As the sun rose along the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk on Saturday morning, my daughter and I experienced Sculpture by the Sea. It was bliss. Girl time with my daughter, the salty tang of the air, the infinite range of blues and green in the ocean and the diverse array of sculptures.

Afterwards lots of thoughts jostled in my head for space and in no specific order this is some of what came to mind.

A – Staying Present

At that time of morning most of the other people carried very large cameras or were running. Each installation was thought provoking in some way and demanded a response, big or small.  Yet half the people viewed the art through a lens (me included with my iPhone) and the other half ran straight past it.

I wonder how many of us on Saturday morning were actually present to the moment and the presence of the art.  Did we stop and feel our experience? Have we forgotten to trust our visual and perceptual memory of experience? Was the experience and memory downsized to a photo?

What’s your answer?

B – Trust yourself

As we looked at the diverse range of sculptures exhibited we talked about what we liked and didn’t like and at the end of our walk we decided on our favourites and posted a collage on Instagram (note to self see point A).

Our personal judging ceremony reminded me of a time when I was studying part time towards a Diploma in Colour Consulting and drawing was part of the coursework. This particular tutor had a preference for detailed complex drawings, not my style at all and it was clear that she didn’t think I was very good.

I was completely disheartened until the next time I found myself at the Art Gallery of NSW. This august institution is a repository of fine art and yet as I looked around I wondered how some of the pieces had come to be hung on the walls as I thought they were awful.

It was an ‘ah ha’ moment in my creative journey.

These artworks represented the taste and style of the different curators of the gallery and therefore were rightly diverse in style and expression. But what they all had in common was the artist’s unerring commitment to their craft. So it didn’t really matter what my tutor thought about my drawings, it was far more important how I felt about my drawings and my commitment to my creative pursuits.

A reminder to trust your inner voice and not worry too much about what other people think.

What’s your inner voice saying?

C – Perspective

Sometimes we forget that our perspective is only one view and there are others to be had.

Take ‘transformation’ the sculpture by Tom de Munk-Kerkmeer. For some reason it really resonated with me. And it made our Favourite List. Then when I was googling to find the name of artist this morning I found another image of the same artwork from a completely different perspective. The photo on the left I took and the photo on the right was on the ABC News website with no photographer attribution.

Suddenly  ‘transformation’ had a completely different feel for me…now in the ‘not so much like’ category.

What made your perspective change?

D – Commit to the journey

Thank goodness for people like David Handley, Founder of Sculpture by the Sea. Read the story of his vision here http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/about/history.aspx

A living example of my quote from a couple of weeks ago ….

“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now” – W.H. Murray

What is your vision?

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