.
00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:22.240
Remind us again about your website, how to purchase pieces, and it would be wonderful if you could pop some some images of your work along the way in a blog, but that's just a suggestion from me.
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.319
When is your open studio?
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:35.440
And just to let listeners know, I'll be there on the 11th at 11am with some other artists to check on Michelle Benson and we might do a little bit of insta filming.
00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:37.599
So tell us about that, Michelle.
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:43.519
Well, my website is www.mishellebenson.com.au.
00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.200
Nice and easy to remember.
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:58.559
And I also have an Instagram page, uh Michelle underscore Benson underscore art, which uh I won't be sharing photos of my trip, but I will be sharing photos of my work on that.
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:00.000
Writing a blog, Rosemary.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.319
I knew you were gonna say that to me.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.160
I knew you were gonna ask me.
00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.559
I don't know whether I got time to do a blog.
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.079
My studio I'm opening up on Saturdays as at the beginning of July.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.720
I've nearly finished getting the space ready.
00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:18.720
I've just got to hang the curtain so that you can't see all the messy stuff behind me.
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:23.920
But yes, I'm looking forward to the 11th to seeing you on the 11th in my studio.
00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:24.799
So yeah.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.480
And it's okay, Rosemary.
00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.400
Thank you for interviewing me.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.480
But that's enough about me.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:31.759
How are you?
00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:33.680
What's been inspiring you?
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:43.279
Well, Michelle, I want to thank you for that beautiful experience of hearing all about your trip, and I am looking forward to seeing what comes out from that.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:58.799
And uh actually, when once on the barrier reef I swam with a turtle, I always get mixed up, not a tortoise, a turtle, and it was absolutely the most spiritual experience, and I felt so grateful to be in that turtle space.
00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:20.799
But what's inspired me this week is I just finished an online course doing abstract art, and I didn't know other artists would know this, but I didn't know that learning another medium actually helped me with my current medium, which is the digital artwork I do and the sketches for the um books.
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:28.400
And so my next book I've started sort of sketching out, and it was everything was just flowing out.
00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:33.839
So bouncing out of me, I started sketching her bedroom, the little girl Gresha.
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.680
She's clever, I sketched a bookcase, she has a doll.
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:55.519
The doll um comes alive at the end of the book, so it was all just flowing out, so I thought I must do that more often, maybe turn up to your studio and get some um porcelain lessons because I didn't know that learning another medium can really pump up your your current one.
00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.079
I I'd like to say, Rosemary, it's learning.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.240
It's it's anything you're learning actually helps your creativity come out.
00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:14.160
You know, when you're learning, when you're learning to photograph things, when you're when you're learning to play with clay, it helps your creativity flow more.
00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.400
So it's unlocking that, and again, I think it's left side of your brain.
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.160
I always get them mixed up, but yeah.
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:23.759
Yes, learning a language, learn anything that's creative.
00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.759
What else do we got for our listeners?
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.680
Rosemary, I think that's about it, unless you can think of anything else.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:30.640
Great.
00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.440
Alright, alright, well, have a great day.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:34.880
Get work, get to work.
00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:36.799
Yeah, I will, I promise.
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.519
Alright, thanks, Rosemary.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:40.720
Bye.
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:41.519
Bye.
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.119
Thank you so much for listening to Shift Stirrers Podcast.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:52.319
If you enjoyed this episode, please hit that follow button so you can get notified whenever we release new content.
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:59.839
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00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.039
Or you can find our individual email addresses and websites in the show notes below.
00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:06.480
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00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:11.759
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00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:22.960
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00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:25.440
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00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:30.319
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00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.680
Until next time, keep stirring the shift.
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:39.519
Just a quick disclaimer Michelle and Rosemary are not experts in any of these discussions today.
00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:45.039
We present this podcast in the interest of getting you curious to make changes.
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:45.680
Thank you.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:01.840
Welcome to the Shift Stirrets.
00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:07.360
Before we dive in, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands where we record.
00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:13.199
Michelle and Roseme work on the lands of the Bon Worang and Warangeri people of the Kulin Nation.
00:00:13.359 --> 00:00:17.120
We pay our respects to elders past, present, and emerging.
