Holding Creative Space for Others.

I love to offer my studio to others to work in. It is an unusual and beautiful hand crafted building which evolved as a direct need for me to have my own space. This desperate need (I had two young sons) supplemented with a lifetimes worth of creative space building for others and a deep interest in sustainable architecture and community engagement produced a wonderful retreat which only now I feel I really 'own'. I recently read about Jo Fairley's shed love for her shed too, you can read it here.

The path we made up to it was a labour of love too.

The studio roof is 'green' too, with its own pond, marshy area and of course 2 gnomes.

Often I overlook the joy of owning such a space as it is all too easy to be busy outside of it. But since sharing it with others, teaching in it, the art of mono-printing, for instance I am really able to see its worth. It is full of supplies, inspiration and now a comfy chair, cushions and when I go down it also contains a small lap dog, cup of tea and space to breathe, hope, dream and create!

Curvy interior walls holding creative space.

Pewter elm tree form from cuttle-fish cast.

So, book yourself onto one of my courses advertised or just come and play. I aim to expand the teaching that I do soon. I have facilities in there to create cuttlefish casts and produce pewter treasures, do various printing techniques, from wood cut to lino cut, learn how to paint from the imagination, using mindfulness and walking as a meditation. The list goes on, so just let me know which creative playtime you would like or what you yearn to learn.

The light and airy side of the studio.

I, myself shall endeavour to get down to the studio most days now the weather is warming up, I shall no longer put off the urge to create and do another thing instead. These distractions will always exist and it is only with my own daily discipline and determined practice that I will create new work and enjoy being in the space with others that love doing so too!

My next open studio event will be on Saturday the 16^th of June. It will show the new progression on from my current art project 'Hearth and Home'.

The exhibition is open to all from 11-5pm in my straw-bale studio.

The studio has a Facebook page of its own, to look at its 'life story', look up www.facebook.com/Green-Build-Tankerton

10% of all sales of this 'Hearth and Home' artwork will go to our local homeless charity in Canterbury, 'Porchlight'.

All open and ready for another studio exhibition.

I love to teach others and facilitate space for them to create, so I run art and design workshops throughout the year. These can be either 1:1 or for a small group and I charge from £15 per hour. The next ones for the exciting and accessible art of Gelli-printing are on most Wednesdays and Fridays throughout April, May and June. They run 11-2pm and cost £40 pp including all materials and refreshments.

My own personal art page can be found at www.facebook.com/RoseClarityArtist I can be contacted on 07432679164 or clare@people-to-place.co.uk

Mapping and Territory

Mapping

I have successfully taught one of my workshops now a couple of times and past participants are eagerly asking for the next ‘chapter’. I had decided to break down the full day workshop into three parts as each part is really quite a substantial subject in itself.

Surface Rubbings from an earlier workshop.

So literally moving on from ‘Way-finding and the art of Psycho-geography’, there will be another workshop looking at ‘Mapping and Territory’. It is with this in mind that I have been immersing myself in many books on mapping, walking routes using maps and rereading the relevant part of my personal MA research.

Robert Macfarlane has had a lot of press coverage recently as he launches his new book ‘Landmarks’, I love the way he writes, he is a true observer of the beauty of place. I feel an affinity with the way he approaches the subject. Yet to be honest, as I am on the cusp of writing my own book about connecting people to place (through the simple act of walking), I feel hesitant about picking his newest book up and starting to read it. I know it will be enjoyable, beautifully written and informative.

But I need to refine my own thoughts, research and practice and concentrate on finding my own voice in this ever increasing popular subject.

Mapping my post-it notes..

I started to literally map my blog two weeks ago, taking subjects, words and themes and mapping them out on post it notes in front of me. I easily used up a few pads of pale yellow notes, arranged about a third of these on a large sheet of paper and stopped. I have so much information and although grouping a third of it together into specific themes, arranging it in an order that I understand does help, it also makes me aware that collating and bridging all these themes into a concise, enjoyable, easy to read book is going to take a while. And that time will not be found in the Easter holidays!

