SILENCE AND SOLITUDE

"That is what is strange - that friends, even passionate love, are not my real life unless there is time alone in which to explore and to discover what is happening or has happened, Without the interruptions, nourishing and maddening, this life would become arid. Yet I taste it fully only when I am alone....". - May Sarton.

I've been working in the courtyard since 7 this morning. There is a soft breeze and the air is loaded with the fragrance of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. It's far too beautiful to go inside to tap out my blog post so I'm sitting right here, sipping coffee, ruminating and jotting down my thoughts in a notebook. I have the dogs at my feet to keep me company and a lone monkey sunning herself on the roof.

M left for the Transkei in the early hours. He helps a friend with his fishing safari business and they are taking clients to the Wild Coast for a week long South African adventure. The one client, out from Germany, loved the last trip so much that he booked 2 years in advance. He can't understand a word of English (besides fish) and my husband can't understand a word of German (besides strudel) ...and yet they get on like a house on fire.

Happy client snoozing after a long morning of fishing.

At the moment my home is quiet and I am enjoying the silence and the solitude. The other day I was labelled a loner simply because I like to be quiet and contemplative when I create my art. It's a sacred time for me. Not only is it therapeutic but it's also my means of making a living.There's a quote I relate to very well by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

"What a commentary on civilization, when being alone is being suspect; when one has to apologize for it, make excuses, hide the fact that one practices it - like a secret vice."

As I work on "Nature's Child" I recognize in her, so many bloggers that I chat to. Those who love to collect nature's detritus whilst wandering . Gentle folk who share an affinity with the creatures around us. I'm connecting with my art more now then ever, perhaps because I am allowing myself to flow into the art.

BTW, Don Madden has given me a very generous mention on his blog. He and his wife Susan share their love for arting and crafting and what I love about the two of them is that they go off on art retreats together, usually different courses but common venues and then converge later to share their experiences. How wonderful is that?

CONTEMPLATION

Contemplating my garden before rushing off to a birthday lunch.

I've been doing a lot of that lately. Contemplating. Not that I have too much time on my hands. On the contrary, I'm brimming with ideas (love this feeling!) and am busy working on a totem that grips me.......for today at least.

I was sitting outside under my meditation tree, thinking how much I am enjoying the art I am creating now. For me that is amazing because I'm constantly sliding from one extreme to the other. Love it.....hate it...... not too bad......brilliant?......love it.....hate it. Today or all weekend actually, I feel totally content.

I am exactly where I want to be at this stage of my life. Creating the art I have always wanted to do but have put off in the past because of the need to churn out quick money spinners. What a waste of time because the work I'm doing now is actually just as lucrative and I'm far happier doing it. If only I had had the guts to start sooner. I woke up one morning and it hit me (quite hard in fact) that life was passing me by and that if I wasn't careful it would be too late to create the work I have always hankered to do. That was a big wake up call.

Grinding stone which I use as a bird bath. They are still used in the rural areas to grind corn.

For more information on the Southern African cycad situation see http://www.swazi.com/people/cycad/cycadhome.html

ROBERT SLINGSBY

I love the work of Robert Slingsby. From his detailed paintings inspired by San petroglyphs and his sculptures created from found objects......to the amazing log cabin he built for his family at the edge of the Bokkemanskloof forest in South Africa.

He built it from scratch, one log at a time, with very little 'know how'. It sits between woodland and megalithic rocks ......some of these rocks being incorporated into the house.

I mentioned breeder ideas in an earlier post. One can see that one of Slingsby's breeder ideas revolves around suitcases, luggage passing through scanners, customs at airports and the current state of heightened security. Last year he held an exhibition entitled 'Clearing Customs'.




"I was at Heathrow, feeling weighed down, fatigued … jet lagged, and it struck me how utterly vulnerable and violated we are under this constant surveillance and how normal it has become to be constantly invaded at these places of flux" recalls Slingsby. "I also had the feeling of excess, of a surfeit of stuff that we carry with us, not only in terms of physical luggage, but of psychological baggage."

