The Artist's Journey | OzFineArt.Au | Podcast

The Artist's Journey Podcast E9 - Dwayne Wannamarra Kennedy: Australian Artist | Contemporary Indigenous Art Cultural Heritage

Welcome to Episode 9 in The Artist’s Journey series. Today we feature the works of Dwayne Kennedy. For full visuals be sure to watch the YouTube or Substack video production where the paintings appear during the voice over. Thanks for your interest in our work. Paintings are available on the website - any questions be in touch. YouTube Description: Discover the powerful artwork of Dwayne Wannamarra Wyndier Andrew Kennedy, a visual artist from Guyra based in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. Dwayne honors his Waradjuri, Kamilaroi, Irish, and French family heritages through stunning paintings that blend traditional Aboriginal Australian art with impressionist, abstract, and contemporary styles. 🎨 About the Artist: Dwayne creates acrylic paintings on stretched canvas, wooden boards, and panels, drawing inspiration from his family’s identity, culture, and the struggles and joys of everyday people. His work is deeply rooted in empowerment, resilience, and the sacred practice of Aboriginal songlines and dreaming. After surviving severe childhood burns, Dwayne found art as a sanctuary and healing practice—a way to reflect on life, meaning, and survival. His background in graphic arts and fashion design brings a unique contemporary perspective to his traditional and figurative works. ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction to Oz FineArt & Dwayne Kennedy 0:27 - Artistic Style & Mediums 1:05 - Cultural Inspiration & Life Philosophy 1:32 - Overcoming Trauma Through Art 2:13 - Art as Sacred Practice & Healing 2:42 - Aboriginal Songlines & Cultural Teachings 3:16 - Visit Our Website Learn More: Visit https://ozfineart.au to explore Dwayne’s complete collection and experience the profound wisdom and strength his paintings offer. #AboriginalArt #IndigenousArtist #AustralianArt #ContemporaryArt #Waradjuri #Kamilaroi #AboriginalCulture #IndigenousArtwork #AcrylicPainting #ArtHealing #CulturalHeritage #NSWArtist #ArtsAndCulture #SacredArt #Dreamtime #Songlines #AboriginalPainting #FirstNationsArt #IndigenousHeritage #ArtTherapy Keywords: Aboriginal art, Indigenous Australian artist, Dwayne Kennedy artist, Waradjuri art, Kamilaroi culture, contemporary Aboriginal painting, traditional Indigenous art, Australian landscape paintings, Aboriginal songlines, sacred art practice, Indigenous cultural heritage, NSW artists, Armidale artists, acrylic Aboriginal paintings, First Nations artwork, Aboriginal impressionist art, Indigenous abstract art, cultural healing through art, Aboriginal contemporary design Transcript: Dwayne Wannamarra Kennedy: Australian Artist | Contemporary Indigenous Art Cultural Heritage [00:00:00] Welcome to Oz FineArt. Today we feature the works of Dwayne Wannamarra Wyndier Andrew Kennedy. Dwayne is a visual artist from Guyra based in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. He honors his Waradjuri, Kamilaroi, Irish and French family Heritages. His works spans a range of styles including traditional Aboriginal Australian, impressionist, abstract and abstract realism with elements of contemporary graphic arts and design. Dwayne creates paintings in acrylics on stretched canvas, wooden boards, and panels. As a visual artist, his paintings and ceramics are inspired by his family’s identity and culture. His work is driven by the struggles and joys of everyday people, those whose perseverance and whose [00:01:00] finding empowerment creates a way forward for others. Over the years he’s created commissioned Australian landscapes and figurative works. His studies in graphic arts and fashion design have given his work quite a strong form and a unique contemporary perspective. Art for Dwayne is a personal and essentially a practice of the self like breathing. It has been a sanctuary since childhood. Surviving early childhood severe burns to most of Dwayne’s upper body gave him a fresh perspective on identity and human relationships. Immobilized for so long, he had to rely on his family. Which helped him find a deep inner source of resilience and strength. This experience of recovery through trauma fostered a [00:02:00] profound commitment to positive attitudes and empowerment and values that have guided his relationships and his lifelong work in disability and mental health support. Dwayne’s Art practice is incredibly healing and offers a way to reflect on life, meaning, survival and empowerment. He believes that the contemporary reawakening of sacred dreaming and Aboriginal songlines, indigenous songlines, is at the heart of truly an artful practice of living that can profoundly help people in their daily lives. Art as sacredness, art as sacred practice seeks to immediately understand and convey a deep and mysterious message that cultural teachings are still alive and well, and awakening in today’s world. And these [00:03:00] reveal more to people over the years. Dwayne’s work, and living with his paintings, provides a profound and wonderful source of insight, wisdom, and strength. To see and experience more of his works, visit our website. Thanks for reading Art Wisdom | The Artist's Journey Show & Podcast! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ozfineart.substack.com [https://ozfineart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Artist's Journey E8 - Art Appreciation as Sacred Custodianship: Impression Expression Abstract

Description: The Dreaming Meets the Waking World. In this session we step into the quiet cathedral of an Australian garden to witness the plum tree in its brief, explosive confession. This is not merely a painting demonstration; it is a meditation on “Sacred Business” and the act of custodianship. Join me for a 19-minute journey en plein air, where we explore how the deep time of Indigenous and Celtic lineage. We move beyond the canvas to discuss the therapeutic power of art, the shift from Impressionism to Abstraction, and the elegance of curating your own private sanctuary. In this episode, we explore: -The Therapeutic Gaze: How neuroaesthetics and “soft fascination” in nature quiet the mind. -The Impressionist Lens: Capturing the vibration of light rather than the architecture of form. -Lineage & Deep Time: Finding the echoes of Celtic knotwork and Indigenous “Spirit of Place” in the twisting branches. -The Art of Curating: Why collecting art is an act of arranging meaning and energy in your home. Claim This Artefact If this piece resonates with your interior landscape, you are invited to view the finished work and explore our current collection. 🌿 Visit the Gallery: [ozfineart.au] Start your collection and bring the sanctuary of the garden into your space. Join the Inner Circle For exclusive essays and the written transcript of this journey, subscribe to ‘Art Wisdom’ on Substack. 📜 Read & Subscribe: [https://ozfineart.substack.com/] #ArtAppreciation #PleinAir #AustralianArt #SacredBusiness #ArtCollecting Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction: The moment before creation 0:35 - Understanding transience and custodianship 1:15 - Witnessing the plum tree in bloom 1:50 - The fleeting nature of light 2:18 - The art of deep attention and gazing 4:09 - St. Claire of Assisi and transformation 5:24 - First marks and the Impressionist tradition 5:57 - The Group of Seven and medieval art 6:27 - Giotto and the Franciscan tradition 6:57 - Neuroaesthetics and soft fascination 7:37 - The painting as meditation 8:05 - Squinting to see essence 8:34 - Looking for harmonies, not details 9:07 - The Impressionist stage 9:40 - Working with shifting light 10:05 - Living in the moment 10:38 - Deep time and sacred connection 11:14 - Standing on sacred ground 11:54 - Art as Sacred Business 12:19 - Celtic and indigenous connections 12:39 - Goddess Aine and transformation 13:18 - Sacred geometry and Song Lines 14:04 - Life, death, and rebirth cycles 14:19 - Weaving worlds together 15:22 - Curating art for your home 15:42 - Moving past visual recording to feeling 16:32 - Expressionism and emotional core 17:04 - Owning original art as an anchor 17:49 - The value of custodianship 18:29 - From timeless wonder to wonderful details 18:50 - Invitation to explore collections Transcript [00:00:00] There is a moment just before the brush touches the canvas where the world seems to hold its breath. It’s a pause. Where the dreaming meets the waking world. We are here in a quiet cathedral in the Australian bush, in the garden. Witnessing a plum tree in this brief moment of time, an explosion, a confession of bloom. This is not just a tree, it’s a lesson in transience, it’s a sacrament. And this act of painting en plein air is not merely about the capturing of a likeness. This is an act of Custodianship. An act of Sacred Dreaming. To [00:01:00] witness the light, to honour the land, to honour Sacred Country, and to translate these ephemeral values, these concrete and earthy values into something permanent, into something that we can celebrate, into a painting that we admire and appreciate. Welcome to The Artist Journey. I’m your host, Dr. Jo. Welcome