CREATIVITY IS BREWING

Glorious, glorious morning!

Hot frothy Ethiopian coffee. Early sunshine warming the step where I sit contemplating the day ahead.

Sounds of water rushing down stream. Though out of sight it is my constant lullaby. Loeries fly between the trees calling for their mates. Monkeys watch silently from deep within the wild fig tree, waiting and hoping a door will be left unattended.

For me it's a day for developing ideas! Having completed my last carving on the weekend, I'm paging through books and sketching ideas with a bubbly feeling of anticipation, knowing that the whole day lies open to play. Creativity is brewing!

..........Oh and Hubby is home from his fishing trip. Fresh Shad for supper!

SPIRIT TAKING FORM

I've been reading Spirit Taking Form by Nancy Azara and at the moment I'm enjoying the chapter on Visual Diaries. Azara speaks of the workshops she used to run called Consciousness-Raising, Visual Diaries, Artmaking. A group of women gathered weekly to discuss topics relevant to women such as the essence of birth, life as a woman, the traditional ways of working, crafting and arting etc. During these sessions each person would draw and doodle in a personal diary while listening to the discussions, making visual conversations , using colours, signs, symbols, shapes, marks and "primitive" drawings. These drawings were personal diary entries to be shared only if one chose to share.

"It was thrilling to be part of their discovery" writes Azara "I watched women change their processes, many returning to art after years of being stuck. Others shifted gears and made more authentic images. We drew and made collages, built up pages in our books, and made substantial and powerful diaries." "In these books were new visions, ideas, ways of seeing - shadows from the past".

Hickory with hands - by Nancy Azara. Carved and painted wood with gold leaf and encaustic.


She goes on to suggest incorporating these diaries into daily life, keeping a blank notebook at hand and markers and crayons or whatever else takes ones fancy to record feelings and happenings by means of images.


Leaf Alter for Nunzia - by Nancy Azara. Carved and stained cedar plank with aluminum leaf.

Joan Arbeiter, one of the first participants in the workshops, writes that her visual diaries were made from the "stuff of my ordinary daily life. Mundane notions such as shopping lists, appointments, and phone numbers were used along with philisophical commentary, overheard bits of dialogue, and other sayings that came my way. These words were often grouped into shapes that 'read' as images along with doodles, designs , and sketches. It was in fact soon after the workshop that I began to integrate these ideas into my own large format paintings and drawings".

Although I don't belong to a discussion group I think I have been doing something similar whilst having long phone conversations or listening to audio books. While my mind is engaged with the discussion my hand creates intricate designs which are often intriguing. Abstract doodles, created without interference from my inner critic. These I tear out and glue in my journal where I sometimes develop them further. As Azara experienced, I am coming back to the same forms over and over again. I suppose it's a way of discovering one's own personal symbolism or art vocabulary.

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for." - Georgia O'Keeffe

www.nancyazara.com/

A PERFECT DAY

Another perfect Autumn day. All is quiet except for the rushing stream, a Wagtail calling for company and the rythmic sound of chisel slicing through wood.

"I have visited this quietude before but I often forget that it is a subtle fertile healing place that offers up new ideas and insights." - Shelley Klammer

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.

TIM HAWKINSON

I discovered the fascinating work of Tim Hawkinson via http://foundobject.squarespace.com/ .

This piece is called Sweet Tweet. Isn't it charming? But not all of his works are as innocent and whimsical as this one. There is also a tiny "Bird" which looks fascinating until you realize it is made of finger nail pairings. Very clever though.

To see more go to http://www.acegallery.net/artistmenu.php?pageNum_ACE=2&totalRows_ACE=99&Artist=1

HAPPINESS IS !

"To fill the hour and leave no crevice....that is happiness." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Aaahhhh, to get the weight off my feet for five minutes! I have been working like a trojan for the past three days and though I'm not finished yet I am beginning to feel bone weary. Nothing like sipping a mug of coffee on the step at the end of the day while contemplating my days achievements.


My yen for said cup of coffee came only a few minutes before a scheduled power outage, so off I went skidding into the kitchen to switch the kettle on. I beat the clock by the skin of my teeth and it was the best cup of coffee I've had in days!


We are having daily load shedding here in South Africa and it will probably continue until 2015....or so they say. Because there has been no maintenance for the past ten years, each time the power is switched on or off something blows (...like a power station....) which means the power is off for much longer than scheduled. Some areas in Durban have been out for five days.....so I shouldn't complain. Though we all feel like pulling our hair out it's something we have to get used to or end up going round the twist. In the mean time I celebrate making my cuppa in the nick of time!

Tomorrow I hope to put the finishing touches to my panels but it usually takes a few weeks of tinkering before I'm completely satisfied. By then there should be verdigris appearing on the brass fittings and a lot more rust on the bolts and arrowheads. My husband made them and presented them to me with a flourish...."See I can be useful when I apply myself!"

"Of the craftsmen it may be said that in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer". - Found inscribed over a doorway at Westminster Abbey.

DOGON CREATION MYTH

This is my interpretation of the Dogon creation myth. I carved the three panels several years ago and have repeated the theme many times over.

In Dogon mythology the world was likened to a granary, divided into compartments to hold the people, animals and seeds that God planned to send down to earth. The first granary came tumbling down from heaven on a rainbow, having been loosened from it's riggings by a bolt of lightening. It crashed to the earth, splitting open on impact and the contents scattered across the land. Seeds began to take root and man settled where the millet grew best. Thus, life on earth began.

There are many more details to this myth which I won't go into here because they would fill a book but I will share some of the background and symbolism in the panels that I've created.

The meaning behind the animals, colours, patterns and symbols differ slightly from country to country in Africa.

~The God on horseback (middle panel) is named Nomo. He is guardian of the earth and there are many stories told about him.

~The horse was the first animal to leave the granary and it signifies power and chieftanship.

~The leopard is equated with the ruler because both are dangerous and powerful.

~The hornbill which is perched on the roof in the end panel signifies the continuance of man. He is also mediator between heaven and earth and he will transfer the dead to the other side.

~The snake encircles the earth to keep the oceans from flowing away or the people from falling off.

~The union between God and Earth produced sacred twins. It is believed that gods are born in pairs.

~The black and white check pattern represents the separation of dark from light, good from evil, ignorance from knowledge and male from female.

~The zig zag patterns signify the path of the ancestors.

There's so much more to each image than meets the eye. African mythology is mysterious and exciting and gives me a reason to be passionate about what I do. 

This dogon granary is being filled with millet. A third person climbed through the top door and is inside stacking the millet. This photograph belongs to Hugo. See more of his photos on Flickr, here.