Everyone benefits from stepping outside their routine once in a while and immersing themselves in a new experience. I have been a little under the weather of late. Mostly because it hasn't stopped raining. But I also was sick with COVID, despite taking the recommended three times dosage. I was not seeing things as brightly as I could, this impacted my motivation and when I'm not in the studio, it all seems a little dull. I saw that Wendy Sharpe, a highly accomplished artist whom I have known and followed for many a year was giving a talk in Brisbane, I decided it was time to take a trip and just shake my world a little. What pearls might I collect. Our approach to painting is along similar lines, as her work is referred to as "strong figurative paintings, her use of narrative and a sensuous use of paint. Her work addresses timeless issues such as love, passion, human relationships and what it is like to live in the world, subjects rarely expressed today in contemporary art." Me too I thought, and I wanted to hear what she had to say. I was accompanied to the venue by my dear friend Dorothy, and we arrived early at Metro Arts, enjoying a coffee together. I was so impressed by how much West End, Brisbane had changed. Multicultural, vibrant and full of interesting shops and restaurants. Already my spirits began to rise. Wendy Sharpe giving her talk at Metro Arts, 7th May 2022 Whenever I am listening deeply, I doodle. My notebook was soon filled with ideas as I sat in the theatre. I was able to shift my perspective and in that moment, became aware that all was well. I have posted some of the doodles I made while I listened to the lecture by Wendy Sharpe. I asked a question about Art Statements. A tricky aspect whenever one has to enter an Art Prize. I asked how much weight, what one writes in the artist statement has on influencing the selection process of one's artwork? Otherwise, I have always wondered, why do we have to write one? My question wasn't adequately answered, but I suspect I didn't articulate myself well enough. Who doesn't get a bit nervous when speaking into a microphone? So my friends, I am none the wiser. After I returned home, I got straight to work, and began painting "Counting My Lucky Stars" You might enjoy seeing the underlying structure of the work, and the nod to the word 'counting' represented by the 33 in Roman numerals that make up the jetty upon which she lies. The stars make up a constellation of a 'being' that floats above. Counting My Lucky Stars, oil on canvas, 100 x 76cm, 2022 $3500 It's still raining. But I have another adventure on the horizon. I am going to be traveling into the drier outback region of Queensland to participate in a 3 day painting workshop. I look forward to sharing what other 'new' things I see. The important thing is to stay awake to possibilities and embrace all the twists and turns. Even if the directions can be a bit confusing sometimes.. and as I say good night, any chance I'll actually get to read the paper have been dashed.

Studio Exhibition Opening on Saturday 26th March 2022 I would like to invite you to an unusual exhibition, in that it is a culmination of works over time and will be held in the studio over two days. Born out of a desire to try something different and begin the year with a personal show among good friends. I have curated 18 paintings from the artist collection to tell a story of this artist's journey with artworks from 1997 until today. Some artworks have lain dormant for over 25 years. They have been pulled out into the light of day but they continue to speak to the subject matter that initiated their conception. Recurring motifs and subject matter include; the search for identity, the question of love and forgiveness, our enduring connection to the environment and what calls us to act on its behalf. The studio will be open on Sat 26th March from 2pm - 6pm but it will be going as long as there are conversations on the deck. It will be open on Sunday 27th March 10am - 4pm. If you can RSVP by Friday 25th, that'll help with making sure there will be plenty to eat and drink. Studio Address: 18 Pine Avenue, Tewantin, QLD. email info@sarenart.com if you have any questions???

I am very fortunate. On occasion I can visit one of the most beautiful, unspoilt and invigorating places and walk along the beach. I always find something to inspire me. Sometimes I create a sand sculpture or drawing, but mostly I come across things that are spark my minds eye. Like the other day, I came across this swan. It wondered, what is the story here. I was in two minds about whether to lug it up the beach for safe keeping, as my first thought was all that plastic on the ocean. But then I thought, maybe I should allow it to drift. I wont interfere in its passage. So I left it to drift. It was so incongruous, this flamboyant, well constructed yet lonely bird. I doubt that as long as it will float along, it will not find another of its kind. Turning Back the Tide, oil on four pine panels, 145 x 173cm $4200 Turning Back the Tide is a flat sculpture. The pieces can be rearranged. Each piece can be a work on its own. I had created sculptures like this before. The cat, with the attributes of a heavenly creature holds his paw to hold the human who is in two minds, to keep going or to let go the rope that tie him to the mortal world. The touch is as a whisper, as the one we may hear from our own deep depths. The angel form, that encapsulates the forces of Nature, evokes the tension of the fine line we walk between heaven and earth. Mars supervises as I begin the painting. Countdown to Xmas. I had come to a crossroad, not uncommon but always an opportunity to reassess. I mine my experience, internal and external to inspire a dialogue that I use to inspire a painting. Does this make them too self-referential and personal. Maybe for some. But on the other hand, most of what we experience is relatable as we are all similar in so many ways. What's different or unique, is how we choose to interpret the experience. With a roadblock then, I decided to use this frustration in a creative way, like crossing off the days on a calendar, to mark down the days to Xmas. I posted each day on Instagram, The result was unexpected but I really liked it as an overall piece, when I placed them together. Noosa River has a beautiful light as the sun sets. Having the time to spend with friends and family round a delicious meal, there's nothing better. The only decision I was in two minds about was whether to have the Beef Pho or the Chicken Pho. In Two Minds, 76 x 89cm, oil on canvas, $2000

