DATES: 13 Feb 2025 to 24 Feb 2025: 9-4pm Weekdays LOCATION: Kirra Hill Community Centre: 1 Garrick St, Coolangatta QLD 4225 This exhibition involves drawings in fruit and vegetable boxes, several projected videos that are documentation of beach performances, a video sculpture that I am remaking from art school days, two other sculptures, two large […]
Archives: Essays
I am a Mixture of a Naughty Teenager and a Grandmother
Installation by Luke Foster “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.” Dalai Lama I love this quote by the Dalai Lama and it sums up the philosophy behind this installation. However, I also like how the Dalai Lama is always joking around and hence the title: I am a Mixture […]
Thankyou to my Friends in America and my Australian Protectors and the Local and Global Community: You are all Angels and Saints/ Compassion/ Gratitude
Essay by Luke Foster “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Saint Francis of Assisi I love this quote by Saint Francis and it kind of reminds me what my friends in America, my Australian protectors and the local and global community have taught me. However, […]
The Final Essay in Am I Going in Circles? / I Have Gratitude for Everyone Who Has Guided, Humoured, Protected and Educated Me During its Writing/ You are all Angels and Saints
“Dealing with complexity is an inefficient and unnecessary waste of time, attention and mental energy. There is never any justification for things being complex when they could be simple. “ Edward de Bono I love the quotes I use by Edward De Bono who has sadly passed and particularly his idea of lateral thinking which […]
Preface to Am I Going in Circles?
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr. This book is a series of new essays I’ve written since writing my first book of essays Mothers Love. I am at the editing stage now and have 191 essays to […]
I Have Three Projects I do Each Day/ Two Hours Beach Walking, At Least Ten Drawings and One Hour Studying the Dalai Lamas YouTube Video Talks/ After my Mums Passing Early Last Year the Dalai Lama Has Replaced Her as my Rock that I Lean on From a Distance
Essay by Luke Foster “When you are discontent, you always want more, more, more. Your desire can never be satisfied. But when you practice contentment, you can say to yourself, ‘Oh yes – I already have everything that I really need.” Dalai Lama I love this quote by the Dalai Lama and I feel I […]
I Hope We Haven’t Left it to Late/ The World is in Dire Straits/ The Environment is Suffering/ There is an Uneven Distribution of Wealth/ There is the Greenhouse Effect Problem/ There are Wars/ And there is Nuclear-Weapons Around the World/ Where the Streets Have No Name
Essay by Luke Foster I love this song by Irish band U2 and the lead singer Bono has been an activist mainly to overcome global poverty for decades. “If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of […]
I Need More Gratitude, Compassion and Forgiveness/ My Life Hasn’t been Easy Sometimes but It’s Rarely Been Boring/ I Need Inspiration from Strong Female and Male Role Models/ I am Sort of a Mix of a Naughty Teenager and a Grandmother
Essay by Luke Foster “Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.” Edward de Bono Over the last month mainly while beach walking, I have been racking my brain how to make my life more, happy and fulfilling and I came to the realization that I […]
Movies as a Populist Art Form
Essay by Luke Foster “Remember, science fiction’s always been the kind of first level alert to think about things to come. It’s easier for an audience to take warnings from sci-fi without feeling that we’re preaching to them. Every science fiction movie I have ever seen, any one that’s worth its weight in celluloid, warns […]
Intuition in Art, Writing and Life
Essay by Luke Foster “Art is a product of the intuitive – the most powerful instrument within us. The intuitive is the most accurate sense we have.” — Louis I. Kahn I feel that the majority of my creativity doesn’t come out of the rationale mind but from the intuitive mind. However: I feel it’s even […]
I am Inspired by Stephen Hawkings a Man with a Severe Disability Who Achieved a Lot/ My Severe Mental Illness/ Frontier Psychiatrist
Essay by Luke Foster “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawkings was an amazing scientist who achieved a lot in his life despite having a severe disability. Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA(8 January 1942 – 14 March 2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author who was […]
My Bucket List/ I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For
Essay by Luke Foster “Stop dreaming about your bucket list and start living it.” Annette White “Actually, oddly enough, I think my work, the activism, will be forgotten. And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away. “ Bono Bono is the lead singer of the Irish band U2 and […]
Some Qualities I Aspire to: Compassion, Friendship, Platonic Love, Giving, Altruism and Forgiveness
Essay by Luke Foster “This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.” Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama has the qualities I listed in the title and I read his talks transcripts sometimes and use […]