00:00:17.359 --> 00:00:29.760
As we talk about transitions and shifts in our own lives, we recognise that First Nations people have been adapting, surviving and thriving on this continent for over 65,000 years.
00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.399
The world's longest continuing culture.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.799
Sovereignty was never ceded, always was, always will be.
00:00:37.119 --> 00:00:39.200
Hello, welcome Michelle.
00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:42.159
And today we're really stirring the shift.
00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:42.799
How are you?
00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:43.840
I'm good, thanks.
00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:44.960
It's good to see you.
00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.719
Great to see you.
00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.600
And when we start our episodes, we do talk about why we stir the shift.
00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:58.320
And it's about helping people get curious about getting some more art into their day and into their life.
00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:09.760
And I've pulled this morning this the artist way at work off my bookshelf because I think I'm going to work through it and let you know how I go.
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:17.599
But workplaces could have more creativity in their daily and their task list.
00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:33.760
So how would it be if CEOs, any CEOs listening here, had a creative skills matrix as well as a traditional skills matrix, and you might find that your engineer could create some intro music for your webinars.
00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:37.519
Anyway, welcome Michelle and let's get started.
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:38.319
Hi.
00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:48.319
I remember the beautiful porcelain piece that you created from your crab balls inspiration, and so I can't wait to hear about your trip.
00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:51.200
Now tell us about that and where did you go?
00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:56.799
Well, Roseme, yes, I have had a hiatus and been running around Australia.
00:01:56.879 --> 00:02:00.560
I planned a trip for photography education.
00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:07.359
I think that as an artist in any field, these days your photography skills need to be on point.
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:14.400
I looked up a course that was in Christmas Island, and my husband and I went there for a holiday.
00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:25.199
We added some scuba diving into that, and we also went to Perth as well, spent four days in Fremantle and another four days in Margaret River.
00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:29.120
So yeah, I feel like I've journeyed around the world and back in the last few days.
00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:29.919
Wow.
00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:35.680
The video that you sent was absolutely stunning and what a beautiful experience.
00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:42.080
And the actual sound, I was going to say music, the sound in the underwater was beautiful as well.
00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:43.520
Thank you for sending that.
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:50.960
Yeah, the video that I sent wasn't made by me, that was made by Chris Bray, who was the photographer who was educating us.
00:02:51.039 --> 00:02:52.319
So yeah, it was lovely.
00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:53.520
It was a very fun trip.
00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:56.400
Yes, and because you marine it, weren't you?
00:02:56.719 --> 00:02:57.280
Yes.
00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.319
That's great.
00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:05.599
When you go on a trip like that with your creative eyes open, are you intending to find something?
00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:07.120
What are you looking for?
00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:09.680
Or do you just let things find you?
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:11.919
I think it's a bit of both, Rosemary.
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:17.280
I think when we did the underwater diving, I definitely looked for things.
00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:18.960
I like looking at coral.
00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:24.800
I like looking at things like sea and enemies and how they move in the water.
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And so I actually am looking for those inspirations underwater.
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But then there's cases where the inspiration finds me too.
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So Christmas Island is known for the red crab, which is an endemic species that is on Christmas Island only.
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I started looking at those red crabs and I started noticing that each crab's back is slightly different.
00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:54.159
And so I became obsessed by photographing the crabs.
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So they've inspired me.
00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:01.759
So there's I I was working yesterday and I said to my husband, there's um I'm I'm inspired by my inner crab.
00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:06.719
And then I became obsessed, of course, with macro photography.
00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:11.680
And I have a macro lens, and I I want another macro lens as well.
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And I was, you know, enjoying doing all of that.
00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:26.480
I'm not very good at taking photos underwater, but I'm always pointing to Mark, who actually I'm going underwater, I'm going, take that, take that photo, because he's got a GoPro.
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Whereas I find like I'm dealing with all this equipment that's on my back and breathing and doing all those things, and I can't see very well into the camera.
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But Mark's really good at taking the photos underwater.
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Great.
00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:42.480
So for our listeners, can you describe macro photography?
00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:56.639
Macro is actually taking the small things, the tiny things in photography, and you're focusing on a very small point, which when I photograph my work, I'm concentrating on where the light is coming from.
00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:04.319
But it means like you're taking photos of very small leaves or little spiders or things like that.
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.639
And I actually found that very interesting.
