Uncategorized – Page 2 – Maureen O'Brien

Media Release from the Desk:

According to Novocastrian Singer/Songwriter and Recording Artist Maureen O’Brien “rumours of my creative demise are Premature…Precipitated…Presumptuous! In fact, my creativity was simply…Resting” she grins with a familiar twinkle in her eye!

O’Brien, like many of our local – and national – creatives, hit a covid wall, in the ’20 – ’22 period. “It was a BLACK rather than blue period” she claims, “with gigs disappearing, venues closing, audiences dwindling, and income streams drying up. It felt like a long – very long – hibernation period.”

But as she is fond of repeating: “nothing lasts forever” and her music is now the inspiration for a new exhibition opening in January at the Timeless Textiles Gallery in Hunter Street. Titled “Sounds, Sights and Textures: connecting the Hunter Wetlands to music and fibres- group exhibition”, the participating Artists – invited by Anne Kempton – from local, national and international fibre artists, were required to create their pieces based on the music that Maureen composed – a soundscape for the exhibition based on the SOUNDS of the Hunter Wetlands. And unlike other exhibitions where the medium may be Oils, Watercolors or pen/pencil/ink, this exhibition will display textile works.

Maureen describes the process: “I immersed myself in the wetlands environment and wanted to create music that depicted the vast diversity of wildlife contained in that setting, the symbiosis that exists, and the playful characteristics displayed. You can’t help but be transported into a lighter frame of mind and a more joyful sense of being when you spend time in nature. It unleashed such a wealth of creativity that has resulted in a whole album of material for this project. It’s even inspired the beginnings of another unrelated album to follow in 2024”

The exhibition is scheduled to open at the gallery in January. A smaller exhibition will move to the Hunter Wetlands in April. The album will be released following its launch at The Wetlands on December 10^th.

…the end is in sight! Yup, the Arts Music project I’ve been working on since last September – almost a year old now! – comes to fruition in just a few months. It’s been a mammoth project involving lots of singers, musicians, recordings, studio engineering, videographers, artists – and it’s all coming along beautifully!

The last piece to be recorded is an acapella piece and 4 of us take that into the studio in September. [here’s a piccie below of the 4 ladies working hard in rehearsal – well, not so hard, maybe?!] This is myself with Stevi, Gayle, and Maureen [yes, another one!] tightening up a beautiful composition called “The Black Swan” and we can’t wait to share it with you.

The creative bones have been working on some other projects as well and you can find out more on the Blog: https://mozzinoz.blogspot.com/ as well as the Sidestep Comedy Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@sidestepcomedy

Counting down to a January Deadline. Make sure you’re on the mailing list to find out about upcoming events and activities.

Gosh, it seems that “normal” as Artists used to know it, is not coming back anytime soon. Despite what the pollies and marketers would have us believe, the Arts community is still struggling and it seems for many of us – myself included – the days of regular gigging may be a long time coming.

It’s also virtually impossible to schedule shows, tours and concerts in advance due to continued uncertainty in *venues *support musicians *audience numbers – all of which are still being impacted by viruses.

For now, my creative energies are focussed in the online sphere – namely over 3 Youtube channels;

Music: https://www.youtube.com/user/mozluminous/videos

Sidestep Comedy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgt1Ko2Z6Ea87h3cAXR8Oyg/www.youtube.com and Storytelling: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1r6YCgyDfh6ohx07EX2dIg

Please swing by the channels and check out what’s on offer. As always, feedback is most welcome. Until I see you “live” on the bright side, may music fill your life and lift your heart.

…in the meantime, if you’re struggling during these difficult times, this track “Carrying Burdens” may shine a little brightness for you