Point Lonsdale & Lighthouse

lighthouse

C086357-R1-18-17AC086357-R1-12-11A C086357-R1-23-22A

I know it is not the same continent, probably not the same season, not the same light etc. but when I saw the lighthouse in Point Lonsdale, it remained me some paintings from Edward Hopper.

Edward Hopper is still my friend, baby.

Lighthouse at Two Lights, 1029

lighthouseEdward

Lighthouse Hill 1927

Edward Hopper - Lighthouse Hill.jpg

Byron Bay & Geography

ByronBay

Quickly quickly.. because *singing in unison* I am super busy:
This is very old drawing. At least… 5 or 6 months !!! wouhou.

I said “very old” because things are rapidly changing here in Australia and there around the world, that 6 months can be a long long time.

I said “here in Australia” because obviously, being in exchange is not quite the same as living at home. Here, I am constantly watching the landscape, the vegetation, the people (I know it is not polite, but hey! people are fascinating). I perceive so many new things that I always want to give my own interpretation of these through my drawings. When you are away, you see everyday life with new eyes. Like.. what seems to be ordinary for local people might actually be very curious for me. I strongly feel that way, even in a western culture such as Australia which apparently seems much alike France or Swiss’ culture. I think that is partly why my drawing skill is changing everyday, because my creativity is fed by such novelty. Even when I am asleep, or while I am studying, or while I am talking I feel like the way I draw evolves. It is also because the act of drawing is related to the right side of the brain (I read something about that, it is a riveting topic by the way!) blabla.

Anyway, let us come back to the topic: The changing nature of things

I spoke about changing things “around the world” because this semester, Geography and I have decided to make peace after 4 years of love-hate relationship. I am proud to say that I took the first step in this endeavour by taking “Geographies of Global Change” class. And guess what? Geography has seemed to feel the same way so far ♥. I am absolutely delighted! The teacher is so good, interesting and it is really refreshing to study a “well-known” subject from such a different perspective, especially when she talks about France or Europe (she hasn’t mention Switzerland …..yet). I put “well-known subject” between commas (that’s irony-) because I feel that, even though I have gained knowledge about Geography during my 3 years study in Switzerland (hell yeah! Sometimes with pleasure for human geography and sometimes unwillingly when it was about geomorphology), I always felt like I couldn’t really, deeply understand the purpose of my studies and why geography matters so much. BUT NOW I GET IT!! Explaining now the secret would take too much time. J’ai déjà explosé mon forfait msn et blog du jour. Puréé je suis en forme aujourd’hui.

So quickly quickly, to give you a small explanation of the drawing: this is a picture of Byron Bay that I did start during our road trip in September and that I have just finished (procrastination hello).
Byron Bay is such a cool place. Cool place for cool kids. If I was cool and if I was a surfer, I would definitely live in Byron Bay. (East Coast Baby!)
Since I am not cool (apparently to be uncool is the new cool haha) but above all I do not surf, I just don’t. If I ever move there, I am not sure that I would fit in.
Yet, I still really enjoyed our stay in Byron Bay, especially at the Arts Factory – Backpackers Lodge (bon là on atteint le sommet de la coolitude les gars!).

It is all for today.

Abruptly & joyfully ♪ ♫

Red Trees & Stuff

bali_hand

RED TREE : MICROCOSM

I told you that I have been really inspired by flowers in Bali.

Actually, the flower that I am holding, it is kind of the micro view of one of this gorgeous red tree:

RED_TREE_MICRO

And the picture taken at Uluwatu Temple which has inspired the drawing above : RED TREE : MACROCOSM (?)

Even if I studied Geography (Hell yeah!) I still get confused with macro or micro view concept. The same with small scale versus large scale. Back in University of Lausanne, I used to remember that what they is called the small scale was actually the reverse of what I thought (which I guessed being as the common sense ). But remembering that the right answer is the exact opposite of what I think, is not a very pleasant way of learning. Therefore, I had to to go back to the roots of the problem.

In other words, they show large areas of land on a small space. They are called small scale because the representative fraction is relatively small. Large scale maps show smaller areas in more detail, such as county maps or town plans might.” (wiki)

Is it any clearer now ?

In a nutshell, I wanted to explain that the red flower was the foundation of the giant red tree. If you like, the red flower could be for the tree what the cell is for the body. The microcosm and macrocosm…. ANYWAY, you understand why I needed the idea of macrocosm and microcosm for. I read this article but I am not still one hundred per cent sure that I understood. Some help from sociologists/physicians would be welcome ! 😀

Red_tree

RED TREE : MACROCOSM

Changing the subject, on the first drawing, tied around my wrist you can see a red bracelet. A friend of mine told me that, according a popular belief in China, the year you are supposed to turn 24, either something very good or very bad can happen to you. She also told me that throughout this famous year, in order to protect you and to give you luck, you’re always supposed to wear something red.

I decided that the notion of wearing red for luck didn’t have to be only for my 24th spring (since it is not planned not for 2016.. a priori though 😉

What is cool with the mix of cultures is that you can inspire you from other cultures, you can pick, borrow and adapt what you like and leave the rest. Eventually, by meeting other people from other culture, you can create and embody your own home-made culture and belief and value system.

I did not intend to speak about that today but *sigh* what can I say.. life ?

(my brain hurts now)