00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:20.319
The course was more about how to use your camera, and a lot of people were taking you know sunsets, and I was taking the little flowers and little things rather than actually the big things.
00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:25.120
So it's become something that I want to do more and more of, and I find it very inspiring.
00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:26.000
Interesting.
00:05:26.160 --> 00:05:28.480
And so the did you say red crabs?
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.759
I think they were in a video you sent us, they were fantastic.
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Yeah, I've got a photo that I'll put up here that's Mark had one on his back.
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I didn't want to hold them because I'm I'm a bit nervous with spiders, so to me they're a bit spider-ish.
00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:46.240
But I love them, and in fact, I fell in love with them whilst I was there.
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So our question, what stopped you in your tracks?
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Would that be the red crabs or was there anything else?
00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:54.160
Everything stopped me in my tracks.
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I think every day that the course was so good that every day is a tiny little island, but it's 63, I think, percent of it is actual a national wildlife park.
00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.160
And of the ocean it's the same amount.
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:24.000
So we were going to places with someone who knew the island extremely well, had photographed the island and has won awards with his photography, not just of Christmas Island, but all over the world.
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:37.600
And so every day we went to a different place and saw, um, I think there's about there's a lot of endemic animals on Christmas Island, which are animals that are only found on Christmas Island, and a lot of them are endangered.
00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:41.360
So the course he took us to lots of different things.
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Like one day I was inspired by little endangered lizards.
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We went and had a lecture on them, and we had to help find the eggs, and I found a little lizard egg in these endangered species tanks because they're trying to to stop them being endangered by breeding them in captivity for a while.
00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:08.240
Another day I watched uh Chris, who was a uh photographer, actually they have a bird called is it uh the booby bird?
00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:14.959
And this bird, once it lands on the ground, it can't actually get take flight from the ground.
00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:16.639
It needs to take flight from a tree.
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.800
And so uh I was has it got blue feet?
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:22.720
Blue booby boobs.
00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.079
Some of them some of them have red, and I think some of them had red feet.
00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:31.839
So there's a red-footed booby and a brown booby, and yeah, there's all sorts of different boobies.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:41.199
Anyway, so he actually got this bird to s to to get onto a a big stick, and then he ran down the road, and then the bird could fly.
00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:51.040
And I didn't take photos of it, but that was actually a beautiful moment where you know he'd actually saved this bird from being on the ground and and things like that.
00:07:51.279 --> 00:08:01.279
So every day I was inspired by nature and what was you know, blowholes, taking photos of water droplets, things like that.
00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:06.079
Just yeah, so Rosemary, it was like a everything stopped me in my tracks.
00:08:06.240 --> 00:08:07.920
Yeah, it was magical.
00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:09.920
Yes, what a wonderful trip.
00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:14.879
And then we talk about colour and texture and shape and that sort of thing.
00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:21.920
So you've talked through some of those and the water droplets, the blowhole, and then the the crab's shell was hard, I guess.
00:08:22.240 --> 00:08:25.120
Anything that you want to talk about about that?
00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:34.399
Well, again, getting back down to the little things, I became inspired by and and I will put some pictures up in the the video as well so that we can look at them.
00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:52.879
I was inspired by things like uh the volcanic rock, and you actually the volcanic rock forms very roughly, and you'll be looking at it, and there'll be a little hole there, and I I'd actually photograph the rock, but I'd be photographing that little little tiny hole that was in the rock.
00:08:53.039 --> 00:09:03.039
And so, yeah, and and the brightness, so the crabs that are are really big on the island are called the robber crabs, and they're massive, absolutely massive.
00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:08.080
And uh the video I showed you had one of me trying to chase one off the road, right?
00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:17.360
And they could they when their legs are open, they're up to 1.5 meters, right?
00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:26.320
With their including their leg span, and I've I actually have a photo which again I'll put up of one actually carrying a coconut across the road, right?
00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:27.919
So that's that what they eat, yeah.
00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:32.000
Coconut they can crack open a coconut and eat coconut.
00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:36.080
In fact, I saw two fighting to see who was going to eat the coconut.
00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:36.960
Wow.
00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:47.279
But they are multicoloured, so some of them are browns and creams and greens, and then there's other ones that are pinks and reds and blues.
