Current exhibition: Flow

What Flow means to me? by Carollyn Rhodes-Thompson

FLOW      
 
Flow is what the perfect life is all about … the journey…your truth. Being who you are meant to be, doing what we were born to do. Allowing your truth to emerge and flourish … just letting life be…letting go of the boundaries and the chains that hold us to a learned and set mould or pattern. Freedom of thought and desire to move without restriction and mind blocks. In my mind flow is having freedom of choice, releasing the voices in your head that are the words that block your self-belief and then your behaviour or actions.
 
Flow is… easy…gentle…moving…effortless… freedom… calm… empowering… unexpected… loose…uncontrolled… going in the right direction… no resistance… exciting…open…
 
 
One explanation of my paintings:
 
Soul of Parmelia is about the flow of energy in the city. People and cars move through the rigid environment of the city buildings like water in a landscape. Rotating doors allow the flow and movement of people in and out of the buildings.
 
 
Ancient River Flow is about the Swan River at its source. Around Lake King in the south east of WA, what is now a string of salt lakes that dry up to shimmering salt pans in the summer, used to be an ancient river system that flowed down to Perth.
As a young river it flowed for hundreds of kilometers but as time has passed and the land changed, the flow stopped, the salt set in creating massive lakes of unproductive land.
 
 
Golden Skies represents the flow of the water as the tide recedes leaving channels in the sand.
 
Letting Go is a personal reflection of letting go and allowing the paint to take me wherever.
 
 
Where to Next?  Is me asking myself what I can expect for the moment. The question that is in my mind that takes me to the next level of flow and freedom. What direction do I allow the paint to flow in?
 
Lake Argyle Afternoon  is about the eb and flow of  water as it laps on the shores of the lake.
 
Out of the Blue is a painting about letting go of controlling the paint. The image arrived out of the blue as I allowed the paint to flow in its own direction.

It is the vast open spaces of the lakes and the effect of the sun on the landscape that have become an integral part of her work. Colour, texture and the use of light are very important elements of her paintings as they create the sense of space, atmosphere and mood. Preferring to work predominantly in acrylics and mixed media, Carollyn  enjoys layering the paint to gain a 3D effect so that one is able to enter and move through the painting.

Looking Through

Carollyn Rhodes-Thompson - "Still Calm" from Kerotv on Vimeo.

Carollyn Rhodes-Thompson is a West Australian artist who has taken inspiration from her childhood country background whilst living in Lake King where the land and lakes extend as far as the eye can see, visiting many outback Australian country towns including Cue, Mt Magnet, crossing the Nullabor  several times (once on the back of a motorbike) and extensive overseas travel.

She started painting as the result of an accident during her last year of primary school where she almost lost her foot and has painted ever since. The people who have influenced and encouraged her in the field of painting are her mum, Nancy Rhodes and artist mentors of note, Elisabeth Ford, Gareth Morse and Tom Gleghorn from South Australia.

She passionately believes that everyone can paint because it’s not only about the ‘seeing’ sense that is required to paint, but all of the senses.

She says, ‘look beyond what you think you see.’

Look at it… Walk through it… Touch it… Take part in it…Live it…..

Taste it… Collect it… Smell it….Listen to it… Feel it…  Know it… Enjoy it...

Then, when it’s inside…   and you just know it’s a part of you… then…   Paint it!!!!.

Carollyn has worked as a classroom teacher and as an Art Specialist in pre, primary, secondary schools, and with adults throughout Perth and internationally for over 30 years.

She has exhibited works in many shows throughout Western Australia with paintings being sold to private collections in Hong Kong, New Zealand and to the State Trades Commission of Western Australia and is currently working on a huge Art project related to water awareness throughout Australia with the intention of involving many schools and communities.

Life is so exciting and full of new and boundless opportunities that there is no stopping this lady now.

She has stepped off the edge of the cliff and is now in full flight!!

 

In the News
Artist in Residence October - December 2009, January - March 2010