The Blocktrades Contest. 'Be open to 'Sacred Space' Wednesday Walk. Sculpture by the Sea Bondi. Sydney. Australia. Original Photography.

Let me.
Empty my mind.
Of all preconceived notions.
Expectations. Stagnant patterns of seeing.
A brighter and far more joyful world is awaiting me there. ~Ally.

---

You yourself.
As much as anybody in the entire universe.
Deserve your love and affection. ~Gautama Buddha.

Sculpture: Horizon by Mu Boyan.

---

Wednesday Walk.

Wednesday Walk initiated by @tattoodjay is a wonderful way to see those hidden gems in your 'ordinary' environment, and experience those unexpected magical moments when you can truly delight in your world. ~Ally.

On my #WednesdayWalk this week I'd like to introduce you to Horizon, a courageous young man: Sitting in stillness with his back to the ocean: Exposing his nakedness to hundreds of thousands of people: Undisturbed by all their giggles and remarks: Contemplating his life and the changing values of his culture.

Horizon was just one of the 100 sculptures from 21 countries that were installed on both the flat and steeply sloped grasslands of Marks Park, on the pristine sands of Tamarama Bay and all along the 2 kilometre pathway that follows the spectacular high cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean from Bondi Beach to Tamarama Bay at this year's Sculpture by the Sea Bondi.

This video produced by Sculpture by the Sea will give you an idea of the spectacular landscape that this exhibition is set in.

---

---

Sculpture by the Sea Bondi.

The Bondi Sculpture by the Sea is now the largest public international annual sculpture exhibition in the world and this year eight works from the Central Academy of Art in Beijing were included in the exhibition. One of them being Mu Boyan's 'larger than life' photorealistic Horizon which certainly dominated the creative landscape and absolutely delighted the hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Mu Boyan.

Mu Boyan is a contemporary Chinese sculptor who is becoming well known for his small-scale and larger than life sculptures of obese young men. His highly surreal figures are made with resin and mixed media and the technical finish is superb.

But there's much more to Mu Boyan's work than meets the eye. These huge men with their multilayers of fat with puffy limbs, feet and hands, finding themselves in all sorts of bizarre positions in different situations are a BIG reflection of the transforming views of obesity in modern day China.

Where obesity was once seen as a sign of wealth, the current view is now shifting towards the Western perception of the overweight as being quite unsightly and extremely unhealthy. And in his humorous and satirical fashion, Mu Boyan brings this issue to our awareness ~ Staring us straight in the face ~ So that we can't avoid it.

Another time on my #WednesdayWalk I'll share with you some of the looks of astonishment and amusement on the faces of a group of young school girls as they caught their first glimpse of Horizon ~ But for now I'm about to do something completely out of character and tell you why I'm entering The Blocktrades Contest even though I don't actually meet all the criteria and why I deserve to be noticed by @anomadsoul and @blocktrades.

The Blocktrades Contest.

I'm entering this contest because I wish to show my support for the many wonderful people who I truly admire for their continued engagement with the Steemit community ~ Regardless of fluctuations in the Steemit economy.

Be open to 'Sacred Space.' was published before this contest announcement was published and it gives an example of my art and photography and the pride I take in presenting it at Steemit.

I love the way the Universe works and I try to give examples of this all the time in my articles. For instance just today I received a notice from @steemitboard stating that I've now made more than 10000 upvotes.

I joined Steemit in July 2016 and my reputation is 58 without bidbots.

I've been away from Steemit twice, for a few months: See NOTES below.

However, both times were absolutely invaluable as I came back with renewed enthusiasm for Steemit KNOWING that there's nothing like this social platform and it's community anywhere else. My Steemit friends are treasures ~ And the gems of insight they give me are worth all the world to me.

Having an introverted and slightly dyslectic nature, I find it challenging to have millions of social connections and so I'm not particularly active in any of the Discord channels. But I do LOVE the connections I have made just responding to other people's work and the comments people make on my art/photography.

I’m somewhat of a perfectionist: In both my art and in the writing about it. But I post at least 3 or 4 articles a week and easily meet the number of comments requirement.

---

Sculpture by the Sea Bondi.

I hope you'll come along with me on my next Wednesday Walk when I'll take you back along the pathway overlooking the ocean from Bondi Beach to Tamarama Bay, to see some of the other sculptures like Embrace by Andrew Rogers that were installed in this year's Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi.

And I still want to show you the indigenous line drawing of a big fish that was carved at least 2,000 years ago into one of the large shelf rocks alongside the pathway. Initially, this carving was thought to be of a whale but it's now considered that it's more likely a shark.

---

Embrace by Andrew Rogers.

Hold
Closely
In one's arms:
Form not anchored by weight:
Motion within. Rhythms. Lustrous sheen. ~Andrew Rogers.

Your purpose in life is to find your purpose
And give your whole heart and soul to it ~Gautama Buddha.

---

NOTES:

Being away from Steemit.

The first time was to work with Medium and Niume (no longer operating) as well as Instagram.

The second time was to update my own website and blog as well as experiment with new art mediums. And just at that time, @carlgnash introduced to me to the DeepDreamGenerator.

The DeepDreamGenerator.

I became quite besotted by the way this software could digitally enhance imagery. My aim in working with the DeepDreamGenerator was to bring a new magic into my photographs and I also felt that it would inspire me to draw and paint with an extra dash of flamboyance.

I thought it would only take me a day or so to learn how to combine two images in order to generate an enhanced version of the first image ~ So that the images in my Steemit articles would have that 'something special' we artists are always seeking.

Well, it took me about 5 months to realize that being in the top 10 of the DeepDreamGenerator Leader board wasn't the most important thing in my life and that my images only needed the slightest of enhancement ~ If any.

---

Horizon: Slightly stylized with the DeepDreamGenerator.

In the end, only three things matter:
How much you loved: How gently you lived.
And how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.
~Gautama Buddha.

---

My Wednesday Walks.

• Walking around my own front yard Garden.
• Spring in the Sydney Botanical Gardens with a touch of Marilyn Monroe
• 'Artisans in the Gardens' at the Lion Gate Lodge, Sydney Botanical Gardens.
• Carnivorous Plants Exhibition: Plants with Bite. The Calyx at Sydney Botanical Gardens.
• Australian Icon at the Roseville Golf Course.
• 'After the Swim.' Sculpture by the Sea Bondi. Sydney. Australia.

---

Photography: ©Alison Lee Cousland.
SONY Mark2 A7: 35 mm:

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Terms of CC BY-SA.

• This ShareAlike license will allow you to reproduce and/or manipulate this image even for your commercial purposes.

• You are required to attribute me, Alison Lee Cousland as the designer/artist.

• You also need to be willing to license any of your new creations that make use of this image, under the identical terms IE allow others to reproduce and/or build their own art upon your art, as well as granting their right to commercial usage.

---

---