00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:50.399
So yeah, and and it's a jungle.
00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.159
I fell in love with the jungle, and everything's so crisp and coloured.
00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.960
There's very few people who who live on this island.
00:09:57.039 --> 00:09:59.519
I think it's about 3,000 people in total.
00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:10.240
Now, most of them are working either in the in the national parks and their research is protecting the animals, or there's a phosphate mine there as well.
00:10:10.399 --> 00:10:13.279
So they'll be that the other third is a phosphate mine.
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.799
So yeah, so there's very few people on the island and it's it's a pristine environment.
00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:21.360
Wow, that's great.
00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:24.480
What a injection of creativity.
00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:28.639
Now you say that we are all broken, we are all fragile, we are all broken.
00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:30.559
That's your is it called mantra?
00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:31.039
Yes.
00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:36.799
And did you find something that stopped you in the tracks that was we would say broken?
00:10:37.120 --> 00:10:41.600
Well, I I think I've decided I think that I like the ugly beautiful.
00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:42.639
I really do.
00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:48.000
Like, for instance, in the jungle, there's tree roots that are actually growing out of the ground.
00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:56.320
And they're stunning and spooky, and as I said, the the the robber crabs are very prehistoric in their look.
00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:57.600
Yeah.
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:06.720
Even down to, you know, I took photographs of fungi and uh like logs that I just loved the the way the texture formed.
00:11:06.879 --> 00:11:13.039
I did want to take some clay and imprint things, but I just felt uncomfortable taking it onto the island.
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:23.200
I think that the ugly beautiful, like everybody's taking photos of sunsets, and I'm taking photos of little tiny rocks and creatures, and so yeah.
00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:24.480
Wow.
00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:28.879
And uh was there something that you kept photographing multiple times?
00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:34.480
The course was all about you need to photograph things multiple times.
00:11:34.799 --> 00:11:35.360
Right.
00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:41.919
And I think that you don't you don't take one shot, you you need to take things from different angles.
00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:54.159
And I found that I came back and took photos to to to post on my Instagram, and I was more inventive about how I what angles I photographed it from.
00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:04.000
Because you can, you know, you you can look then on light light room or something like that, and you can go, you can compare photos and see which one's the best photo.
00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:10.960
Or so I think it's I think that the idea is that you do take lots of photos from different angles.
00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.240
I learned how to use the rapid shutter, so you instead of taking one photo, you take you take 20 photos.
00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:32.399
And uh I loved using that to take things like the water coming out of blowholes, and I actually have some shots that I took, which again I'll put up of like you can literally see the water droplets as they're coming out of the blowhole, and I I love that effect.
00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:57.759
My husband on the other side, he prefers the the like seeing the mass of water, and so yeah, you you just do take lots and lots of photos, and uh the one thing, Rosemary, is that my glutes got a good workout because you that's good, you can you actually take photos like I I'd squat to take a photo and I'd have to stand up like I'd be holding my camera, and so I still have to stand up.
00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:04.399
So yeah, I got very good at squatting down and getting back, and I mean really squatting down.
00:13:04.639 --> 00:13:10.240
Yeah, you also lay down to take photographs, you you take them from all sorts of different angles.
00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:18.000
I uh you know it you need to you need to open up your eyes and look at things from different ways.
00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.639
So yeah, it's uh inspirational.
00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:26.240
Right, and I I'm guessing you must be coming a very good photographer now.
00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:30.480
Is there anything you wanted to find inspiration but you couldn't connect with?
00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:43.039
Not that I wanted to find inspiration from, but a lot of there was a lot of beautiful birds on Christmas Island, and a lot of the the photographers that were on the course were photographing birds.
00:13:43.200 --> 00:14:05.600
And I think it was maybe because my camera was all always set up to do the macro stuff, which is a different lens and a different, you know, apt to aptitude and a different shutter speed, and all of these things that I actually didn't photograph the birds, which is a big part of the the the island uh animal population.
00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:11.759
But it was because I wasn't set up, I was actually like off down doing this little thing, mushroom over here, and oh look at a bird.
00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:19.039
You gotta change your lens and you gotta put the different aperture on and the different shutter speed and the different light settings.
00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.480
So it's sort of like I wasn't concentrating on that.