A wonderful way to bring yet another tumultuous and uncertain year to an end. I was quite honoured to be a Finalist in the prestigious Lyn McRea Drawing Prize 2021. It is being exhibited now at the Noosa Regional Gallery until 5th Dec. I entered a work entitled "Burden'. A small work, ink and charcoal on paper is expressionist and intimate. We all carry the weight o4f something and sometimes it can feel like we can't shake it off. Is it a memory, a loss, a desire. I explore the aspects of ourselves that many try to hide. Hence her shrouded face. The Noosa Open Studio is over for another year. What a whirlwind that was! Thank you all for making the trip to drop in to the studio. I couldn't leave my Dragonfly studio during the days I allocated to be there, so there were a few studios and friends who were also studio bound that I didn't manage to visit unfortunately. But the after party was a lot of fun and everyone was in great spirits. Create a Self Portrait Workshop at Wallace House. Art After Dark I was invited to host a workshop at Wallace House as part of their Art After Dark program. I thought it would be interesting to have the attendees create a self portrait. I didn't realise until I met them however, that very few of them had done portraits before. So it was a bit of a challenge to try and share the basics of drawing a face and then asking them to see themselves from the inside out, as there were no mirrors or photographs to copy from. But they were very open to trying and after 3 hours of talking and painting, the results were amazing. Each one was quite individual and in many ways very recognisable. A very successful workshop. HOLA Art Hotel in Eumundi The surprise to walk into this fabulously styled room in the new HOLA (Hotel of Local Art) that is opening in Eumundi and find a room with two of my works hanging was so unexpected. The works, "Blue Kiss" and 'The Calling" looked amazing. I had a chance to see all the rooms in the hotel and they are all magnificent. All have work by local artists and the styling of the rooms are second to none. I thought I had travelled to a distant shore. I can but dream. Thoughts What we all seek ultimately is peace. Peace within our tumultuous minds, peace around us, a family cohesive and supportive, a community accepting of individuality but connected, and to live within countries that don't arbitrarily shoot or harass their citizens for the unfathomable crime of just thinking differently. I longed for peace and I found it in this beautiful place. And now I feel slightly at odds. The integrity of self has always been a driving force within me, so can I now speak of the tension and conflict and disadvantage of others when it is not my experience. I can speak about it, object, protest but I don't want to be disingenuous either. My work has and continues to though, explore that drive for peace. Peace is what people fight for, die for, long for. What does this mean? There is always this paradox then. The inner conflict where battles rage and harmony is sought. My Wall Becomes Me, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 100cm When one is in the flight path of a Rainbow Lorikeet.

It was a fine day last Monday, Trail 1 was open and I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of a coffee cart. But alas, technical issues put those best laid plans to bed. So I made one of my own. The studio is open over the next three days, Friday 8th - Sunday10th. You are most welcome to drop by, browse and say hello if you are roaming around this part of the woods. The workshop Drawing Your Voice was most enjoyable. Over two hours we explored the ways we can 'hear' our inner voice and begin to express images that are unique to us. It was very relaxed and everyone contributed in an enthusiastic and open manner that was quite refreshing. I have about 30 paintings, well a few less now as some have sold, in the studio for the duration of the Art Trail. Some have been seen before of course, and some are unstretched and are being offered at a reduced price. These make it easy to transport too, as they can be rolled and safely posted. There are around 10 new works on show as well. I have had some really positive responses to The Grass is Always Greener, Hiding Behind Flowers I,