One page of many to do...

So now it is term time again and even a short term such as this will afford me some time to finish arranging the remainder of my post-it notes into order and start developing chapters. Lets hope so anyhow as now I understand why I hear of writers who take themselves away to remote places to construct such a piece of concentrated creative endeavour.

Territory

We spent an enjoyable week in Wales over the Easter break, 3 days of it was spent about 6 metres up in an Oak trees’ canopy. We had travelled up to the southern edge of Snowdonia to stay in a beautiful tree-house in a remote valley that felt truly magical. This could be an ideal place to write a book as there was no WIFI or electricity; the water came from a mountain spring and the heat from a log burning stove.

Fun was had with fire and glow-sticks.

It was wonderful for my family and I to have a break from virtual technological connection and sink back happily into the true nature of things. The glow from the candles and stove was comforting and real but stopped us from reading late into the evening. There wasn’t a TV or radio to distract us either, so time was spent well, living with the natural cycle of the daylight hours and dusk to dark times.

Our tree-house.

Because of this we all went to bed earlier than I can ever remember doing, as a family and naturally awoke relaxed and happy the next day as the daylight got brighter. This gentle transition time felt so natural, as it would be, that I wanted to try it once we had returned home, but there are so many distractions here that I haven’t even managed to try, maybe we need to book a tree-house holiday for next year to make that happen again.

Nestled in the trees.

There were 5 tree-houses in the valley, there are all located on one side of the stream in ancient woodland, a final and sixth one is now being built. Each tree-house had its own bridge that took you from one side of the stream to the other, these bridges could be seen if you knew where to look, the tree-houses were less easy to see.

From the moment of crossing ‘our’ bridge to climbing ‘our’ tree we felt more familiar to the area and started to know our place. As we timidly explored our surroundings I felt an emerging sense of belonging to the home that we as a family were about to stay in for a few days.

 

At home.

The next day we felt we knew the territory a bit better and became happier to leave it and discover the larger context of the place that we were staying in. In blazing sunshine we walked a large circular route around the surrounding hills and were able to pinpoint our magical valley.

Looking down on the magical valley from the surrounding hills.

As we returned back to the tree-house it felt like home and we had a few daylight hours to ‘hang out’ back at camp, outside, before stove heated water washed us in the open shower cubicle under the tree-house and in the dusk we climbed back up the spiral staircase to spend another early night in the trees, gently feeling the movement of the branches, cradling us as we dreamt.

The tree-houses blend in, even in the Spring.

A Speech of Birds

A Speech of Birds

I went out for a wonderful walk this weekend. It was organised by Victoria Field who runs The Poetry Practice. We had a guided walk by two RSPB officials through an area of Blean Woods and stopped along the way to listen to birdsong, connect to the place and practice some writing. The wind blew away a lot of the bird song, but we did manage to hear a Wren, Robin, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Blackcap and Great Tit.

 

Catkins, soft and pliable compared to the strong oak trunks.

The weather was bright and sunny, but a chill wind blew through and kept us more active and walking to try and keep warm than staying still, writing and being contemplative.

Being in the wood.

Victoria calls the project she is working on ‘A Speech of Birds’, it is a celebration of the Blean through poetry and creative writing.

It was a delight to be in the woods with other likeminded people, really looking, listening and feeling our way. The stopping time which was inserted into a large circular walk felt like a gift.

 

Walking together through the wood.

At these points we were able to experience the woods just a little deeper. At one point we were asked to note twenty observations. We had walked into a glade and stopped and sat, out of the bitter wind and looked, listened and felt where we were.

The space between, a clearing in a wood

The calm silence

before the wind blows once again

Reminding us of the changeable season we are in

Sitting in the glade, writing.

I realised then that this is very similar to sketching a place. When I sketch, I look with more depth into the subject, I capture far more of that moment than when I take a photograph. I suppose this is being mindful, both writing and sketching something specific allows for a deeper observation of the subject.