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:30.159
So it's not that I didn't find inspiration in the birds, some of them were beautiful, it's just that it wasn't what I was focusing on.
00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:33.120
So I think you can only focus on so much.
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:34.399
Wow.
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:35.519
Sounds amazing.
00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:37.600
Your brain would have been bursting.
00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:47.039
Now I see that you're in the studio today, and you're and I'm thinking about out in nature, back in the studio, out in nature, getting inspired.
00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:55.759
So uh can you tell us about can you while you're out there, did you sometimes think about back at the studio what you're going to do?
00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.159
There was a I I think it was a bit of both.
00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:05.679
So there were some things that were immediate that I started drawing and sketching, and I've got ideas from, and a lot of those were actually underwater.
00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:19.360
So there's a coral called the dinner plate coral, and I I came back and I started sketching that coral, and I started thinking about ideas with that coral quite quickly, and I sketched stuff whilst I was away.
00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:29.519
Whereas some of the other things I've I'm gonna have to sit and stew on and fester on and really actually get an idea of of what I want to do.
00:15:29.759 --> 00:15:44.080
I think I said to Mark yesterday I was I focused on my inner crab, and and I actually did some some work that I'm happy with uh that represents the uh Christmas Island red crab.
00:15:44.159 --> 00:15:50.080
But you know, I I don't want to produce something that's an identical replica of a crab.
00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.159
I think for me that wouldn't work.
00:15:52.480 --> 00:16:01.519
It's not where my artwork is, it's like my interpretation of that and and and things like that that I'm actually working through.
00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:07.519
So one of the things that I actually will look at is writing about them.
00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:16.480
And I think that writing for me is actually bringing through some clarity and actually help helps me form my thoughts.
00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:26.720
So yeah, I'll actually sit and write about what I saw, and then I can interpret it in my way so that people look at me and go, I can see where her inspiration has come from.
00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:29.200
Not that's a Christmas Island red crab.
00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.639
Is anything woking you in the middle of the night or found you while you're in the shower since that trip?
00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:51.600
Well, again, that for me is that occurs when I'm writing, it's like I'm writing away, and for some reason that writing, it's like I don't know which side of the brain it is rosemary, but one side of the brain is writing and and thinking about that writing, and then suddenly something pops in.
00:16:51.679 --> 00:16:53.279
So not yet, but yeah.
00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:53.679
Yeah.
00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:54.639
Mm-hmm.
00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:55.600
Great.
00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:12.240
And then just lastly, on thinking about like the inner conversation for for Michelle Benson, do you think that the distance between the actual place you holidayed being away from it, and then the changes, and does that change how you see what you found now you're back in the studio?
00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:20.000
No, and I I think it's because I look at photographs, I don't I don't want to be an award-winning photographer.
00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:25.759
I I want to be an artist who uses photographs as inspiration.
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.839
So I and I realize that there's two types of photography.
00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:39.839
There's inspiration work, which I did a lot of, I took a lot of inspiration shots, like you know, macro shots, rapid water shooting, and then there's shots of my work.
00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:44.880
So for me, what I've got is now the inspiration shots.
00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:47.519
And and for me, I've drawn all my life.
00:17:47.759 --> 00:17:57.680
So I can go back through sketches that I've done for the last 40 years and find fine things and go, oh, that now is inspiring me to do this.
00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:07.680
And now I just have another tool to do that because as well as sketch, because I'm not going to stop sketching, as well as sketching, I now have this tool of being able to use my camera correctly.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:22.240
And it's and and you think about it, like I've got I've got a beautiful camera, but the other thing I have is my iPhone, so I can actually just be out walking with my dog and my iPhone and find inspiration and take a photograph of it.
00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:33.759
It's something that you know, you actually it's easy now to actually get that photographic because we've all got phones, that photographic, you know, wow, this is the shot.
00:18:33.920 --> 00:18:42.720
And I mean, you know, iPhone shooting raw now, which is a better type of uh shoot camera shooting for editing and all that sort of thing.
00:18:42.880 --> 00:18:47.440
So I don't think that it's changed what I see.
00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:59.759
I think that it's actually gives me the advantage of having a memory, both physically and in my mind of what I've seen, and it gives me the ability to interpret more.
00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:03.440
Porcelain is, you know, delicate, unforgiving.