Ten Things We Can Do to Save the Environment and Ourselves in the Process/ We Are the Kids from America
Essay by Luke Foster “It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.” Sir David Attenborough I agree with David and each morning […]
It’s Not a Moral Imperative to Stop Global Pollution it’s a Necessity for our Own Survival / It’s Only Natural
“Doing all we can to combat climate change comes with numerous benefits, from reducing pollution and associated health care costs to strengthening and diversifying the economy by shifting to renewable energy, among other measures.” David Suzuki A clean environment is very important for not only humans, future but for plants and animals too. “Sustainability is […]
Need to be Grounded More in Compassion by Studying the Teachings of the 14th Dalai Lama
Essay by Luke Foster “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” “Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.” “Compassion is the radicalism of our time.” Dalai Lama I love the Dalai Lamas take on compassion and I feel […]
The Environmentalists, World leaders, CEOs, Charities, Think Tanks and Intelligentsia Need to Brainstorm How to Save the Environment, Nature, and All Its Animals and Plants. As We Are Literally in the 12th Hour
Essay by Luke Foster “It’s surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth.” Sir David Attenborough I was beach walking this morning which is sort of my meditation as the ocean is my temple and I […]
I Was Metaphorically Blind but Now I Can See/ The Amazing Fred Hollows Foundation
Essay by Luke Foster “Honest work. How many people have the opportunity to be a part of that? To watch that sort of good surgery being done on cataract-blind people warms your soul.” Fred Hollows I wrote an essay about the amazing work of the Fred Hollows Foundation years ago and it features in my book […]
If We Can Figure Out How to Stop Other Animals, Plants, Fish and Insects From, Extinction Then We Might Be Also Able to Figure Out How to Save Humans from Extinction.
Essay by Luke Foster “I can’t imagine anything more important than air, water, soil, energy and biodiversity. These are the things that keep us alive.” David Suzuki I agree with David Suzuki about the importance of keeping the worlds natural resources clean. I feel that the worlds biggest challenge is saving all the flora and […]
In Some Ways I am Outside the Fabric of Society and in Other Ways I am Starting to Re-enter it Due to Starting to Become Successful With My Art and Writing/ Something So Strong/ Crowded House
Essay by Luke Foster When I was at art school, I read books like The Outsider by Albert Camus by the French existentialist and thought it would be cool to be an outsider but when I grew up and it happened some of the time, I realised how lonely and confusing it is. Another book […]
This Past Week or so I Have Been Working on Installations for Five Important Australian Charities/ I have Almost Finished the ones for Beyond Blue, Oxfam Australia and Red Cross Australia and still have to start for Doctors Without Borders and Caritas
Essay by Luke Foster “To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up.” Dalai Lama I think the greatest things we can do […]
The Importance of Maintaining a Sense of Humour/ My Art Looks Like it was Made by a Precocious Thirteen-Year-Old Child
Essay by Luke Foster “Laugh as much as possible, always laugh. It’s the sweetest thing one can do for oneself & one’s fellow human beings.” Maya Angelou I’ve been thinking today that having a sense of humour is the best way to stay steadfast in any situation good or bad so one is not jolted […]
Former Australian Labor Leaders and Prime Minister’s: Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard/ I Don’t Know What was More Important Kevin’s Apology to the Indigenous People of Australia or Julia Bringing in the NDIS or National Disability Insurance Scheme/My Island Home Cover by Jessica Mauboy
Essay by Luke Julia Gillard introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme Act 2013. “Few actions in public life give me greater pleasure than introducing the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill does today. The Scheme to be established by this bill will transform the lives of people with disability, their families and carers. For the first […]
The Importance of the Worlds Diplomats to Make and Maintain Peace in the World/ Running Up That Hill Kate Bush
Essay by Luke Foster The Hon Dr Kevin Rudd AC is Australia’s Ambassador to the United States of America, taking up his posting in Washington in March 2023. “Something my mum taught me years and years and years ago, is life’s just too short to carry around a great bucket-load of anger and resentment and […]
Am I a Fruit Cake Sending Off Books of Drawings to World Leaders, Artists, Actors, Musicians and Government Bodies? / Colloquial Name Don’t You Forget About Me Simple Minds
Essay by Luke Foster Hey, hey, hey, heyOoh, woah Won’t you come see about me?I’ll be alone, dancing, you know it, baby Tell me your troubles and doubtsGiving everything inside and out andLove’s strange, so real in the darkThink of the tender things that we were working on Slow change may pull us apartWhen the […]