We contemplated birch trees with bar(k)code musings...

Mindful Writing

I recognise that similarly, the difference between taking a photograph and sketching is also the same of being aware and commenting on your surroundings when walking and writing about your observations.

A single beech leaf.

Being mindful encourages me to fully be there in that moment noting, not just the shape of a leaf but its lightness of form, the irregularities of its surface and the tiny movement as it hangs singularly on the branch, being blown by the cold wind.

Stubborn leaves quiver

Cold chill some wind picking up

Birds sing merrily

Standing in one place

This was one of the subtitles from last week’s blog, it actually fits well into this one too, and so I shall leave it there, standing still amongst new text, experiences and observations.

The Yew and Beech 'danced' together.

We often need a constant; something still that we move around, it can be a partner, a friend, a specific place or many other things. We each have our own. I see these things as landmarks in our own worlds. The Street in Whitstable is one of mine.

The Street, tide out for the Supermoon.

It is a constant, it weathers all storms, it may disappear completely at high tides but there is always a feature in the sea, a trace of its shape formed by the currents that are created by its form as it lies submerged, waiting to be exposed again at the next low tide.

A long way to walk.

Unfortunately, the weather here last week for the solar eclipse was not conducive to fully appreciate the event. The sky was overcast, its colour a deep grey that got deeper and heavier as the light dimmed. People had gathered expectantly on the slopes at Tankerton and then as they wandered off I noticed the sky feel less heavy and that is when I realised it was over, that must have been it, the eclipse had passed.

 

Looking towards the West.

It was a very different experience to the eclipse I had witnessed in 1999, that day had been bright with a cloudless blue sky. We had constructed a viewing box to ‘see’ the eclipse and the image was amazingly clear. But what I remember most was that as the sky darkened the birds stopped singing. It went quiet and cold. That was my overriding memory. A tiny glimpse of what the world would be without the sun and that was a shock.

The evening of the solar eclipse had promised to show us the Supermoon which had blocked out the sun, earlier in the day. We went down to The Street to view it, but again the cloud was so thick and low that it was impossible to even see where it could be in the sky. But, what a surprise! The tide was way out, so far out that when we walked out to the end of The Street it took a long time to get there.

 

Strange interference on the water surface.

The water to the left of The Street looked like the old fashioned coloured pixels on a television screen. The sea glowed with muted colours of the sun set, but the surface of the water looked like it was ‘crackling’ with interference. I have never seen this phenomenon before, so I was able to end the day with another new Street memory to add to my existing collection. 

The Blean

‘Blean’s speciality is that it was the woodland attached to a holy city.’ Cites Oliver Rackham in his foreword to ‘The Blean, The Woodlands of a Cathedral City.’ The Blean is large, over 11 square miles, and ancient. 

In a couple of days I have booked to attend another event for the Speech of Birds project, again organised by Victoria. This writing workshop will be held indoors this time, so I will wear less layers and so will hopefully be able to use my arms more efficiently!

The cold wind on my face

Watching others hankered down

Against the cold, writing

Furiously with cold fingers

into favourite notebooks

We will be looking at prose and poems relating to the Blean and writing in response. I look forward to that, exploring the Blean through writing and using my experience from Saturdays walk to really get to know the place better.

Woodland ants waking up.

 PS. the poetry, haiku and observations are my own and unedited. I am sure they would benefit from some more work; there is certainly room for improvement, but as 'memory sketches' for the day, they serve me well.

Women, Walking and Wellbeing

Women, Walking and Wellbeing

Last Monday I held the first of my walking workshops. This one, ‘Women, Walking and Wellbeing’, looks at our attitude to walking, here in the UK, and includes exercises on creative way-finding and place making and introduces the art of Psycho-geography.

Woman walking.

Colourful and textural detective work.