Noosa Open Studio Art Trail 2021 is up and running. As a member of the committee, myself and the other volunteers have done an outstanding job in bringing this significant event to fruition during these fractious times. Art triumphs! And so it should. Saren Dobkins Trail 1. see page 41 or hop online to view the program. The Art Trail begins this Friday 1st Oct. Studios are open from 10.00 - 4.00pm. Friday (1st, 8th Oct), Saturday 2nd, 9th Oct) and Sunday 3rd, 10th Oct) 10.00 - 4.00pm Monday 4th Oct 10.00 - 4.00pm Tuesday Workshop Drawing Your Voice. Hurry places are limited. 1 place left. Wednesday Closed Thursday Workshop Painting Your Journey Please contact me on info@sarenart.com if you are interested in participating in the workshop or would like to make an enquiry about the studio or the artwork. The Ongoing Frustration, Oil on Canvas, 101 x 76cm Inspired by real events. That intrusion to free human interaction. The acrylic shield. That’s all very well but try playing table tennis. The net, a small, flexible permeable symbol of separation is now replaced by a impenetrable transparent wall. The rise of alienation and frustration in the player, as each ball ricochets. I also found it interesting that the sport celebrities continued to play, hence a head-banded star waits to return the serve. How else to respond to the dissolution of our world as we had constructed it, into a space of guarded suspicion. Here is the way I see it. There is no fun in the echo chamber.

It's been a week that went by so fast, just staying one foot in front is tricky. I'm working away from the studio now as a Peer Mentor which is a very interesting development. I really gain a lot from the work but being able to access the studio during the day is now curtailed. I haven't quite adjusted to the interruption. And now the Noosa Open Studio trail is but a week away! I hope that you will be able to make it to the studios that are opening their doors to the public in this lovely part of the world. I have been working on some smaller works and some ideas inspired by the real events imposed on us by the rules of behaviour attributed to controlling the virus. The Best News though is my winning the Portrait Prize with Blowing Darts. In this work I expressed the personal push and pull, between surrendering to the seduction of ‘things’ outside of me that relax me and the desire to keep aiming for something beyond my current state of mind. The blowing of the darts shows a 'gentle' approach to moving towards one's dreams or goals. I referenced Jasper Johns in the use of the Target, an abstract expressionist painter from the 1950's a very successful painter. He achieved his goal. It was great too that my folks happened to be visiting and joined me at the opening at Butter Factory Arts Centre. It is currently on view at the gallery until 17th Oct. For more info visit .... Tomorrow, Saturday 25th September, the paintings are being delivered to Wallace House, the Art Hub for the Noosa Open Studios. This means over the period, 1st -10th Oct, every artist will have an artwork which represents their art practice on display. Also, there will be the 35 deckchairs painted by artists form NOS which will be set up along the Gympie Terrace, Noosaville. They will be shown on Sunday 26th Sep at the Noosa Botanical gardens from 10am to be auctioned off. Last year it went off! So I really encourage you to try and make the trip to the Botanical Gardens and join in the buying frenzy. Everything is locally made and every sale goes towards supporting the great effort of the Noosa Open Studio for next year. Each Has Their Own Heaven, oil on canvas, 50 x 60cm 2021 Group Think, digital image, ©SarenDobkins2021 My Studio a couple of years ago. Look at it NOW!

My days and now my nights are frequently punctuated by searing shots of pain, that leave me stranded on the spot. Like a wounded animal, all I can manage is to collapse to the ground, roll onto my back and heave my right leg to my chest. Dignity all but gone. I hope this is not a life sentence, it is debilitating. But the x ray shows a crushed nerve and a sloping spine and I know no way to straighten it. Fortunately, for the most part I am fine. I was reminded the other night, as I lay there on the studio floor, leg pulled to my chest as I tried to unfurl the gripping sharpness down my right leg, of an earlier time. Over 30 years ago, I was in a similar prone position. Two nights ago, I was trying something different. Using the work to express the story in a physical way. A form of sculpture but a painting that can be four paintings or one. I was working on a four panel piece, I called it "She Breaks Apart". I sensed a glimmer of enthusiasm and experimentation in how I was feeling about my work, that lit me up and fuelled me again. It was a sensation that I had missed and I was so happy to feel it again. And then I had the strangest sensation. As if unbeknownst to me, these past thirty years I had been traveling through time in a spiral and on that night, like a trajectory of a planet, an orbit seen for the first time, I was aligned in space if not in time. I was in a familiar place. I felt that sense of possibility, of what being a painter inspired in me, even as I'd laid on my back then, crippled with pain. In Adelaide, in a cold, blue room in a share house with cruel men. So, it was the strangest sensation, lying here in my beautiful studio, older, wiser, just as alone, surrounded by paintings that I didn't know then, that I would go on to make. As if I could peer through time and in recognising that I had arrived at the same place, and the most telling thing that struck me then, was that I could make different choices. Begging For Food, Charcoal on Paper. 1987 She Breaks Apart. 4 panels. Oil on timber. Work in Progress I've still got much to do with these panels. At the moment it's just a concept. But, when I found a work that I had made, Begging for Food in 1987 I had used small squares of paper, each work individually drawn with charcoal and then placed together to create a work in its own right. I thought of it as a metaphor. We are all these moments, each action abstract yet complete in and of itself, that when looked from afar, with some kind of perspective, makes up a recognisable form. That we say, is my life as I have lived it. The Grass is Always Greener, oil on canvas, 92 x 76cm. 2021 Our imagination and desire for something new or better can be unsettling. Even when the offer of a sweet treat is there for the taking, we might not see it. Instead he looks towards the horizon. Hobbled to pursue his vision because of the imagined barriers.

