Make art a part of your life

Ted Hunter — It doesn’t matter where you go people somehow find some way of expressing themselves artistically. However humble it may be and however limited by their circumstances, everyone manages to form some sort of artistic expression. Some people lack the resources to produce anything more permanent than an image scratched in the dirt beneath their feet, and such poor souls probably have very limited experience of artistic expression and therefore arguably less appreciation of it. But nevertheless they feel that innate human desire to express themselves in some way other than verbally.

On the other hand, some people with ridiculous amounts of money sometimes decide that the best way to invest a few million dollars of it is by buying an image painted on a piece of canvas a couple of centuries ago by a man who had nothing else to do. Artistic expression can take very many and very diverse forms, and can be very variously valued, both emotionally and financially. It can be abstract or objective, two or three dimensional, conceptual or practical.

•     Portraits, landscapes, photographs, and abstract paintings


•     Impressionism


•     Installations and statues


•     Architecture


•     Interior and exterior designs


•     Vehicle designs

Everyday Art

Of those listed above, the art form probably most frequently seen by most people is vehicle design. A huge number of people, especially boys and men, have a great appreciation of car designs. Clever advertising makes them believe, if only subconsciously, that a fast and sexy car makes its driver more attractive to the opposite sex. A good engine, suspension and comfortable interior are good selling points for an automobile, but nothing improves car sales as much as a sexy exterior. The most significant way that we can express our own artistic tastes is surely through the interior design of our own homes. This can include many different forms of both two and three dimensional art, from pictures on walls, carpets and curtains to vases, ornaments, furniture, and their arrangement. You can have impressionism in one room, photography in another, Oriental vases here and blown glass there. Your garden also can be a great place to express yourself artistically, for the enjoyment of all who pass by.

Every day we pass many buildings, private and commercial, big and small, and those of us who are lucky enough to live in a town with architectural diversity should take a little time to enjoy it. If you go around looking at your feet and where you are putting them, you may miss some very interesting angles, arches, balconies, gables, roofs and other aspects of architectural designs. The diversity in some towns is interesting in itself.

International Art

If you live within easy travelling distance from a major gallery, you may be lucky enough to be able to visit and view occasional exhibitions from other countries and, more significantly, other artistic cultures. However, it is amazing how many people travel abroad each year and take almost no interest in the artistic cultures of the places they visit. How many people take holidays to Tenerife, for example, and spend a couple of weeks there without making any attempt to see, look at or appreciate the local art scene? It’s not as if the average holiday makers are so busy that they can’t find the time for such cultural activities, since many of them spend hours working on their tan and skin cancer. If you go skiing in a small resort or snorkeling off a small island then you have a pretty good excuse for not taking time to absorb the local art.

But if you visit any medium or large town or city during your holiday, or during your travels in a foreign country, you really would expand your artistic horizons and appreciation by seeking out a gallery or two, a museum or even better some local art shops. Investing in some of the local or indigenous art will not set you back millions of dollars, and possibly only peanuts, relatively speaking. If you decorate your own home or immediate surroundings with some foreign art, something not generally seen in your neighborhood or town, you will be making the place a little more interesting, a little more diverse, and a little bit less the same as everywhere else. You will also arouse the interest of your friends and neighbors, albeit not quite as much as a new Ferrari would do so.

A Permaculture Lifestyle: Part One

Bob Ewing - There is no such thing as a free lunch. If you plan on living a low impact lifestyle, you must understand this.

Everything we do has a cost. Money may not exchange hands but there is a transaction taking place when we undertake any action. We will not always be aware of the extent of our affect on the world around us, but this lack of awareness does not negate the fact that we do, indeed, effect our environment. Some affects are positive others are negative.

Permaculture recognizes and maximizes beneficial relationships while minimizing or eliminating harmful ones. My choices do matter as do yours, so it is important to understand that all we do has a cost or produces an affect.

Take transportation. We all need to get from one place to another, whether it is to work, shopping, going out for dinner, or visiting friends and relatives; we all need to move from our home to other locations, school, hockey, piano lessons and so on. The list can go on and on. Our mode of transportation can have a major impact on our environment, pollution being one of the most obvious affects.

If you are committed to living a low impact life, then begin with how you get around town. Do you drive, take public transport, ride a bicycle or walk, for example.

Walking is how I get around town; it is as low an impact as you can get for personal transportation. I emit very little greenhouse gas when I walk and use almost no fossil fuels.

My wife also walks. Our choices have consequences that some may not at first consider. One, were we presently live there is no public transit. The city is simply too small to make public transit viable. This means we would need to buy a car, use taxis everyday, both to and from work, or pick a place to live that is in a reasonable walking distance to where she works. This in bad weather is ten minutes.

The weather here gets nasty, winter is long and it get down to minus 30 Celsius on a regular basis. Snow storms and heavy rain and winds are common in season. Appropriate clothing is essential; this includes boots and coats, plus a variety of layers for warmth.

Walking to work also means buying or renting a home that is located within that ten minute radius. This limits selection. We are fortunate that her work place is close to our doctor, grocery shopping and downtown so we rarely need any other mode of transportation than our feet, but the quality, affordable housing stock in this area is limited.

The upside, we have the financial freedom that walking brings; no worries about car payments, car insurance, car repairs; no pumping greenhouse gas into the atmosphere to get to work and back or to go grocery shopping or get a coffee, a great coffee shop is within easy walking distance, as is all else we need on a regular basis.