to our garden. This is where the dreaming meets the waking world. You’re watching a plum tree in full permissionless bloom, a riot of color and texture against the Australian sky. But what we’re really witnessing here is the creation of ourselves and how we move with the [00:02:00] impressions of nature into a place of interiority. What we’re doing here is witnessing. This is an act of primal custodianship. To paint en plein air or in the open is to enter a negotiation with the elements. It’s not a passive act at all. It’s an action of transcendence. It’s a way of coming to terms with ourselves, with understanding our identity. This is truly a sacred business. When I set up my easel, I’m not just observing the tree, I’m. Stepping into a stream of consciousness, a time between times. The light that I see and that you see on the canvas right now is actually quite fleeting. It changes. It transcends. [00:03:00] It moves. The light moves through time and will never exist exactly in this way again. And in the same way, the tree that I observe and that I try to capture as I’m tracing the trunk lines of the beautiful, beautiful bark, shifts and changes before my eyes. And the tree itself as a living organism changes as well through time, perhaps beyond our perception of time. So never existing exactly in the same way. Again, my role then, and perhaps yours as well as you watch, is to be the witness. And within this, to gaze upon a deeper reality. In our modern lives, we’re often starved at this kind of [00:04:00] deep attention. We scan, we scroll, we glance. But art demands that we gaze. I’m reminded of St. Clair of Assisi, who implied in one of her profound letters to a beloved friend, something akin to this notion that to gaze upon the naked Christ, the naked Jesus, is to know true love. The sense of the medieval ‘gaze’ was an action of the self that transforms the mind, the body, and brings us into a place of soulful resonance, where we literally transform upon this lake of being. Given what we give our time to, what we give our energy to, and how this resonates with us. Changes us. And [00:05:00] for Claire, in her mysticism, in her deep, profound, loving kindness, and her giving of herself to her sisters and within her community, she embodied this action of transformation, this action of loving kindness. As the first marks go down in the canvas, and even now as we deepen the colors and we provide the structure of the painting, we’re engaging with a tradition that revolutionized how humanity sees itself. The Impressionists, like Monet, Renoir, and Pissaro broke the studio walls. They understood that the world is not made of rigid lines and black shadows. The world is made of profound [00:06:00] vibrations and relationships of color. I’m reminded of the Group of Seven, in Canada, whose works transformed a whole generation and more, in our perceptions of nature. This tradition goes back profoundly deeply within history. Back to again, the medieval times. After Claire and Francis walked in Assisi. The artist Giotto, in Italy, during the middle age, reflected on the Franciscan tradition. And his work revolutionized within this tradition an artfulness and culture that rendered the sacred within the domestic. That transformed our understanding of human relationships and our relationships with nature as a sacred place. This is a therapeutic [00:07:00] relevance. This is in modern terms, what we call ‘neuroaesthetics.’ This is the study of how the brain responds to art, and this tells us that we’re looking at a ‘soft fascination,’ which in this field of science describes patterns that are found within nature, like clouds or foliage or the tree that we’re painting now- and how our brain shifts from a high beta state of stress into an alpha state of relaxation. The painting, as an action, but also our appreciation of art, our depth of understanding of art- as this forms within our experience, as we gaze upon the painting like an icon or a window into our souls, we also enter into this alpha state of relaxation, and this [00:08:00] changes us. This gives us new perception, new meaning. When I squint my eyes, for example, as an artist, and I’m mixing with color, I’m physically blurring the world to understand its essence. I’m moving from the structure of the tree to how the colors textures and meaning emerge. The energy of the tree comes forward in the painting. This is a lesson for the collector and for the art lover. Sometimes you see, to actually see the truth of a thing or an object, you must stop looking for the sharp details. And start looking for the overall harmonies. You need to look for the space between the notes and how the notes interact within the music of the art. And this is an [00:09:00] impressionist stage, and it’s linked to what comes next in our deep affiliations. But the impressionist stage is a true impression of the tree, given a subjective perception, given a personal view. This is a fleeting moment. And yes. This is a window into a more pervasive truth. The sun is moving. The shadows on the tree are shifting from cools to warms to deep tones, and I have to work quickly. The impressionism is an exercise in presence. You can’t worry so much about the mistakes you’ve made five minutes ago. And mistakes themselves become part of the process and part of the journey and the learning. You can’t worry about the finished product [00:10:00] either. You must live in the moment. You must apply the brush. You must live with the color. And this is a truth that is. Beyond art. This is the mindfulness that we find and a philosophy that we find within the moment. What we call an indigenous cultural teachings, a deep time, a time of connection, a place that is sacred. This is where we look at light, but we see beyond it. We look at structure. We see a fluidity of connectedness. We see the gnarled, dark wood of the plum tree, for example, twisting upward, and yet we see the vibrancy of colors and how they interact. We are standing on sacred ground. The Australian landscape is not a blank [00:11:00] canvas. It’s written over tens of thousands of years of story and stewardship by the First Nations people in their interaction with the sacredness of the country. This art is an ultimate expression of the Sacred Business. Art, not as a commodity. Rather, Art as a map of survival, of spirit and law. We paint with this profound reverence for the Spirit of Place in our Mi’kmaq heritage and the Sacred Pipe that we carry within this country speaks of the essence of the power that is found hidden within creation and with Creation’s Song we sing that Our Stories Are Our Medicine. I look at the twisting branches. I feel the echo of [00:12:00] my own lineage rising to meet the land from my Celtic origins. I’m reminded of the goddess Aine, and her giving of self. In her wings of transformation in how she combines and brings together the mysteries of life and of love, of family, and of kinship within her abundance, within her vision, within her giftedness, within her creativity and intuition. We see within the Celtic tradition and the indigenous peoples of Australia, this understanding of the sacred geometry of nature. We see this endless line like the Song Lines. And Medicine Trails, that turn knots into [00:13:00] beautiful flowers. That are like knotwork, given to purpose and meaning that reflect back on itself- symbolizing an eternal cycle of life, death, and rebirth. This life, death and rebirth cycle, we see within the curves of the branch of the tree and the depths of color as they come together. This is not a straight line. Nature abhors straight lines. In fact. And lives within spirals and turns and circles. Encapturing this organic, distinct calligraphy of the plum tree- i’m weaving with these worlds together a mystery. A timelessness. Ancient and yet true, the red and deep ochers of Australia and the rhythmic, cyclical understanding of our [00:14:00] Celtic origins, and our Aancestors, give us this sense of the beautiful colors emerging. This creates a layered experience. When you curate art for your own home, you’re looking for these layers. You’re looking for a piece that holds a conversation between the past and the present. A work of art that is for you, a bridge. A bridge between cultures and eras, a bridge that anchors your soul, your heart, your spirit, your body in the moment and within your sense of creation. Art within your home, within your collection is an expression of your own personality. And so when you connect with the art of an artist, this is where [00:15:00] you’re heading. As the painting develops, you can see the shifting of colors and how things are coming together. We move past the recording of visual effects. This is a branch, for example. We have the bones of the tree. Now we’re putting in the feeling. And this is expressionism at its heart. This is the externalization of our interiority, of our internal world. The plum tree is no longer just a plant. It’s an explosion of joy. It is a shout of life arising in creation. It is, the brush strokes becoming more aggressive perhaps, and more confident. And yet it is also a painting that builds on texture and creates a topography of being on the canvas. And here we have brush strokes against the edges of abstraction. Many collectors are [00:16:00] intimidated by abstract art. But in its purest form, abstract art is a poetry of being. To abstract is to ‘draw away.’ We are drawing away the unnecessary details to reveal the emotional core. Think of it like music. We don’t just ‘do’ a C major chord, and ask what does it represent? Rather, we feel its resonance. And so here we have our completed work. Our resonance of the plum tree. Given in the truth and being of the details now, that we apply, with our smaller brush. In our world that is increasingly digital ephemeral and rented, owning your own original work of art is an anchor. It’s [00:17:00] a declaration of permissionless indulgence in beauty. It’s an investment in your own mental wellbeing. Imagine this piece on your wall in your collection, not just playing a role of decor, but being a window that brings you to this garden, to this place, to this memory of your own becoming. Every time you walk past it, you are inviting a sense of pause. You are inviting a sense of memory that brings this lesson of the plum blossoms and the ripe abundance of the fruit into your own life, into your own future, into your wellness. This is the value that we offer through Oz FineArt. We’re not just selling objects, but we’re offering a sense of custodianship. [00:18:00] You become the new custodian of this story. And so this is the change that is now. We’re traveling a great distance from timeless wonder and over through impressionist and expressionist experiences, to a sense of the neuroaesthetics of art. And of moving from timeless wonder into wonderful details that bring us to this place. We extend an invitation. This is the philosophy of Sacred Business that resonates. We ask you if this connects with you in any way, visit our website and explore our collections. Perhaps this plum tree or another piece from our archive will invite you to a [00:19:00] sense of resonance. If so, we welcome you to be in contact and to acquire one of our pieces. Thank you for watching and for being a part of our community of discerning individuals. Until we meet again, may your days be filled with the art of living. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ozfineart.substack.com [https://ozfineart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Artist’s Journey E7 Podcast - New Year 2026: Art as Incarnation & Embodiment with Host Jo Bowers PhD

Join Dr. Jo Bowers as they explore the profound connection between art, incarnation, and embodiment during the holiday season. This episode of The Artist’s Journey delves into how art serves as a manifestation of divine energy, personal growth, and community. Discover the power of creativity, the symbolism of the brushstroke, and the role of art in nurturing relationships and cultural identity.✨ Presented by Art Wisdom | The Artist’s Journey Show & Podcast🌐 Visit: https://OzFineArt.Au🎨 Subscribe for more inspiring conversations on art, creativity, and the human spirit.Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction: The Holiday Season & Art00:52 - Family, Ancestry, and Manifestation01:51 - About The Artist’s Journey & Oz FineArt03:11 - The Meaning of Incarnation04:25 - Divine Energy and Personal Growth05:59 - The Force Within: Art & DNA07:17 - The Artistic Journey as Metaphor08:40 - Rebirth, Hope, and Renewal10:20 - Life’s Struggles and Artistic Transformation11:24 - Creativity, Vulnerability, and Community12:42 - Altruism and the Way of the Artist13:34 - Sharing Energy Through Art14:59 - Art as Custodianship and Sovereignty16:15 - The Embodiment of Presence in Art17:08 - Incarnational Energy and Creativity18:02 - Flowers as Metaphor for Personhood18:53 - Manifesting Something from Nothing20:00 - Celebrating Identity, Culture, and Relationships21:21 - The Music of Creation and Life’s Symphony22:49 - Growth, Agency, and Vulnerability24:37 - Self-Expression and Artistic Vision25:31 - Sharing Art and Community Engagement27:47 - Podcast Spirit and Audio Quality28:44 - The Embodiment of Art30:29 - Art, AI, and Digital Creativity32:00 - Digital Art as New Expression33:52 - Art as Communication Across Time35:15 - Presence, Energy, and the Divine36:28 - Embracing the Present Moment37:59 - Blessings and Closing Reflections40:52 - Final Thoughts and FarewellKeywords:art, incarnation, embodiment, Christmas, Jo Bowers, Oz FineArt, artist journey, creativity, divine energy, personal growth, community, cultural identity, brushstroke, digital art, AI art, holiday season, inspiration, self-expression, transformation, spirituality, family, ancestry, rebirth, hope, renewal, podcast, fine art, creative processConnect with us:Website: https://OzFineArt.AuSubstack: Art Wisdom | The Artist’s Journey Show & PodcastApple Podcasts: The Artist’s JourneyArt #Christmas #Embodiment #Creativity #Podcast #JoBowers #OzFineArt Transcript [00:00:00] The holiday season is such a time of joy, celebration. It’s also a time of family gathering and of cultural festivities. The holiday season is a time to reflect. It’s often a time of deep personal solitude, and within this spirit of the season, we think about the role that fine art plays in our life. We look to artists for inspiration and we find within their work a deep resonance that gives us this sense of reconnecting with our origins and our origin story with our ancestral [00:00:51] medicine, the power of our family line coming forward into our lives again and giving us [00:01:00] energy to move forward and to manifest what we need in our life and in this time. This is the Artist Journey. I’m your host, Jo Bowers, PhD. Our show appears natively on Oz FineArt YouTube, Oz FineArt Collective on Substack and Apple Podcasts. [00:01:22] Our sponsor is OzFineArt.Au and artist scholar, practitioner inspired project. That combines artfulness transformational agency and the sacred business of nurturing relationships in our interconnected world. Please join our community by visiting our home at OzFineArt.Au. Please consider acquiring one of our beautiful artworks [00:01:51] and do remember to join our community bimonthly periodical. We so look forward to seeing you. [00:02:00] Thank you so much. Many of the stories and the most profound meanings of this time of year relate to the incarnation that is the manifestation of divine energy into the world and this manifestation. It is not an external event that happens to us. [00:02:25] This is a manifestation that moves within us to change us, to help us to grow, to give us new energy and life power and wisdom. This manifestation of the incarnation energy of the divine person, the divine essence, the divine energy is moving throughout creation all the time, all around us in every moment. [00:02:58] Much like the [00:03:00] Star Wars theme, the, the Force that is with us, the Force that is with you. It is a deeply personal and manifest reality. It is the breath that we breathe. It is the very nature of our energy within our DNA that is unfolding over time and giving us new life, and regenerating ourselves and helping our bodies to grow to become more beautiful as we age, as we [00:03:37] grow in personhood as we become the manifest beings that we are meant to be. And this is the artistic journey. This is the journey of the artist as a metaphor for your growth, for your being, for your becoming. These are [00:04:00] powerful stories about your origins. When you reflect on the Christmas story of the incarnation of God into a baby, born in a stable, we’ve got to imagine for a moment that we are there. [00:04:19] We are amongst the people in that place, celebrating the birth of a child. And in that moment come to terms with our own inner rebirthing. Our finding, again, a sense of hope, a sense of renewal, a sense of healing after years of becoming adults and working so hard to fit into the world. And to bring forward our mortgages and our jobs and [00:05:00] our responsibilities and our raising children and our engaging in projects and and programs and so many. [00:05:10] So many things over the years that dominate our energy and pull us into a different head space where we stress and we are filled with anxiety and often levels of depression. In the sense that we come against the struggles of life and we’re not able to respond as much as we would like perhaps, and this incapacity to respond prevents us from. [00:05:43] Manifesting the energy that we know, we sense in our fullness, in our potential, in the spirit of our being. Having a human experience can be a very frustrating moment, [00:06:00] can be a very difficult path, and so within this manifestation story, the artwork of our lives. Is transformed. The artwork of our lives is transformed, and in that [00:06:19] is a creative moment, a powerful moment, a moment of becoming, a moment of sharing who we are and the truth and vulnerability of our core humanity, of our very nature. The center and heart of who we are, sharing that with others through color, texture, and form. Through intimacy, through moments of deep connection, through a sense of community and family, through giving and serving others in a way that [00:07:00] extends ourselves. [00:07:02] That gives us a deeper capacity for altruism that is caring for another person in such a way that we would truly wish them the best, that we would want the best for them, that we would give of ourselves to them freely, not expecting return. And when we are able to engage in this practice, this is the way of the artist. [00:07:34] This is the artist that gives to others through their work, through their imagery, through their color, texture and form, and through the works that they produce. They share the energy of life. The energy of becoming, the energy of being. And this is a powerful story because this is, this is the, this is [00:08:00] the intimacy of the artist that is shared with others in the vulnerability of humanity, of their deep sense, of their personality and their self and their story, and how they have overcome obstacles. [00:08:19] Gone through difficult and hard times, and yet the embodiment of their energy in their artwork is a powerful presence. It is a gift to self and others. Such a gift that we want to remark about. We want to share it with others. It is remarkable that this work of art exists as a manifestation, as an embodiment of the spirit of the season, the spirit of family, the spirit of culture, and of place the [00:09:00] spirit of identity. [00:09:02] So I share with you one of the deepest, greatest secrets. In the art world, that art itself is a form of custodianship. And custodianship is a way for us to reclaim our sense of sovereignty, our independence, our interdependence, our relational truth, our sense of family and community, our cultural place. [00:09:37] Our cultural meaning, our identity art is a custodial act of sovereignty in the artistic process, then the work on the canvas and each brush stroke is an embodiment of presence. When you think of the brushstroke as an [00:10:00] embodiment of presence. The action of touching the canvas with that brush, with that paint and the delicacy and movement involved in that action. [00:10:15] It conveys energy, it conveys presence. It gives an immediate sense of the texture form, color. Power, meaning and story that the artist conveys. It is an external physical manifestation of the artist’s own body, of their energy, of their self. And in the sense each brush stroke becomes an embodied presence. [00:10:48] An embodied manifestation of an incarnational energy, an incarnational moment of becoming where we participate in the [00:11:00] creativity of the divine. We participate in the energy of the create creative, creative spirit within the spirit of evolution. The spirit of becoming. The spirit of mother Earth of, of creation itself is manifest through this creative process. [00:11:22] And so you look behind me at the beautiful flowers. Each stroke of the paint that created those flowers spontaneously manifested a beautiful moment, a beautiful insight, a beautiful presence. So each flower is a person. Each flower is in a sense containing the energy of personhood. That is the essence of character. [00:11:52] You know what I mean? The essence of a meaning, a story and identity, and that [00:12:00] form on the canvas moves through this mysterious process of becoming nothing to something. Manifesting something from nothing. And how beautiful is that? We all come from that same place. We all come from that same place of the nothing, so to speak, into a beautiful something that flowers that blooms. [00:12:30] That becomes present, that becomes real, that grows over time and has a story, has an origin, and has a destination and an end. And when we celebrate this, we celebrate our unique identities, our unique sense of culture, our unique and personal sense of family and relationships, of friendships and [00:13:00] depth of meaning. [00:13:01] And presence and purpose that is part of our daily life. Part of our intimate moments when we are alone with ourselves and these moments resonate, they convey a music of creation that that reverberates, that truly resonates beyond the moments themselves that connect. In a very powerful way with so many divergent energies and these converge and become part of the symphony of our lives, of the way that we interact and become. [00:13:49] Who we are with and amongst others in our lives, in our work, in our culture and families. These ways that we [00:14:00] grow in our personhood and who we are are deeply connected to our sense of self. To our agency, to our choice and sense of control, to our ability to come to terms with our contingency, our weaknesses, and our depth of humanity, our vulnerability, and in this space, just like the fragility of those flowers, we too come to terms with ourselves, with who we are. [00:14:37] With our limitations and our strengths, and these become the colors, the textures, and the forms that we express in our personalities, in our lives, in our very, the very fabric of our existence and how we think and feel about ourselves is important. [00:15:00] It is important how you feel and think about yourself, and so it’s important work to improve that sense of yourself over time and to give yourself the [00:15:14] ability and the capacity to grow to develop yourself as a person, as a being, as an artist to embody within your own sense of self, the artistic vision of becoming beauty, of a manifesting beauty, creativity, and form into the world. Uh, at the same time that technique interacts with emotion, feeling a sensate, experience, a visual sense, uh, an ability to move with the emotive feeling, the emotive [00:16:00] sense, and the intuitive direction that this painting might be taking to interact with how the paint is emerging on the canvas. [00:16:11] Through that emotive process, it’s really a profound moment at some level. This is a very, very, very personal moment of coming to terms with your own self, with your identity. And yet part of this is what we share with with others. So if you are willing please to share this video with others by liking the video and sharing comments below what art resonates with you. [00:16:47] Yeah, particularly in this season, this holiday season, what artworks are you drawn to that convey meaning to you, that speak to your heart, to your mind, [00:17:00] to some part of you that you wish to manifest and to share with others? Share the artwork with others in community, and I invite you to do that. Um, under the video, if you’re on YouTube, if you’re in our substack. [00:17:16] Uh, community. Please do, uh, share in comments and like and subscribe to our substack as well. And we are also, uh, pushing out this recording to Apple Podcasts and we celebrate you if you’re listening to us on podcast. Um, and I think that Substack actually pushes out this as a podcast as well, that’s native to the platform. [00:17:47] So we celebrate that because we love. The podcast spirit, which is part of the reason why we’re working on the quality of our audio recording, and we hope they’re, hope we’re [00:18:00] improving that as we go along. Thank you so much for being with us, and we are delighted to share this time with you, especially at this beautiful, festive moment of the year. [00:18:14] The embodiment of art then is a profound. And beautiful moment where the brush stroke is an embodiment of our presence. The brush stroke is an expression of our bodies, of our beings, of our personhood, and of our relationships with each other within time and space and in community. This is why art is a deeply human experience and why art, even in the abstract sense, art is a, is a. [00:18:48] Is a presence, a sharing of a relationship, and as such, the humanity of art can be expressed through artificial [00:19:00] intelligence and through digital art forms, but still expresses and is a manifestation of further manifestation of the power and beauty. Of human creativity and I have no problem with, with AI and with artificially produced. [00:19:20] Paintings and artworks in the sense that for me it’s a philosophical stance and it’s also just a practical sense that we cannot stand in the way of technology. Technology will continue to evolve and emerge, and in that evolution it is expressing. A further manifestation of the spirit and power of human creativity and human agency in the world. [00:19:52] So for me, digital art is a beautiful expression of a new form of becoming [00:20:00] a, a new way that our. Our expression of ourselves extends into a digital realm, a, uh, alternative space or alternative reality that humans are together manifesting, and that this expresses our creative spirit, our mental capacity to share such dynamic creative worlds with each other. [00:20:32] And with others in the sense that this digital world that we’re creating and co-creating is part of our physical reality. And we’ve always known this from the earliest cave paintings of our ancestors, millennia, millennia ago these cave paintings also manifested a form of [00:21:00] externalization and a creative manifestation of the energy, power, and form that that ancestor expressed on the cave wall [00:21:11] that that beautiful image on the cave wall was a form of virtual reality that was being shared within a community, a culture, a