To see more of Slingsby's work go to www.slingsby.co.za/. His latest paintings include modern iconography pertaining to city life but they are also reminiscent of the San petroglyphs that inspired his earlier work.

POTTERING

A book I thoroughly enjoyed reading is Fools Gold by Susan G Woolridge. In fact I read it on the beach in between pottering. It is quite the most surprising book (in an AHA! sense) that I have read in a long time.

Woolridge shares her "journey from loss and grief to a return of wholeness and joy".  As part of her healing process she began making a small collage box each day with the "treasure" she found on her walks. As a fellow forager myself this idea really appeals to me. Its something most people can't help doing when they're out in nature. In our family we call it pottering. "Where's mum?" "Oh she's off pottering."

Susan Woolridge is a poet and a great believer in the healing powers of journaling.  She writes "There's something I need to discover here and I don't know where it will take me. Bringing my journal alive in small boxes feels like uncharted territory, a new world of possibility for me." and thus she made the decision to create a box collage of her daily finds every day for a year.

Instead of making a collage a day I have been photographing my finds  (see photo above). I've brought home bags and bags of rocks from all over South Africa. They languish in my garden and whenever I look at them I remember those long walks and endless hours pottering in rock pools.

Some time back I wrote Nina Bagley's poem, "Gathering" into my quote book because it describes so perfectly what it is to be a gatherer. I asked her if I could post it here and she graciously  emailed the photograph and poem as it appeared on her blog.

"What matters,

Is the gathering,

the pockets filled with remnants

of a day evaporated, the traces of

certain memory, a lingering smell,

a smile that came with the shell."

Aah, bliss! If there is anyone who doesn't know Nina's blog, do yourself a favour and visit http://ornamental.typepad.com/ornamental/ . Her writing hits the spot and her jewellery is amazing. Many people enjoy the way she thinks and expresses herself. I wish she would write a book!

THE FIVE STAGES OF CREATIVE EXPANSION

All artwork by Anahata Katkin.


I have two hobby horses that I expound on whenever the opportunity arises. The one is the healing powers of art and the other is creative blocks and how one works through them. Whenever anyone mentions that they are experiencing a block I suggest that they read Anahata Katkin's Five Stages of Creative Expansion.

I suffered a five year block and those years were the most frustrating, stagnant years of my life. When I finally made a breakthrough it was because of many factors. One of them being Anahata's Five Stages. The moment I put them into practice I could feel a shift in my attitude towards art making. Anahata has happily agreed to my posting her Five Stages here.

The Five Stages of Creative Expansion by Anahata Katkin

Stage One: BLOOM

I generally have a BlOOM stage where I can easily get engaged and enjoy the process immensely. I feel impulsive and guided to an extent and at this point my mind gets excited and interested in the project. It’s a time of gathering, contemplating, enjoyment, eagerness and play. Materials come easily and there is a general wellbeing about the artwork.

Stage Two RESISTANCE:

Then suddenly I hit a place where I have maximized that stage and I hit that RESISTANCE. Resistance will occur naturally in the first third of the project. And I believe it lives the strongest for about 30 minutes at a time. Learn to expect it. Do not be surprised when you suddenly hit the edge of your process. It is Real for everyone. The voice of reason is loud, convincing and intense. It can show up in the form of boredom, disinterest, frustration, tiredness comparing & exaggerated mental chatter about your artwork. Now I have recognized it’s value and realize that I have to work in spite of that voice. It is crucial during the resistance phase that you keep on working! The more you pause and stop working the more power and habit you provide to the resistance. Most people stop right here and don’t usually push further. To me this is the definition of an artist. Artist will work through this stage. The desire to create wills us into a new part of our brains. Away from that chatter. At this point try your best to observe the critic without reacting to it. Your critic will have some good ideas if you ask yourself questions like: How can I solve this visual question? What is it I don’t like and what flashes into my mind as solutions? That should be the extent of the power you offer your resistance. The resistance only signals that you have hit the edge of your creative breath. And when this happens it simply shows you that it is time for a new strategy or another creative inhalation.