00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:12.400
And when you're standing on a beach looking at a shell or watching a fish move through the water, are you thinking in terms of what porcelain can and can't do?
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:20.720
No, because when I actually am work, I I think that I I'm not a realist in my work.
00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:22.799
I I'm interpretive in my work.
00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:29.839
So I look at uh porcelain as a medium to express, not to create a like image.
00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.880
Yeah, that's beautiful, and your work is beautiful like that.
00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:35.200
Remember that crab ball piece?
00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:39.359
And uh so how would you think about translating something into a piece?
00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:57.519
I think a lot of it for me works on colour, and uh, I've been investigating the backs of the crabs and how they actually how each crab's back is slightly different from the other crab's back, and I I've been thinking about how I can actually add that to my work.
00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:07.680
I think with things like coral, I've been looking at how see it actually with see an enemy, which is ha which is where Nemo lives.
00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:09.680
Nemo lives inside the see an enemy.
00:20:09.920 --> 00:20:18.000
And I I was thinking about how I could interpret that into like a vase so that I can actually like create movement.
00:20:18.079 --> 00:20:22.559
And I think that for me, all of all of nature is about movement.
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:28.880
And so my work is always about movement, as well as being, you know, broken and torn and a bit different.
00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:36.480
My work is always about movement, and I think it's about using the porcelain to create that movement in the pieces.
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.519
Yes, your m your pieces are all about movement.
00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:41.119
I know that they're beautiful.
00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:43.839
So let's move on to the bigger picture.
00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:47.920
And you've talked about how your art practice and the role it plays in your life.
00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:56.799
Does it act does actively going out to seek inspiration feel different to inspiration that just arrives from somewhere?
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:00.000
Well, you see, this is I I have a question back to you, Rosemary.
00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.559
Is any inspiration unbidden?
00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:05.519
I I I would say no, it's not.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:16.559
I think that events of your past, what you've viewed through your eyes, and how you interpret it is something that is based on your life experiences.
00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:22.240
It's not like I go out and a lightning bolt drops and I go, ah, that's the idea I'm gonna go with.
00:21:22.480 --> 00:21:29.599
It's it's more that things come to the surface and you actually then are inspired by them.
00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:30.400
Right.
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:44.799
And I think Julia Cameron talks about the artist's date, which is going out and looking for, or just going out and and sort of submerging yourself in something beautiful, could be a visit to a wool shop or whatever.
00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:51.119
So you've had that beautiful Christmas Island experience, and so you're all full of it at the moment.
00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:59.279
For anyone listening who wants to develop their own eye, whether it's practicing art or not, what would you say to them?
00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.480
It's That inspiration comes from actually looking at the world in a different way.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:24.640
And whether it's you go to somewhere new and look at it from those that that this is new to me point of view, or whether you actually go somewhere and it's somewhere you've been before, but you put on it your photography eyes to look at it that and so you see it new.
00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:34.559
I think that that's what everybody needs to do is they need to actually have the eyes of a child when they're looking at things so that it's new to them no matter what it is.
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:35.680
That's awesome.
00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:41.119
And so what's the one image from this trip that keeps coming, you keep coming back to?
00:22:41.519 --> 00:22:44.480
And do you already know what it's going to become?
00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:45.759
No, I don't.
00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:48.319
I have got one image that I say.
00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.880
But I do think that one of the things about going on these trips.
00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:12.000
But I think that going on trips like this and actually doing things where you're learning and you're with a group, with a group of people whom you have a have a collective thought pattern.
00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:15.359
So, you know, everybody was there to learn about using their camera better.
00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.519
Everybody was there to take photos.
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:24.640
So being part of that creative collective, I think for me, creates inspiration.
00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:32.400
As in, I I feel free to to actually think more about what I'm doing with my artwork.
00:23:32.559 --> 00:23:36.799
And I and I and I this course did that, but it's not just this course.
00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:50.319
I went last year to Tuscany, to La Mer La La Merididina, and did a course on porcelain and worked with a group that again that collective energy was there.
00:23:50.559 --> 00:24:09.039
So the synergy of being around other artists, I think, is very important for any artist, whether they're an author, whether they're a serious, whether they're a painter or a musician, whatever type of artists they are, that collective group of people helps you to free up your own ideas.