time, a place. And that is a powerful realization when you think of it that way. Art is a moment of communication and when you think about art as communicating with each other, the cave painting, my paintings on the back wall here, the beautiful twinkling lights of the Christmas tree and the sound of my voice coming through this amazing. [00:21:55] Recording within this cyber space that we share [00:22:00] is also an absolute manifestation of an energy, of a presence, of a giftedness, of an embodiment. A manifestation of the divine presence in our lives in this very moment that we share with each other. When you grasp that, let the light bulb go on in your mind. [00:22:28] Let the connections happen between the dots of your thoughts. Let the clouds. That come and go in your mind, connect within you, a sense of agency, a sense of surrender. A sense of truly accepting this is the moment that we have, this is what we share in this moment, and this is real. Thank you for that creation. [00:22:59] Thank you for [00:23:00] that Mother Earth. Thank you for that great spirit. Thank you for this power that we share. Ta. I wish you every blessing, blessing upon you and your children now and for seven generations to come. Blessings on your life. Blessings on your home. Blessings on your spirit. Blessings on your body, blessings in your relationship. [00:23:32] Blessings in your healing. Oh, I offer you the prayers of the ancestors, the prayers of our, of our families, old and new, and yet becoming of the elders past and present, and of our children’s children’s children into the future. May all of these prayers and [00:24:00] blessings surround you, hold you. Give you peace and restore your energy, giving you hope and healing. [00:24:12] And the ability to continue in your life with the essence of your own story, the essence of your purpose in this world, that you may find that path and be it one with yourself and find within that the power, the presence and the giftedness to become a manifest being of light, compassion, and love. Thank you so much. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ozfineart.substack.com [https://ozfineart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Artist’s Journey E6 Podcast: Slow Down for Christmas: A Night of Music, Memory & Art - Xmas Special with Dr Jo Bowers

Join Dr. Jo Bowers PhD for this Artist’s Journey Christmas Special—a 29-minute celebration of music, art, and reflection designed to help you slow down, heal social media fatigue, and rediscover deep meaning this holiday season.Experience original songs like “Sing for the Maritimes,” “Little Baby Jesus,” and “Nanny’s Arms,” plus a heartfelt discussion on the Incarnation, the healing power of the hearth, and the story behind the painting “Christ Consciousness” by Australian Aboriginal contemporary artist Dr Dwayne Wannamarra Kennedy.Enjoy festive cheer, beautiful Christmas music, and stories that honor the journey of 2025. Whether you’re seeking inspiration, comfort, or a sense of connection, this special episode offers a space to reflect, reconnect, and celebrate the true spirit of Christmas.Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at The Artist’s Journey!#ChristmasSpecial #ArtAndMusic #JoBowers #Healing #Incarnation #HolidayReflection #ChristmasMusic #ChristOurDreaming #MentalHealth #202500:00 Intro & Welcome03:20 Sing for the Maritimes (Song)08:30 Reflection & Transition09:00 Christmas/Incarnation Theme13:30 Little Baby Jesus (Song)19:00 Reflection & Transition20:00 Nanny’s Arms Story & Song Intro21:00 Nanny’s Arms (Song)27:00 Closing Reflections29:00 Community Invitation & Sign-off🌐 Website: https://ozfineart.au🖼️ Instagram: / ozfineart.au 👤 Facebook: / jorandibowers 🌱 Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ozfineart.bs...💼 LinkedIn: / jrbowers 📰 Art Wisdom Blog: https://ozfineart.au/blogs/oz-fineart...🎙️ The Artist Journey Show & Podcast: https://ozfineart.au/pages/the-artist...Stay connected for more art, music, and stories from The Artist’s Journey! Sign up – scroll to bottom of pages @OzFineArt.au Transcript [00:00:00] Welcome to The Artist Journey. This is our Christmas special, and I am your host, Dr. Jo Bowers. I’m so excited and moved to be with you tonight to share an evening of music, art, and memories. And as I’ve been sitting here in our studio, I’ve been wondering how to close out this year with you. Paradoxical year of 2025 where we have had a lot of movement forward and excitement and [00:00:30] growth. And at the same time, all of us have been dealing with the stress and strains of the mechanical world that we live within the new age of AI dawning on us this year, and the transactional way of the internet has shifted it towards commerce and sales and a depersonalization has been emerging in social media [00:01:00] where we all, in one way or another feel deeply fatigued. So I wanted to step back from this environment that we’re struggling with all of us now and offer a space apart, a place where we can enjoy, kickback, enjoy some music and some memories and some stories at this special time of Christmas. And [00:01:30] so I thought, what better gift could I offer personally to you than to share my own compositions Art is, is like an anchor for our soul and art like music. And this time of year, in particular, Christmas, the holiday season calls our soul back home. Back home, not just to the place that we [00:02:00] lived growing up, or to a particular house or location, but to the country. To the place, to the depth of connection that we once felt as children to the land and to the people that we grew up with. And so art and music is that anchor. It calls us back home. I was looking, a couple of weeks ago through footage of a trip that me and my [00:02:30] partner made back to my home in Canada to Nova Scotia to Mi’kma’ki, the place of the Mi’kmaq First Nation, and so I decided to share some of those images with you. The song is called Sing for the Maritimes. It’s a classic Canadian folk song in many respects with a yearning for a place with a deep connection to that [00:03:00] place with many memories and stories of that special place and memory acts for us like a medicine. Memory is a way of lifting our spirits and bringing us back to a part of ourselves that is important. And so I think that this song, for me to share this with you now, is a profound moment because it’s bringing ourselves back [00:03:30] together. This song is a way of rekindling. I encourage you as you’re listening to this song, sing for the Maritimes, to call up within yourself, a memory of a time when you felt connected. Let this be a calling for you, a calling of your spirit to come home. [00:04:00] Sing for the Maritimes, Sing for the Maritimes Sing for the ocean breeze, [00:04:30] the flowers fields and autumn trees Sing for the Maritimes. Walking the rocks of Peggy’s Cove, [00:05:00] Pickin’ Mayflowers growing in droves, Lying with my head to’rd the sky, [00:05:30] Dreamin’ of summer passing by. Sing for the Maritimes, Sing 00:06:00] for the Maritimes Sing for the highland trails, the lonely paths and ghostly tales Sing for the Maritimes .[00:06:30] Lovin’ blueberry fields of Parrsboro, In Annapolis Valley apples grow Walking with my lover to [00:07:00] Fisherman’s Cove No hardship stops the dreamin’, never grow old Sing for the Maritimes, Sing for the Maritimes Sing for the .[00:07:30] ocean breeze, the flowers fields and autumn trees .[00:08:00] ,[00:08:30] Sing for the Maritimes – to end Welcome back. That song really takes me back to a specific place, but also a place in my spirit. [00:09:00] And I feel that here, even in Australia, and this is what art does for us. It locates us. It gives us a sense of place. It grounds us into a new reality and an awareness that that works within us to awaken, to change, to enliven us in our spirit, in our minds. So I want to talk about a deeper theme [00:09:30] related to Christmas theologically. We can call this theme incarnation. But philosophically, I think this theme relates ultimately to an act of embodiment. Think about it. The divine didn’t say, I am other than this world. I, I am apart from this [00:10:00] world. The divine essence said, I am more than an abstract idea. I am more than a detached presence somewhere else in the cosmos. I will become a body, I will become presence. I will become a person. So Christmas is when the divine shows up in our [00:10:30] world, in our reality, in an incarnate way in body, and this embodiment is within the mess of this world. This is within the upheaval and the humanity, and the tensions and the frictions of this world. And the Divine comes to be a part of that. To play with that. And [00:11:00] so even as we think in this digital and very mechanical age that we live within, and we are entering into even more now with the rise of artificial intelligence, and many of us are struggling with this emerging theme. This emerging dominant power within the world and this new way of working, this new way that will demand a shift in our thinking in the same [00:11:30] way we are. We’re not made of machines. We are not an artificial intelligence. Our intelligence is embodied. Our way of life