A vacation of a lifetime

Far-far away

During the 25 years of my life I haven’t traveled much. That’s a shame, I know. To be honest, I’m scared to fly, you probably have heard that planes have a nasty habit of crashing. However a few months ago I decided to overcome my fear and get away. Where did I go? Well, I thought if I was gonna make this happen, I need to go somewhere really remote. So, what the hell, I’ll go to Australia! Getting a bit ahead of my story, I’ll tell you that it was the craziest thing that I’ve ever done. I’ve always wanted to know a little bit more about Australian people, especially Australian artists. I didn’t know much about this amazing country before I went there. Just some random facts:

- Our winter is their summer

- Cute kangaroos!

- Cute rugby players!

- You can call Australians Aussies

- Water in the sink swirls counter-clockwise there

I convinced myself that it was time to expand my knowledge and my horizons. Better late than never. Some of my first Australian observations: people are very sweet and welcoming there. I really appreciated their attitude towards tourists. They were always willing to help, so nice. Australian art also had a big impact on me with its cheerful and somehow hip vibe that I liked a lot.

 

Culture and the ocean

The Australian coastline is some sort of a magic place to me, ‘cause this is where three of the world's great oceans meet. The Australian beach is also a place where people from all over the world meet, mix and do exciting things. It is so popular there for a reason. Once I came to the local beach I didn’t want to leave. The atmosphere there totally differs from what you get at the American coast, really. In Australia the sand seems whiter, the ocean more welcoming and people much more friendlier, and, may I add, much more attractive. Australian artists, painters and sculptors often use marine themes in their art. My personal favorite artist Leonid Afremov (although he’s not an Aussie, but lived down there for several years) creates breathtaking maritime paintings. His work http://afremov.com/BLUE-SKY-PALETTE-KNIFE-Oil-Painting-On-Canvas-By-Leonid-Afremov-Size-20-x36-SKU19803.html “Blue calm” calms me down with a serene charm of a beautiful seascape. It’s the stunning simplicity of the local nature, where you just want to be. The warm shore invites you in, telling to leave all your worries behind. Just lying on a beach, looking at stray vessels floating in a crystal clear water makes you wonder if there is a more peaceful place in the world. Australian artists and their artwork in general always make me wanna stop rushing, just hold on for a moment to enjoy the undying moment of life!

They just don’t mix

It’s a well-known fact that there are 4 oceans on our planet: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic. I’m not a fan of dry facts, so my geographical knowledge or whatever you call it stops here. To be honest, I’m not that into science at all, and I didn’t go to the college. I admit that it was a mistake, so in an attempt to make it up to myself I became a student of a local art school. It’s a small school, more of an open course kind.  Anyways, despite my lack of education, I got hooked on the beauty and mystery of water surface and became obsessed with the Ocean. Not a long time ago I saw this article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar and remembered that I’d heard something like that before, which totally that blew my mind. The waters of Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet in the Strait of Gibraltar but don’t mix. It was a mystery for a long time until scientists discovered that the nature of that strange phenomenon was the difference of water density and salinity. That’s why two water masses create this gorgeous line with two different shades of blue to its both sides. There are a lot of negative critics to such an explanation but it works perfectly well for the humanitarian brain of mine. Plus it looks beautiful.

The ode to the Ocean

Hello, everyone! My name is Gwen Lawler, I live in Texas and work as a waitress. Boring, ha? Well, don’t worry, it’s not that bad, because during my rare spare time I paint, and that’s where the most interesting part begins. My favorite thing to put to live on canvas is water. Big water... Actually, seas and oceans are all I’d like to paint, 24/7. My zodiac sign is Aquarius, maybe that is the reason why water draws me so much. Most of all I like painting the Ocean, the magic surface, that is gentle and cruel at the same time. I feel that my amateur works don’t give it justice, but at least my love for you, ocean, is pure and strong.