It went well and everyone enjoyed themselves, the venue worked and the coffee and cake was appreciated. On refection, I find that it is only when I am actually running workshops that the content and engagement can be improved.

 

Finding landmarks.

I went to see Germaine Greer at a new arts venue, The Quarterhouse, in Folkestone last week and found her talk ‘The Disappearing Woman’ interesting but quite sombre. What I decided I would take home from the talk was a determination to make more women visible. So, let’s get out there, get walking, see and be seen!

Some interesting 'clues' to navigate by.

Everyone on my course said a main part of the enjoyment of the day was meeting other like-minded women.This is important.

Learning by Doing

It is through doing courses that they evolve into something quite inspiring for both the facilitator and the participants. I have now changed the time frame and the subsequent costs, tightened up the content, added more dates (next date is 30/03/15) and created a workshop package for each participant to take away with them.

Using modern methods and post-it notes!

I am away next weekend at The Eden Project in Cornwall. I am really looking forward to it, it is a ‘Big Lunch Extras’ event and it supports people ‘to bring about positive change in neighbourhoods right across the UK’. There will be ‘an interactive and varied timetable of workshops, activities and inspirational speakers alongside time to explore and network with others.’ This feels to me like the perfect timed opportunity to participate.

Foreshore detail: low sun, tide running out.

Foreshore, larger view.

I am getting a clearer vision of how my MA Design research and subsequent work is going to evolve into a far reaching and positive ‘movement’ for many. I want my work to be improved by attending courses and events such as this one, but I am also keen to make a living by it. I haven’t applied for any funding yet, as the actual vision needs to be very focused and clear on who it is for, where it will be, what it is exactly and how it will be applied. I feel that I am so close now.

Writing

I am starting with a book which will be finished by early May and the writing of it will be funded by a crowd-funding campaign. I have been researching about crowd-funding for a while and followed some very successful ones on social media. It is not easy but it is possible. The campaign also identifies the market and is therefore very useful if/when approaching a publisher.

On of my paintings was published in last years 'Earth Pathways Diary'.

I have been looking at the possibilities of self-publishing too. There are many online options; one that has been recommended to me is ‘Lulu’. The initial problem I can see of using this ‘platform’ is that they only produce books with glossy covers. Strangely this bothers me, I expect my book to be beautiful to look at, I have a wealth of images that I can use which include photographs and my own and others original artwork.

Beautiful Books

Even when I used to get my photos developed back in the day of processing labs, I used to prefer the matt finish over the glossy one. So I realise that the aesthetic of the book is as important as the content, to me. I have been looking through many of my own books at home and others in libraries recently, pondering their shape, style, weight, layout etc.

Even the form of the words on the page can be evocative and beautiful.

Page from a 1950's book of the countryside, showing page border detail.

There are many that I own because how they look appealed to me first. There are others, but few, that have comprehensive and valuable text, but are a bit clumsy in their look.

One of the shop displays showing some books back in 2014.

I think the feel of a book and its content are both important. My friends own a shop called ‘Number Seven’ in Dulverton, Somerset and I know that they are persuaded by this too.

A wonderful book that I am working through at the moment. I don't know whether Number Seven stocks this one.

This book I know is stocked there. Such a beautiful cover.

Their bookshelves are full of the most exquisite books, colourful, beautiful and precious. Davina also organises a ‘Walking Book Club’ that takes people out into the surrounding wonderful wild countryside, to discuss the book that they have all been reading.

Photo by Davina Jelley, taken at one of her walking book clubs, a couple of years ago.

The club is open to all, the books are available from the shop, to buy and there is a welcoming atmosphere to all that join in.

So next time I will blog, it will be after my Eden experience. Hopefully I will come back inspired and enthused for setting up more local projects, engaging others and connecting people to place.

(I completed my MA in September 2014 and recorded the last two months of it in another blog called www.thesaltwayfarer.blogspot.co.uk

Please feel free to look at that anytime, as it is from that, that I am where I am now.)