00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:22.240
Remind us again about your website, how to purchase pieces, and it would be wonderful if you could pop some some images of your work along the way in a blog, but that's just a suggestion from me.
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.319
When is your open studio?
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:35.440
And just to let listeners know, I'll be there on the 11th at 11am with some other artists to check on Michelle Benson and we might do a little bit of insta filming.
00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:37.599
So tell us about that, Michelle.
00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:43.519
Well, my website is www.mishellebenson.com.au.
00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:45.200
Nice and easy to remember.
00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:58.559
And I also have an Instagram page, uh Michelle underscore Benson underscore art, which uh I won't be sharing photos of my trip, but I will be sharing photos of my work on that.
00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:00.000
Writing a blog, Rosemary.
00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.319
I knew you were gonna say that to me.
00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.160
I knew you were gonna ask me.
00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:06.559
I don't know whether I got time to do a blog.
00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.079
My studio I'm opening up on Saturdays as at the beginning of July.
00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:14.720
I've nearly finished getting the space ready.
00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:18.720
I've just got to hang the curtain so that you can't see all the messy stuff behind me.
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:23.920
But yes, I'm looking forward to the 11th to seeing you on the 11th in my studio.
00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:24.799
So yeah.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:26.480
And it's okay, Rosemary.
00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:28.400
Thank you for interviewing me.
00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.480
But that's enough about me.
00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:31.759
How are you?
00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:33.680
What's been inspiring you?
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:43.279
Well, Michelle, I want to thank you for that beautiful experience of hearing all about your trip, and I am looking forward to seeing what comes out from that.
00:25:43.440 --> 00:25:58.799
And uh actually, when once on the barrier reef I swam with a turtle, I always get mixed up, not a tortoise, a turtle, and it was absolutely the most spiritual experience, and I felt so grateful to be in that turtle space.
00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:20.799
But what's inspired me this week is I just finished an online course doing abstract art, and I didn't know other artists would know this, but I didn't know that learning another medium actually helped me with my current medium, which is the digital artwork I do and the sketches for the um books.
00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:28.400
And so my next book I've started sort of sketching out, and it was everything was just flowing out.
00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:33.839
So bouncing out of me, I started sketching her bedroom, the little girl Gresha.
00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.680
She's clever, I sketched a bookcase, she has a doll.
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:55.519
The doll um comes alive at the end of the book, so it was all just flowing out, so I thought I must do that more often, maybe turn up to your studio and get some um porcelain lessons because I didn't know that learning another medium can really pump up your your current one.
00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:58.079
I I'd like to say, Rosemary, it's learning.
00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:04.240
It's it's anything you're learning actually helps your creativity come out.
00:27:04.480 --> 00:27:14.160
You know, when you're learning, when you're learning to photograph things, when you're when you're learning to play with clay, it helps your creativity flow more.
00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:18.400
So it's unlocking that, and again, I think it's left side of your brain.
00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.160
I always get them mixed up, but yeah.
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:23.759
Yes, learning a language, learn anything that's creative.
00:27:24.000 --> 00:27:25.759
What else do we got for our listeners?
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.680
Rosemary, I think that's about it, unless you can think of anything else.
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:30.640
Great.
00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:33.440
Alright, alright, well, have a great day.
00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:34.880
Get work, get to work.
00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:36.799
Yeah, I will, I promise.
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.519
Alright, thanks, Rosemary.
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:40.720
Bye.
00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:41.519
Bye.
00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:45.119
Thank you so much for listening to Shift Stirrers Podcast.
00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:52.319
If you enjoyed this episode, please hit that follow button so you can get notified whenever we release new content.
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:59.839
We'd love to hear feel from you and feel free to reach out to us at theshift stirrers at gmail.com.
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:05.039
Or you can find our individual email addresses and websites in the show notes below.
00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:06.480
We love questions.
00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:11.759
You can also connect to us on Instagram at ShiftStirrers.
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:22.960
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00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:25.440
It really helps others to discover the show.
00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:30.319
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00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:33.680
Until next time, keep stirring the shift.
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:39.519
Just a quick disclaimer Michelle and Rosemary are not experts in any of these discussions today.
00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:45.039
We present this podcast in the interest of getting you curious to make changes.
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:45.680
Thank you.
