Melbourne & Picasso’s Ceramics
I actually nearly moved to Melbourne, when I was planning my move from the UK to Australia I was researching the cities and felt drawn to Melbourne’s cultural and artistic vibe, then I took one look at the beaches that likened to England’s South Coast and immediately decided it was a no (sorry Australia you have great beaches I just don’t understand what’s going on with them down in Melbourne?)
Since I grew up on the beach and like to have the buzz of a city close by, Sydney was where I landed. This was the perfect choice as far as I could tell, it still wasn’t always fun and easy but I built an amazing life for myself, yet in the back of my mind always wondered if I’d made the ‘right’ choice and would only know if I went to see it for myself.
Turns out I did make the right choice Melbourne isn’t for me, but to visit for a weekend and spend atrocious amounts of money on silly cocktails and street food? Perfect. Often we think ‘travelling’ is the answer to all our problems, we spend so much time pouring over the perfect destination and curating all the activities we’re going to do and sure the destination is relevant, but often the reason we love travel so much is because we’ve carved out time to just intentionally ‘be’. They’re often spent with friends/family or maybe alone and we’re noticing, being present, committing our time to joy and experiencing new things, we’re also not working our day jobs so let’s not pretend that’s not a reason we’re all having so much fun.
On my second day I visited The National Gallery of Victoria and on display were a collection of Picasso’s ceramics, which I’m sorry to say, I didn’t actually know he produced ceramics, it turns out this was a medium he discovered in his 60’s so apparently neither did he until the later part of his life. These works used the form of bowls and platters with these charming little motif’s of mystical animals, faces or a still life.
Galleries make me feel quite limitless, as much of a cliche this is I really do feel like time has stopped, hours could pass, you haven’t checked your phone and you’re really spending the time to actually look at something bringing you fully into the present. You adapt quite a simple way of being, going to where piques your interest, contemplating and moving on when your body guides you.
I think it’s this intentional time spent noticing our new surroundings that acts as an instigator for ideas. We see different customs, way’s of approaching life, different colours, nature, wildlife, all those things mixed with a little more stillness and creativity can really flow.