One of our major social problems is the design of our urban centres. They are stretched out and everything is miles away from everything else. This creates a situation where a personal transportation means, such as a car, is far more convenient that taking a bus; walking takes too long and the distances are too great, and bicycling, while a good option, requires bike lanes, weather gear and a change room at the work place so you can get out of your riding clothes and into your work clothes.

Our cities, villages and towns are not likely to get redesigned anytime soon, but we can redesign our lives, next week we will begin to look at how we can apply permaculture design methods to everyday living including transportation.

Permaculture Courses

Permaculture, what is it and how do I learn more? The past two weeks I have been talking about the ethics of permaculture. It is time to stop and talk a bit about what permaculture is and how you can learn more and perhaps take a course.

A person who has permaculture training can recognize and maximize beneficial relationships while minimizing or eliminating harmful ones. If you want to reduce your impact on the environment this is a handy ability to possess.

I define permaculture as Permaculture as a holistic, nature inspired design methodology that can be used to grow food, build businesses and create communities. My recent work tends towards the latter creating communities or more accurately, creating social infrastructure that can support sustainable communities; community gardens and adult literacy programs, for example.

Why take a permaculture course?

One reason is so you can create a lifestyle that will reduce your ecological footprint while saving you money, time and energy. This illustrates a permaculture concept- taking one action and accomplishing three or more tasks.

Interested in learning more? I suggest taking an introduction to permaculture course. This will cover the basics and help you to determine whether you want or need to study further. You may discover you have enough knowledge to adapt your lifestyle or you may want to know more.
If you find you are hungry for more knowledge and want to become a designer or go even deeper and become a teacher then you will need to take further courses.
If you have your own land and want to grow all or much of your own food, the intro course will help you decide whether or not this is a realistic goal. If you are convinced that you can indeed grow the food you need than it is time to take a closer look at the permaculture design certificate (PDC). The PDC is also essential if you wish to become a permaculture teacher or to take more advanced permaculture design courses.
What I choose.

I first came to permaculture after years of working in the anti-poverty movement. I was looking for a solutions based methodology that could actually make a difference and develop positive alternatives to the problems that seem at time insurmountable.

I was an avid gardener and supporter of community gardens and one day while casually surfing the Net for some ideas, I stumbled across permaculture. I began to read widely on the subject and soon knew I was ready to take a course. Travel was not an option at the time and there were no course available even close to home.

I discovered a course being taught by April Samson Kelly at Permaculture Vision.
She had worked with Bill Mollison the co-founder of permaculture and the educational program Permaculture Vision offered met my pocket book and my schedule.
First, I took the introductory course. When I was half way through that I knew I would be continuing my study.

I do not work as a permaculture designer, however, I do use what I learned to, one, continue the learning experience and to enhance my work as both a gardener, cook ,informal educator, writer and community organizer.

As my awareness of Nature grows, my ability to share with others how we can observe Nature, learn through that observation and model our interactions, business, personal and educational upon the examples Nature so generously provides.

Permaculture design provides pathways to building sustainable lives lived in a sustainable community.

Permaculture: Living the Green Life

Bob Ewing - Economics, environment, and ethics, living green demands that all three operate in harmony. Education and energy are two other Es that are elemental to living sustainably on the earth. Living green means to live in a sustainable way and sustainability demands that we replace, repair or restore the natural resources we use too support us.

I will explore all the Es but let us begin with the one that forms the support for all the others, ethics.

Ethics, to live green or to tread lightly on the earth requires an ethical code that informs your decisions. All we do makes a difference and when we take an approach that considers how our actions will impact not only other people but all life we have taken a major step towards living a sustainable life.

I came to the study of permaculture, a term coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren from combining permanent agriculture and more recently to stand for permanent culture, through a search for a way to not only live in harmony with other beings but to do so in an ethical manner.

Permaculture is a design system and an ethically based one the three permaculture ethics: care for the earth, care for people and fair share. Are central to permaculture and they form the foundation for permaculture design.

Permaculture Ethics:

1.Care for the earth: Provision for all life systems to continue and multiply.
2.Care for people: Provision for people to access those resources necessary to their existence.
3.Fair Share: this ethic is also known as Setting Limits to Population and Consumption—By governing our own needs, we can set resources aside to further the above principles.

It is not essential to get a permaculture education to live a life based upon the ethics. It does require that you take responsibility for your life and be aware that what you do has an impact that goes far beyond your immediate circle. Respect the right of all beings to live and use no more than you need and you are off to a good start.

The four Rs, reduce, reuse, recycle and rethink are an important part of living a lifestyle that reduces your effect on the planet. Buy only what you need, reuse what you can, recycle rather than toss away and perhaps most important be conscious about what you do.

Often our habits are so ingrained that we act without thinking, so take some time now and then and rethink what your daily routines.

If you want to learn more about permaculture and go beyond the basics, then a permaculture course is a sound investment. There are a number of reasons why a permaculture course is valuable.

Permaculture design can assist you to reduce your ecological footprint while saving you money, time and energy. This illustrates a permaculture concept- taking one action and accomplishing three or more tasks.

However, if taking a course is not what you want to do at this time, you can still reduce your impact on our planet by applying the three ethics of permaculture to you daily life.

Ethics is where making a difference begins. When you have a code to live by it will guide you when you need to make basic life decisions and it is those fundamental choices that can heal or harm the earth.