Stage Three PING PONG:

And that’s when I like to PING PONG between materials. Being that I am focusing on mixed media artwork and that is primarily how I like to create we have an added advantage.When I reach my resistance phase or in a sense a place of critical mass, I bounce to a new material and a new perspective. Drop your current medium and pick up a new one. The trick seems to be to move even more quickly and impulsively at this point. Remember your critic will be trying to gain power but by using your impulsive instincts you learn to tame the critic faster. With Ping Ponging you can gain a real momentum in the artwork and trick your brain into a new place. Change your focus from the main image perhaps to the border. Lay down some charcoal in border areas, switch to fine pointed pen details or doodling for a little bit. Anything that will hone your intuitive creative eye and switch your perspective up. It's a game of hide and seek with that deep genetic voice that has generations of creative hurdles to overcome. Practice step two and step three EVERY TIME you create anything. It is a lifelong skill that will serve your creativity every time.

Stage Four FULL EXPRESSION:

My high school art teacher told me once that the moments when you return to a piece of artwork after a period of struggle is the most supreme moment in the creative process. I have never forgotten that and it has been a great discovery every day. During the resistance part of your process I believe it creates a kind of artistic vacuum. A puddle of skill and life force builds up behind all of that resistance. Because while you are resisting you are also asking from within yourself to be able to fully express yourself. And once the resistance is released all of that good stuff comes shooting in with a rocket of ability and artistic expression. And this place generally feels good and easy. Music sounds sweeter, the project seems to be coming together, you've found your groove. Your body is able to move along with the brush. It’s the cream of the process and it’s what we all look for as artists. This is the juicy stuff that makes people connect with our work in the future. It is that silent expansion that will always be locked into a piece of art and available for all people to connect with.

Stage Five COMPLETION:

I often find that I might experience the first couple of stages again before I am ready for completion. Depending on the scope of the project this can happen many times. But at some point there will be a refining, a detail time. I find at this point I have an open dialogue between myself and the artwork. I understand the piece more and the direction of it. I work on the details of colour and patterns. Pen designs and finishing touches. I generally know I am there by the slowing down quality. The desire to fuss over it like a christmas tree and fresh tinsel. I jeep wanting to see the piece through fresh eyes. That's when I know it's finished.

Journal pages by Anahata Katkin.

To see Anahata's blog and more of her amazing art go to http://anahata.typepad.com/my_weblog/

SECRET PORTALS

In Africa there are secret portals where objects used for rituals and ceremonies are hidden. Some sacred objects are viewed only by those who have the proper rank and knowledge to do so. I carved these doors with secret portals in mind..... pondering about treasures that are kept hidden behind closed doors.

Ancient scrolls are hidden in small Axumite chapels nestled in caves high above the earth. The Tabot (representation of the Ark of the Covenent) is said to be hidden in an Ethiopian monastery and guarded around the clock.

For centuries ancient manuscripts have been kept secret in Timbuktu. Recently archaeologists, archivists and treasure hunters have been pouring into Mali hoping to excavate volumes buried in desert caves and underground chambers. There have been amazing discoveries. Suddenly the world is taking interest and are wanting to help save the manuscripts before it is too late.

"Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

THE DIALOGUE BEGINS

My first thought when I wake in the morning is, what will I create today? Art is the way I express myself. It creates a mind space where I feel most like Me.

I carve tall, wooden totems which "speak" of ancient tribes living close to nature. Tribes guided by seasonal changes, the fauna and flora and ancient legends which are handed down from one generation to the next. Tribes from an unknown land or lost civilization. Almost African but not quite.

My hope for this blog is for it to be an oasis of all things arty. What inspires me to create and what inspires all artists to do what they do. Favourite artists, books, quotations, internet links, ideas, tips, themes and different types of art, different mediums.....you name it, as long as it is art propelled.