is an artfulness, and so I’d like to shift the focus of our discussion to this painting behind me, to Christ our dreaming. This beautiful indigenous painting by Dr. Dwayne Wannamarra Kennedy [00:12:00] is a stunning example of his indigenous, Australian Aboriginal artwork. And this is a rendition of the Christ figure and the rays of light that pour out from the embodiment of the Christ- presence are rays of light that shine within all of creation that connect the parts of [00:12:30] the cosmos, parts of ourselves, and that bring us home to a place of deeper connection. And this is a sacred story within the dreaming, within the Australian indigenous dreaming tradition where the land, the embodiment of the land, and of our ancestors, is a totemic power. A presence embodied within [00:13:00] the image of the Christ in the painting as an anchor, as a doorway, as a passageway. Through which we can find parts of ourselves and rekindle the fire of our sense of identity. Our sense of place, our sense of connection, our sense of country. I share this song with you as it has been finished, produced, recorded for the [00:13:30] first time for this show, and I hope you enjoy this. This song is called Little Baby Jesus, and it comes from a time of greater innocence. I hope you can reconnect to the spirit of Christmas. [00:14:00] Little Baby Jesus, Wrapped in Mamma’s Arms so warm Be for us the Sweet Peace that shone into our hearts. 1. When the [00:14:30] star rose into the sky, Something went strange inside my heart And I knew this was the King foretold by the.[00:15:00] prophets of old 2. [00:15:30] When the day long begins to fade, a journey far and fearsome made We three Kings sought out this place where precious [00:16:00] babe be born. 3. Kneeling beside the Saviour’s bed, bearing gifts we bowed instead All that we [00:17:00] bring pales in compare… to this child’s [00:17:30] radiant light. 4. Worn out for years, poor have borne the lies, [00:18:00] Kingdoms rise and fall, there’s no disguise, Humbles your heart in Bethlehem… can you understand why??[00:18:30] Song ends approx. [00:19:00]. Thank you for listening. That was the song, ‘Little Baby Jesus’ by Dr. Jorandi Bowers. I was very happy to share that [00:19:30] song with you, and interestingly enough, the last verse of the song expresses that paradoxical nature of life and of society and the politics and the world that we live in very much so today. This next song that I would like to share brings forward a sense of an appreciation for grief and loss. It was the summer of 1994, and I was living in an 18th century planter home [00:20:00] in Wolfville Nova Scotia. My grandmother, a person very dear to me, passed away, but in the lead up to the funeral, I wrote a commemorative song. The song is called Nanny’s Arms. I sang that song at St. Mary’s Basilica in Halifax. It was probably one of the most difficult days of my life. But I pulled myself together. I was enabled [00:20:30] by some power greater than myself to share that song with the family, with the community in Halifax. And I’m very grateful for that memory. And so it’s a very great privilege to share this with you through this podcast and show The Artist’s Journey. This is ‘Nanny’s Arms.’ It is been so many [00:21:00] years since I’ve been a child. I remember your laughter and how you forgave. What is this memory that clings to me? I still sleep with your crocheted squares [00:21:30] but I can’t remember where your rosary is, that pretty pink rosary that you gave to me. With the faith of a child.[00:22:00] In heaven’s arms. You lifted me higher and higher and higher. My Nanny, you’ve always been good to me. You’ve [00:22:30] been everything that a mother can be, you were strong when all the world was forlorn and wrong. You sacrificed for family. These woolly socks we are wear say [00:23:00] something about the love you gave. With the faith of a child, in heaven’s arms. You lifted me higher and higher and higher .[00:23:30]. My Nanny, you’ve always been good to me. We never had all that much. And Halifax was many years unkind.[00:24:00] Granddaddy served in the war and came back a little bit a broken man. And it was said that during those years, Nanny went to bed without food. Because she loved, and she was broken in her love. With the faith of a child, in heaven’s arms. You lifted me higher and higher and higher. My Nanny, you’ve always been so good, so good to me. Song ends approx. [00:27:00] That was ‘Nanny’s Arms’ by Dr. Jorandi Bowers. It is [00:27:30] such a privilege and such a joy to share these memories with you, and it is a reminder that our personal stories are our medicine. Our stories are our medicine. This is a deep teaching within our indigenous culture. And the significance of this is that that art, music, song, dance culture, family- the country, our [00:28:00] ancestors, our family- all of these aspects are so interconnected. So interconnected that we are all within kinship. M’sit No’koma, ‘All My Relations’ are a part of me. A part of me that is a part of the All. And that it is not so much about us as individuals, but it is about us as part of this collective, part [00:28:30] of humanity, and this aspect of us is calling us forward at this time, particularly at Christmas, to awaken to a new sense of ourselves- as our collective identity as part of this bigger story, this bigger picture. Please do join our community at OzFineArt.Au. This is our website, our [00:29:00] Home in the internet universe, where we have designed a place to connect and to reconnect through sharing of stories, Sacred Stories, and the Medicine of art, the Medicine of artful living. We invite you to join us and to sign up for our bimonthly. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and we will see you again soon. Thank you so [00:29:30] much. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ozfineart.substack.com [https://ozfineart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

The Artist’s Journey Podcast E5: How to Reconnect to Kinship in Art as Corroboree and Culture with Jo Bowers PhD

Join Jo Bowers, PhD, on The Artist Journey as we explore the deep connections of kinship, art, and community. Discover how Indigenous traditions, art therapy, and the Corroboree Circle inspire resilience, healing, and authentic relationships in our modern world.Timestamps00:00 – Introduction: The Meaning of Kinship01:19 – Health, Relationships, and Resilience03:16 – The Artist Journey & Host Introduction03:22 – Where to Find Us & Sponsor04:12 – Art as Life: Indigenous Perspectives06:55 – The Yellow Rose: Friendship and Art08:00 – Art as Sacred Medicine & Community Healing28:08 – Closing Thoughts: Custodianship, Empowerment, and CommunityKeywordsart, kinship, community, Indigenous culture, Corroboree, healing, art therapy, resilience, relationships, Jo Bowers, Oz Fine Art, art as medicine, family, connection, empowerment, artist journey, sacred art, storytelling, mental health, creativity, custodianshipConnect with us:Website: https://ozfineart.auSubstack: Oz Fine Art CollectiveApple Podcasts: The Artist JourneyLike, subscribe, and comment below: What does art mean to you? Which artwork resonated most? Transcript [00:00:00] In our modern world, we talk about networks and contacts and followers, but what about kinship? What about the enduring connections that humanity has nurtured for millennia under the stars, around the circle, around the hearth of the family? Kinship is really the heart and soul of human connections. What have we done with kinship in the modern world? [00:00:34] We’ve replaced it with follower counts. How joyful. Well, there is another way. And we can make the choices that we need to make to encourage real and genuine connections. This show is about the Corroboreeee Circle, the places where we meet and share authentic human [00:01:00] bonds of friendship. This is about the nature of art itself as a form of custodianship that is of our mutual responsibility to take care of ourselves and each other. [00:01:15] This is the story of the circle. Our health science tells us is intimately connected to the quality of our relationships, to the depth of our connections. These are the enduring qualities that sustain us, that give us meaning and purpose and a sense of place. These connections not only define our identity, but they provide for us a sense of resilience, our ability to cope with the stresses of life and the challenges of the modern world are. [00:01:48] Intricately linked to how strong our relationships are in our day-to-day life. These are the forms of friendship and kinship that strengthen [00:02:00] our mental health and our capacity to cope. These are the ways that we survive the vagaries of life in society, losing jobs. Having to move homes, the loss of a loved one without intimate connections, without solid friendships, without family that we can rely on. [00:02:22] These major challenges in life become almost unbearable in indigenous cultures. There is an ancient and wise teaching, a living truth, that art and lifestyle are never separated. They, they are one and the same. They are in kinship with each other. In our experience of family, community, and sacred