Human Nature Human Conditions

I believe the following poem simply addresses our human nature and human conditions:

I am what I am.

 I am happy, I am sad; grumpy, but a funny old man.

I am kind, with a vicious mind;

sweet in front, bitter behind.

 Poetic in heart, philosophical in mind.

I am here, there, everywhere, and nowhere.

I am Iranian, Australia, made in China or Mongolia;

 from India, Greece, Egypt or Libya.

I am descendant of the kings of the East, lords of the West; 

 from the soldiers of the past, or the thieves of the desert sand.

I am what I am.

Abbas Mehran

Why Do I love Lawn Bowling?

Before I came to Boolarra, my new home town in Gippsland Victoria, in October 2010, I had never played lawn bowls.  As a matter of fact, I always made fun of the people with white uniforms rolling bowls on a green field.  One day, in January 2011, I went to the Boolarra Bowling Club and introduced myself to a group of people rolling bowls on the green grass, and to those who were sitting outside of the field watching the rolling bowls. Someone asked me if I had ever played bowls (which I answered no), and if I wanted to roll a bowl.   I accepted the offer and, after a brief instruction, I rolled few bowls and fell in love with it.

This initial tryout made me to recollect some of my happy childhood memories. I remembered that we used to play with round and flat rocks, in a way similar to the lawn bowling, and we compete with each other to prove our ability to get our flat rocks as close to the round one as possible.

This try out and subsequent participation in few social games actually made me to be a child again, having so much fun looking at the bowl rolling on the grass and approaching the little round bowl called the kitty. Sometimes, I like to jump up and shout out loud when my bowls touch the kitty; of course if those polite bowlers, who are concentrating on rolling their bowls, are not around!!

Since my involvement with the Boolarra Bowls Club and practicing and participating in the Lawn bowling competitions, I have improved in many aspects of my life. I have become mentally and physically healthier than before. I am more positively active; I feel that I can dedicate more efficient time to my creative work. I have realised that it is so mind refreshing to go out and play bowls after working alone for a while in my studio.

Lawn bowling is a popular, social, healthy, and enjoyable outdoor sport. Traditionally, it was sport for old age people; however, within last decade or so, many younger generations have been attracted to this sport and have achieved national and international recognition. To Play a game of bowling is enjoyable and, at the same time, challenging. It requires precision, control, and coordination; however, it is so unpredictable, which make this sport exciting, and exhilarating.

Lawn bowling has so much health benefits, especially for a grumpy old man like me. It improves body and mind coordination, fitness, and wellbeing. It enhances our positive feeling towards ourselves, others, environment and the life as a whole. It increases our confidence; therefore, it improves our social ability to interact, connect, support and being supported by others.

I highly recommend to my hardworking friends, fellow artists, writers, thinkers, corporate executives and entrepreneurs to visit a close by lawn club and give it a go; take off your shoes, roll the bowls and enjoy the sunshine and the social friendly ambient.

Boolarra Community Historical Mural

A couple months after I moved to Boolarra in October 2010, the owner of the local shop, Belinda asked me if I could paint a mural on the wall behind the shop. I thought a worthwhile mural should be funded by the community not the shop owner, since it really belong to the community and it would cost more than the shop owner could afford. Therefore, I proposed the idea to the Boolarra Community Development Committee. The committee agreed to pay the cost of the project and I volunteered my time to do the job.

I set for a research on the internet, local museum, university, and aged people who could remember anything of the past. I thought the mural should bring together the past the present and the future. For the past, I consulted with the Boolarra Historical Society, which provided me with many images to choose from, including the Butter Factory which has been destroyed in a fire many years ago. I learned that in the past, this community had been involved in three major activities: butter factory, timber mill and trains and railroad. It was clear that these three activities should be part of the mural; therefore, concentrating on these activities, I tried to make few scenarios reflecting them. Arranging the images to make a sensible composition was a challenge for me.  I spent about three months to do research and preparatory arrangement. While going around, I had seen rows of black and white cows, and I decided to visit the local milk company, and take few pictures to include in the mural. After I painted them, I asked a member of the Society to have a look at my preliminary sketches. I was told that in the past there were no Black and white cows, only Jersey cows were used to supply mild due to its rich fat content. Now, black and white cow are used since they supply more milk with less fat content. So, I had to find jersey cows and take some pictures. It took quite a while until I found a farm with one jersey cow from which I took few picture. Since then I can spot these cows almost everywhere. My subject maters for the past got resolved, I thought to paint tow cows  from the farm , one black and white kept for milk and one brown kept for meat. These two cows could represent the present. Then I decided to paint the portrait of two local young prep students. I asked the school principle to introduce me to the parents of two kinds, and she did, so I had subject to represent the future. Along the way a friend of mine Georg Dunkley volunteered himself to assist me in painting some of the images which had already been drawn, and I was happy to accept his offer.

On the 26 January, Australia Day, Daryl White, the Latrobe City Council, Lunched the mural.