I'm finding myself losing so much time as I am too easily distracted. I have a few things on my to do list and that list is groaning under the weight of not getting anything done and more things keep being added. Like writing this blog for example. At least if you're reading it, I can tick off "write my blog"! It has become so detrimental to my sense of happiness as it's time to settle down at the end of the day. I sought relief and in the process was distracted by yet another video that offers a solution to this problem, a common one it seems. Apparently, according to the book Indistractable by Nir Eyal, to do lists are not a solution. So cross off To Do Lists and plot your days. An interesting read if you are also in the same boat. Blowing Darts, oil on canvas, 76x 76cm I was so excited and inspired to paint a portrait of a dear friend of mine, an accomplished artist in so many ways. I painted "An Enduring Vision" after many conversations and hearing her amazing stories, adventures and accomplishments, which I integrated into the work. It was entered into the Archibald Portrait Prize. An Enduring Vision, 120 x 100cm, oil on canvas 2021 The Noosa Open Studio is on again! My studio, which I affectionally refer to as the Dragonfly Studio, will be open from 1st Oct - 10th Oct. I'll keep you posted on upcoming events. With all the gardening and fixing up I've been doing around the studio, it will look even better this year. I have made a big numbered sign and laid a path. I look forward to seeing you visit and the studio is open most days. Please call or drop in. My studio cat Mars Black is becoming very adept at navigating the canvases and loves visitors too. As winter approaches, the sunsets over the Noosa River are magnificent. Catfish, oil on canvas, 60 x 76cm So what's to be done? Well, I am enrolled in a course in Instructional Design to further develop and incorporate my various interests in coaching, education and how to facilitate enhanced learning through better design. I have revisited my manuscript and I'm about to embark on a revised draft. I have no idea how to do this but I'll give it a go. There's a new photo book to design and publish. And then there is painting! I'm hoping to be accepted into a few exhibitions so I'll need to focus. My intention is to explore the thinking I have around walking the tightrope between surrender and desire. I feel that my truth is guided along that fine line between that subsequently determine our choices and how we feel inside, our inner state. A Little Bird Told Me, oil on canvas, 100 x 76cm

Resilience was sold on the Opening Night. Entry to the Toowoomba Grammar Art Show was quite impressive. So many beautiful artworks, and it must have been an incredible effort and organisational skill in getting these all up. 'While I Was Sleeping', probably better seen if not down low in a corner. Driving back from Toowoomba, the countryside was very inspiring and calming. I had had a bit of a break, enjoying my family's hospitality and company. So, overall, a most welcome experience.

I recently published my culmination of over 30 years of my exhibiting history into a full-colour, soft bound document. It took quite a bit of digging around, searching for the invitations and flyers that advertised the exhibitions. Fortunately I had had the foresight to have filed them away and kept them, despite my having moved homes over 14 times since I started exhibiting. If you would like to view the pdf please click here. Having a hardcopy is easy too if you click here. You will be redirected to my Blurb site and hopefully they will make it easy too. If you have any queries, please contact me.

I just love how things unfold. I am ridiculously unfocused yet my attention on where I want to go never falters.. and as a result I had a brilliant week although none of it had been written in my diary. I took a trip to Brisbane to deliver the painting The Feathered Protection to a very inspiring and enthralling collector. I was invited out to dinner and it was marvellous. Being in the city, flowing and interesting conversation and a chance to be engaged with a like minded soul was priceless. I'll be heading up to Toowoomba in a few days, a long drive that I am not too keen on but delivering painting is the flavour of the month I see. I have 6 works in this highly successful Art Show and I and really looking forward to being there on the Sneak Peek Thursday 25th and spend some time with my cousins too.