country, there’s a coming together of all of the parts of our lives. [00:02:54] There’s a sense of community, there’s a sense of sharing and of a [00:03:00] bond that is stronger than even the ties of blood. The Corroboree in Indigenous Cultures is a gathering place of song and dance of story. This is the Artist Journey. I’m your host, Jo Bowers PhD. Our show appears natively on Oz Fine Art YouTube Oz Fine Art Collective on Substack and Apple Podcasts. [00:03:27] Our sponsor is. OzFineArt.Au. An artist scholar, practitioner inspired project that combines artfulness transformational agency and the sacred business of nurturing relationships in our interconnected world. Please join our community by visiting our home at ozfineart.au. [00:03:53] Please consider acquiring one of our beautiful artworks. And do remember to join our [00:04:00] community bimonthly, periodical. We so look forward to seeing you. Thank you so much. [00:04:09] In indigenous cultures, art was never meant to be some painting hanging on a wall. Art was part of life and remains to be this day. This is a dynamic and moving process. This is an expression of family, culture, and community, a connection with the sacred country. Art is a place of gathering. Art is the song and dance that’s shared around the fire. [00:04:42] Art is the song that expresses our hearts, our desires, our dreams, and our stories of origin. Art is the lifeblood of the family. Art in this sense is a personal expression that’s shared amongst a [00:05:00] community, not a commodity so much to be sold on the open market or to be devalued by having a price tag attached to it. [00:05:08] But art is, in this sense, a sacred object, a sacred artifact of a living culture. And this is true. Today, just as much as centuries past and even in our modern world, we can appreciate art in this deeper connection that it provides for us, this deeper sense of purpose, identity, and place. These truths are certainly not lost on us today when you join an art class or. [00:05:44] Join a local ceramic association, or when you engage in a painting course or you visit a gallery, or you explore a new artist that you didn’t know before, you [00:06:00] are instinctively involving yourself in this ancient tradition of. Reconnecting to the heart, to the soul of family and community, to the humanity that you share. [00:06:13] When you explore and learn about art, you are literally appreciating the soul of humanity. And, and as such, there is so much. To learn and so much to appreciate and enjoy in this artistic journey. Moving from a sense of isolation and even loneliness through reconnecting with art, especially with others, is really at the heart of what we’re on about. [00:06:44] And in this sense, I share one of. Dwayne Wannamarra’s paintings of the yellow rose. This painting is especially poignant for me because it came out of a conversation I had with Dwayne [00:07:00] that I challenged him to paint a, picture of a rose that was really realistic. And that I was struggling at that time to do this myself. [00:07:11] I wanted to see how would he paint a rose, and I knew that his painting skills in the realism side of painting were a bit stronger than mine. And so I asked him to do this. And the, a result of the painting was poignant for me of the solitary, beautiful yellow rose representing friendship. [00:07:33] Especially, and that he painted this rose coming out of the conversations that we had was very powerful for me. This was born out of a playful conversation, but at the same time, it expressed the depth of love and caring and of consideration in our friendship over many years. And so this social connection, this deep. [00:07:57] Spiritual bond that we share [00:08:00] through art is a form of sacred medicine. It is literally a way of healing the soul, healing the mind from our innate sense of a loneliness and isolation that we get stuck into like a rut and getting ourselves out of this. Sometimes takes a fair bit of work, a fair bit of effort, and really I’ve found that making that process easier, uh, is, is central to what really art and sharing art with others is all about. [00:08:37] It provides a third element in therapy. There’s this principle of the third element, which always. Is an enabler is a way of facilitating change and development and growth. The third element in therapy is that part that is inserted into the process that makes things easier [00:09:00] and or more enjoyable. That makes learning more approachable, more interesting, and more innovative, more creative. [00:09:10] The third element enables us to engage in a process of stepping out of our limitations and moving towards our possibilities. This third element is really the process that art provides in so many ways as a therapeutic element in our lives. Also, a medium of education and a process of moving forward in learning and development and in relationships. [00:09:42] Art is something that we share in the sense that is a way of learning together, of bringing our insights into community and family and moving these. These realizations forward in ways that art [00:10:00] expresses moments in our lives. Events and, and celebratory times and places of deep grief and loss art expresses an almost. [00:10:13] Becomes a symbol of those times and memories. And so this process accumulates over time and grows and becomes even more important as the years go on. This is really, I suppose, at the heart of what the ancient cultural traditions speak about in the seasonal gatherings of the family of, of the wider clan. [00:10:39] Every year we would have a. Big family reunion, and they were wonderful times of gathering on the beach where our grandparents and our parents would all get together, and cousins and the whole clan, the whole tribe would be there. And what a beautiful event. Such [00:11:00] powerful memories for me and these gatherings really came to symbolize. [00:11:08] A special time each year that we would look forward to, and that would sustain us through the darkness of winter. That would give us a sense of hope that sharing and remembering those times together would. Create laughter and joy when we would share the stories of what we did together on the beach and how we prepared beautiful meals and how we sat together under the stars around the fire and told stories, and heard songs played by members of the family on their instruments and, and, and their beautiful voices. [00:11:46] These moments these times would combat the isolation that would remind us of our humanity on one hand, but of our deep connections, of our identity, our sense of [00:12:00] place, our place within community, within country. This is part of the Powwow. This is part of the custodianship that emerges through the Corroboree. [00:12:11] This is our sense of mutual respect. And of taking care of each other through good times and through hard times. And art becomes an expression of this in the sense that this is an artifact of the power of our relationships, of the sacredness of our bonds. This is why community in this modern and social world that we are in now, we really thank you so much for having time with us. [00:12:43] We value your time and your, your consideration of these themes that we share in this show. This is the artist journey. And I am your host, Jo Bowers, PhD. Our community is so central to our [00:13:00] lives, and so we reach out in this modern way and we reach across the screen to you in your life, in your home. And thank you so much for being with us. [00:13:12] It is enjoyable for us to be with you, and we hope that you enjoy this process too. Please subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already, and like, and, comment below please, if you’re watching on YouTube. If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, we invite you to visit our website, Oz Fine Art au. A beautiful new website that. [00:13:36] Explores the narratives and stories of our art, including the paintings behind me on the gallery wall here. And these paintings express many stories and and beautiful events in our lives that we share with others openly and. Would hope that you enjoy that and that you would visit our website and [00:14:00] get in touch with us and enjoy, this process. [00:14:03] We also have a bimonthly periodical on Substack. You can also subscribe to that by visiting our website, OzFineArt.au. Thank you so much. There is definitely another layer to this. Deep movement of kinship that we share, and that is that when you choose to bring a piece of art into your life, you are entering into a relationship of respect and caring and support for the artist and the artist’s family and their community. [00:14:41] You’re not simply making a purchase. You’re actually engaging in a form of custodianship. That is forming a sense of relationship and of a co-responsibility and co creativity with the artist. Collecting [00:15:00] art is not simply about acquiring art. Collecting art is becoming a custodian. It is becoming a, a patron of the arts. [00:15:11] And patrons of the arts are people who care deeply, who invest their personal resources into artists and to the artistic community. And these are people