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Gean: the wild cherry, prunus avium. [French guigne]
Artist's passions ran deep: Kilmeny Niland: 1950-2009 (Obituary) by Tony Stephens, The Sydney Morning Herald, Obituary in The Mosman Daily, and Wikipedia article
Kilmeny was incredibly talented artist, and I introduced her work in my Live Journal several times. This is her haiga that she shared with us, told the story behind it, and answered our many questions: http://origa.livejournal.com/46457.html
These are excerpts from Kilmeny’s comments and answers:
This tiny creature is a pygmy possum which is half the size shown here. Their diet mostly consists of sipping the nectar of flowers supplemented by crunchy fragments of a luckless insect. http://www.kilmenyniland.com/wildlife_art.html
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"It began as a wildlife painting for an exhibtion. It is a ringtailed possum with baby. They carry their young (one or two) on their backs. The strange looking flower in the foreground is a golden banksia which is a native of
For the haiga, I wanted a mental link between the image of the round flower and the moon -- both glowing under the watchful eye. Whose watchful eye? The possum (a nocturnal animal), is vigilant and we are too as the eye is focussed on the glow. Well, that's one way of looking at it." -- Kilmeny Niland |
“It is interesting to see just how 'modern' haiga can become as we see different developments within the art form. I would love to be able experiment more especially with the integration of text within the image. I wonder if I dare to become completely abstract.” (Kilmeny)
“While I can think in an abstracted way, I find it difficult when putting brush or pencil to paper, to make the image lean towards realism. It needs a whole different thought process. Then again, sometimes I have great images in my mind, but don't have the digital knowledge to 'translate' them to the screen. I'd also like to try my hand at brush painting too...one day.”
”Minnie is out of surgery but needs to wear one of those Elizabethan collars for a few days so she doesn't pull at her stitches. It makes her look like a strange little flower... hmm, maybe a dogrose?” (Kilmeny)
“Thank you so much, Olga. And to all the individual commentators! It makes my day. I enjoyed the spontaneous haiku too. That's an interesting fact about warblers -- I didn't know that. Yes, we do have some weird and wonderful animals and flowers. The first artists to sight the kangaroo, thought they were huge mice. (I wonder if they were fearful of huge cats as well!) I think the strangest must be platypus -- an egglaying mammal which suckles its young. Sobersided naturalists in
Please visit Kilmeny's Personal web site and Haiga pages to enjoy her beautiful work.
Other sources of Kilmeny’s haiku-related activities on the web, and in print:
Poetry Page in WHA web site, Haiku in Laryalee's online haiku Anthology, 2000 Jack Stamm Award - Third Prize, Second Calico Cat haiku contest - Second prize, Sixth Calico Cat haiku contest - First prize, Haiga in Laryalee Fraser's web site, Haiga in Simply Haiku, Haibun in CHO (and in printed Anthology), Haiga in Haigaonline, Five logo in WHC Logo Design Contest; First and Second Australian Haiku Anthologies; WHA Anthologies (Japan) 2005, 2006, 2007; haiku in Paper Wasp, Yellow Moon, World Haiku Review 2005; WHA monthly Haiga contests (placed every months for several years); also, Kilmeny was on the editorial board for English haiku in the Chrysanthemum haiku journal (e-zine).
This is a haiga with Kilmeny’s First Prize winning haiku and my sumi-e from the 6th Calico Cat haiku contest:
Kilmeny received this painting as her First Prize, to hang on a wall in her Australian house:
From Deborah Niland, Kilmeny’s twin sister: “Kilmeny loved the world of haiga and haiku, and valued her friendship with you. She even requested a piece of haiku to be put on her memorial plaque. My brother chose this one:
my new robe
full of sunlight
and warmth
Santoka
It is very difficult to realize that her lovely work and ideas will be no longer, but we relish the memories we have of her and the work she has left with us.”
From Rafe Champion, Kilmeny’s husband: “I will be happy to give permission to any tasteful use of her images that is properly acknowledged and linked to her website.
From the funeral program.
An exhibition of Kilmeny's work and a celebration of her life will be held at the
We will remember a laughing, long-haired girl,
Daughter of sun, sand and foam,
By the bayside of the Emerald city.
A lover and a carer, sensuous, bold and kind,
Mistress of passion, power and pride,
Kilmeny of the shining eyes.
Kilmeny Niland grew up in
She worked in animation, children's books (over 30 titles), wildlife art, miniatures, portraits, cards and prints. Examples of all these forms can be found on her website, which demonstrates another branch of her skills that was just starting to flower. In miniature art she won numerous prizes in national and international competitions. Several of her portraits were hung in the Portia Geach exhibition and a porrtait of her mother, Ruth Park, was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery.
In recent years she became more active in writing and in electronic media. The combination can be seen in the delightful examples of haiga on her website. She wrote "What better way to combine a love of haiku, oriental art and image-making than by exploring modern haiga. Traditionally, this is Japanese brushwork combined with haiku but modern techniques can also include photography, digital art and even sound."
The most recent books which she wrote and illustrated include Two Tough Teddies with Little Hare, Fat Pat with the ABC and An Aussie Day Before Christmas with Scholastic.
In early 2008 she detected symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Treatment started in July but the disease proved to be refractory. After exhausting the routine treatments she entered a research trial in January 2009. She ran into an unbeatable opponent but she will not be remembered as a loser. She retained her dignity, poise and sense of humour to the end.
We will miss her impish wit, her compassion for small animals and people in need, her sense of order and the work that she planned to do.
We are very grateful to Kilmeny’s family: her twin sister Deborah Niland, and husband Rafe Champion, who generously shared the information for this memorial. A big thank you also to the President of the Australian Haiku Society Beverley George for her dedicated help with contacting Kilmeny’s family, and providing information.
Origa