So lovely to read - thank you ! And for the poem which I didn’t know and is just perfect. The way you write about your practice is so inspiring and your paintings are just beautiful. On a personal note I am reminded daily of my own repeated routines as my dogs constantly anticipate me - they know where I’m going and when before I do !
Isn’t it just a perfect poem? It was shared with me by the artist Victoria Crowe, whose work I wrote about a few weeks ago. I hadn’t come across it before then even though I have a big fat volume of “collected Works of Kathleen Raine - it’s not included there, so I must ask Victoria where she found it!
I thought nothing could move me as much as your painting 'Haar', which has a place in my heart, my foggy old haar-t. But 'West' made me gasp and I write through the blur of tears. I think it looks like the moment that creation began. So very lovely.
Very beautiful, Samantha. Some years ago I stood at sunset on a rocky peak in the great deserts far West of Alice Springs. In the West, the fierce sun grew briefly tame, and then was swallowed by the Earth, while in the East a full moon rose, enormous in the dry desert silence, bathing the land in a soft and soothing light. We overlook the everyday - in the cycles of the world and in our own busy lives - but yes, every detail can be profound. Kathleen Raine is a wonderful Poet. I had not previously seen this poem though.
Thank you for sharing that incredible moment David. It was the artist Victoria Crowe who shared this poem with me, but I must ask her where it's oringially published, as It's not in the Collected Poems volume I have. It's a beauty though.
Your subtitle expands Heraclitus' observation that we can't step into the same river twice by reminding us we aren't even the same person when we do. Double WOW!
How very moving, your standing between sun setting and moon rising, the felt “rightness” of repeating rhythms and patterns, the spin of the earth moving ever on, those paintings, that poem. Brought me to tears. Grateful, Samantha. xo
Your share about a crucial variation in the pattern— yes! That variation is us. Our individual will-force and our *particular* (pattern-connected) experience combined with the work of our particular art. I once had a professor who said that there are no new stories. Just new tellers.
I think she was 99.9% right. But crucially it is that 0.1% portion of difference that can create the variation that results in a new story — not only in art, but in life. “A place that is within time and yet transcends it.” therefore has two meanings— it transcends it not only spiritually , as implied, but *materially* by being new and more complex and authentic than ever before — and helping us be that too.
Your work is true and evokes thought and emotions. I pray for better suns better futures with emotionally and mentally astute and woke self-loving watchers.
Yes, you put it so well Angel. It's like the 'growth equation', a simple iterative mathematical function that repeats with the tiniest variations each time. As these tiny shifts compound through repetition, the incredibly complex and marvellous forms of natural growth emerge.
I loved hearing you read that poem -what a treat! Thank you. Often, when looking at the sky and clouds I think of how unique they are never to return. Your photo of path looking towards sunset really moved me...i dont know? Beautiful.
you write - and paint - so beautifully. Your land, sea and sky is so inspiring - thank you for sharing it with us - Im so glad to have discovered your inspirational Life Boat to a moment of calm and beauty. Im still struggling to rekindle my creativity and this is helping.
Lovely words and beautiful pictures. I really like how you capture that moment of being caught between, below and on celestial bodies, which are also going through their own cycles and repetitions. Thank you for mentioning my post.
So lovely to read - thank you ! And for the poem which I didn’t know and is just perfect. The way you write about your practice is so inspiring and your paintings are just beautiful. On a personal note I am reminded daily of my own repeated routines as my dogs constantly anticipate me - they know where I’m going and when before I do !
Isn’t it just a perfect poem? It was shared with me by the artist Victoria Crowe, whose work I wrote about a few weeks ago. I hadn’t come across it before then even though I have a big fat volume of “collected Works of Kathleen Raine - it’s not included there, so I must ask Victoria where she found it!
I thought nothing could move me as much as your painting 'Haar', which has a place in my heart, my foggy old haar-t. But 'West' made me gasp and I write through the blur of tears. I think it looks like the moment that creation began. So very lovely.
Barbara, I think that's the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said about my work. Thank you, to your heart, from the bottom of my heart.
Very beautiful, Samantha. Some years ago I stood at sunset on a rocky peak in the great deserts far West of Alice Springs. In the West, the fierce sun grew briefly tame, and then was swallowed by the Earth, while in the East a full moon rose, enormous in the dry desert silence, bathing the land in a soft and soothing light. We overlook the everyday - in the cycles of the world and in our own busy lives - but yes, every detail can be profound. Kathleen Raine is a wonderful Poet. I had not previously seen this poem though.
Thank you for sharing that incredible moment David. It was the artist Victoria Crowe who shared this poem with me, but I must ask her where it's oringially published, as It's not in the Collected Poems volume I have. It's a beauty though.
Your subtitle expands Heraclitus' observation that we can't step into the same river twice by reminding us we aren't even the same person when we do. Double WOW!
How very moving, your standing between sun setting and moon rising, the felt “rightness” of repeating rhythms and patterns, the spin of the earth moving ever on, those paintings, that poem. Brought me to tears. Grateful, Samantha. xo
Oh Carmine, this is high praise indeed. Thank you so much for your attentive reading.
The repetition of ordinary things. It's holy. It keeps us grounded. Thank you for this lovely reflection.
Re photo: what is the glowing, green orb?
A sprite? Or maybe just the iPhone lens flare!
Your share about a crucial variation in the pattern— yes! That variation is us. Our individual will-force and our *particular* (pattern-connected) experience combined with the work of our particular art. I once had a professor who said that there are no new stories. Just new tellers.
I think she was 99.9% right. But crucially it is that 0.1% portion of difference that can create the variation that results in a new story — not only in art, but in life. “A place that is within time and yet transcends it.” therefore has two meanings— it transcends it not only spiritually , as implied, but *materially* by being new and more complex and authentic than ever before — and helping us be that too.
Your work is true and evokes thought and emotions. I pray for better suns better futures with emotionally and mentally astute and woke self-loving watchers.
Yes, you put it so well Angel. It's like the 'growth equation', a simple iterative mathematical function that repeats with the tiniest variations each time. As these tiny shifts compound through repetition, the incredibly complex and marvellous forms of natural growth emerge.
I loved hearing you read that poem -what a treat! Thank you. Often, when looking at the sky and clouds I think of how unique they are never to return. Your photo of path looking towards sunset really moved me...i dont know? Beautiful.
Kathleen Raine deserves to be a much better known poet, I think.
"West" is a joy to behold. Such an emotional piece for me.
Thank you Martin!
you write - and paint - so beautifully. Your land, sea and sky is so inspiring - thank you for sharing it with us - Im so glad to have discovered your inspirational Life Boat to a moment of calm and beauty. Im still struggling to rekindle my creativity and this is helping.
I am so glad to hear this Jaine. May your creativity become your own life boat, helping you stay buoyant.
Lovely words and beautiful pictures. I really like how you capture that moment of being caught between, below and on celestial bodies, which are also going through their own cycles and repetitions. Thank you for mentioning my post.
A pleasure Richard. I loved discovering the music you shared, now added to my own playlist!