with deep and passionate of values. Becoming a collector and a custodian is a serious decision. It is a way of life. It’s a value system that incorporates these ancient, ancient, ways of life and of, an insight into what is most valuable, even in a sense, what is our spirituality. [00:15:50] It is making our sense of meaning in that we’re, we are. Making central the purpose and place of art as part of [00:16:00] our lives to such a degree that we, we invest in it, we put our energy into it, we put our money at it, we give whatever we can to it, and it becomes a central part of our identity and our purpose, our sense of sharing within the human community. [00:16:19] And this really, I think this is a form of sovereignty. Because custodianship above all is a form of an independence, but a, an acknowledgement of our interdependence, our reliance on each other in community and of the, the realization that when we pay forward. We are doing the deepest work. When we give, we receive, when we open up, we learn the most and we, we give forward. [00:16:58] And it makes such a big [00:17:00] difference for the people that we in relationship with, for those artists, their families, for our friends and families who see and enjoy and participate in this artistic. Journey. This is moving out of a passive role as well, I think, and it is about a, a tremendous sense of empowerment and of self-actualization that is of, of moving forward with our own sense of agency, our ability to make choices and become active in the role of an art custodian. [00:17:40] You’re not just owning a painting, you’re. Nurturing its story you’re carrying forward. It’s it’s narrative and its history. You’re being part of a communal history and how that is shared amongst others. And there’s this tension always [00:18:00] between the, the deeply personal layers of a story, the way that an artwork expresses an artist’s own personal life. [00:18:09] Their family, their depth of culture and their spirituality, and yet this is always counterpoint in some sense, to sharing that in the social milieu, in the social environment, these values, these personal aspects of art can form attention a kind of uncomfortable space because it’s difficult sharing our personal lives in this. [00:18:38] Social environment, and this is part of the innate tensions and creativity of the artistic process. And rather than looking at this as losing as a form of loss, as a form of. Of, sacralizing what is sacred [00:19:00] amongst individuals and in community. There is a sense that we can reframe this and understand this in a deeper sense that the empowerment that comes from sharing our deep personal and human stories can enhance our, our personal and familial. [00:19:23] Stories that this can enhance over time. Our sense of empowerment within our family and community. This is a healing process that happens as art becomes expressed, shared, and then reflected upon where the, the sale of that art becomes. An expression of empowerment becomes an expression of feeding back energy to an individual artist, to their family, to their community, and this becomes a, a [00:20:00] affirming and a, a powerful way to support those individuals in their artistic journey. [00:20:08] And of course communities around the world have found new ways to actualize this sense of sovereignty in their artwork and the way that they present the artwork to the wider world. And this is really important because our defining how we value our art ourselves in relationship to the wider quote unquote market is, is an important step. [00:20:36] And it’s important not just for us as individual artists, but as artists within community, within a collective, within a, within a sense of com communal evaluation of that art. And what I mean is there are, there are centers, there are, there are nonprofit associations that have been formed. There are.[00:21:00] [00:21:01] Literally groups of artists that get together and share the burdens of, of selling their art in the marketplace and sharing the aspects of this, which there’s so many, there’s so many different layers to all of these issues and, and processes and steps involved in, you know, between. Actually making a piece of art and having it sold, in the, in the marketplaces is just an amazingly complex process in, in some sense, especially in our modern world. [00:21:38] And so the more help we have to do these. Steps to have ideas of how to, how to proceed with this is so helpful and so important. And so this also expresses our sense that we need to come to terms with the value of our [00:22:00] artifacts, the value of our artwork, and, and this. Is a difficult process itself of learning and growth and discovery, and this also is part of the empowerment of the elders and the leaders within our communities that. [00:22:20] In some senses, you know, this art journey and over the years, particularly through the colonization story, has disempowered the elders in so many ways, and we’re turning this around over time. I think that communities are addressing these concerns in new and innovative ways. And it’s so important that the authentication of the artworks and their certificates of authentication are central to this, [00:22:52] this notion that art is grounded within a relationship to the artist [00:23:00] and that artist’s sense of place and community and identity and the history of that artist within that tradition is so important. One of the deeply personal lessons that I’ve learned over the years is that the Corroboreeee and the Powwow and the seasonal gathering of the clan are meant to be teachings that help me in my [00:23:26] times of deep isolation and of the sorrow and grief and loss that I have felt by being far away from family. And what comforts me in those times is this realization of connection. It is the custodial identity within me, within my spirit that has strengthened not because of anything that I have done or that I do per se, but because of the connections and the [00:24:00] acknowledgement that I have seen and witnessed by my family within my community. [00:24:06] And this has given me. The teachings that I need to sustain my life, to sustain my work in the world, to enable me to help others, comes from this depth of, really, self-respect that I have learned by having been given that gift from others. And so I so appreciate that because it is a profound gift and it is something that has enabled me to accomplish amazing things over the years from getting [00:24:42] higher degrees in the academy to publishing books, to being a teacher and a lecturer for many years to engaging in, therapy work as a psychotherapist and to make [00:25:00] beautiful art and see other people enjoy that. Art is a calling for me. It’s not something I can choose to do. It’s something rather that I can choose to respond to, that I can channel and allow. [00:25:17] And nurture and support. And that’s a sacrifice in many ways because when you put yourself out there, it’s difficult. It’s not that easy. And you have to come to terms with that. And there’s a lot of steps along the way, a lot of issues that need to be dealt with. And I am doing it step by step. I’m getting there, but I’m not there. [00:25:43] And I admit that I’m so human And this is part of our humanity. And I think this is really, you know, this is at the heart of it because it’s the Corroboree and the Powwow and it’s the cultural gatherings and it’s the, [00:26:00] the moments around the fire, and the stories that we share- that enable us to understand how human we are and that we are all together human. [00:26:12] And when you know that it deepens your sense of kinship deepens your feeling of connection. It gives you not only a sense of connecting with others and compassion for their struggles, for their stories, but their struggle and their stories inform your own sense. Well, if, if they can cope with that, I can cope with my little piece here and I can move forward with what I have to deal with as hard as it is for me. [00:26:41] I can do it because I have that support, because I just acknowledge that, and, and that’s the first step. I think it’s the first, the middle and the last step to acknowledge that is really at the heart of humanity and it’s at the center. The [00:27:00] centerpiece of artwork is how these beautiful pieces of art express our relationships, our humanity, our contingency, how that paint on the canvas and those gorgeous colors express the emotional vulnerability that we share. [00:27:21] As human beings, the stories that mean the most to us and how that flower could express a depth of friendship, a depth of relationship, a beautiful moment in our story of being together and. This is just so powerful and I love it. I’m so glad that you’re with us today. And if you’ve listened this far in the video, please do like, subscribe and comment below what of these artworks behind me here, for example, do you connect with, do you appreciate? [00:27:59] [00:28:00] So thank you so much for being with us and have a great day. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ozfineart.substack.com [https://ozfineart.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]