The other day I thought "Mondrian". And as I sat to write today it came back…

 At the same time, this very morning, I mapped out my family story project "the family forest" as if it was a patchwork quilt.

The quilt/grid I mapped out by hand had 24. 4 rows, 6 columns. I have perhaps 6-7 in various stages of completion at the moment. I have this sense that I am sewing them up into little patches, each that can look nice/be viewed/heard on their own, in their own right, too. Like a holon.

And in time, I suppose, there will be a whole quilt. A multimedia quilt. But something rendered in fabric nonetheless…And there are two of Mondrian’s images for me as I searched. An early work, his tree series. Above and near the end. (source) And the later one, below, that we are more familiar with.

There is quite a lot of time between the two works…between 1908 & 1935

Time…

I am learning to be a bit more fair with myself in relation to time time - on myself and it. A conversation with Vardi reinforced a shift for me to make "from sprint to marathon". My grandparents echo "the slower you walk the further you go…". Another quote, this time overhearing George Lucas say re: the making of Star Wars "I need to love a project - it takes 2-3 years to complete,  4-5 before it gets made…". I remember thinking aloud "years?!".

I guess I will be learning patience the next years…

 
Time plays it’s own games. Stories too. The other day a new friend, Amit, thinking around a 10min story that I had told him, "that was ten minutes? it didn’t feel that long…" He went on to reflect on the time of telling vs the time of story. Story time is different time. And yet you feel strangely rested there - both as teller and listener…

I have had the opportunity to reflect on the years, especially the last three,  as I write the introduction for a storytelling edition of a journal Anne (via Marge) gave me the gift of editing. With a slightly longer lens, things make a bit more sense. Decisions and my past look less confused. I am still hopeful. I am still playing in mud. I do still feel lost. I do still get negative. I crave new things for the year to come. Around story. Around creating. Around using my hands in my work. And my voice. And working with people, with others to create things that can be shared. Enjoyed. And seeing some books and things I have written and made shared more widely. Published etc. Doing something with my storytelling…well these are some of the things that are shimmering. Things are already shifting. A new year looms.

…And also trust. Trusting. Intending and trusting…And having fun and delighting in the process.

I am feeling the need for images at the moment. Images and nature. A walk in the park the other day bought my under a gum tree remembering May Gibb’s gumnut babies…I am seeing how important it is to move, and  breath, in nature spaces. And how different I feel when I play with my work via machines - my computer phone etc - vs my voice and my hands (paper writing down, clay, oral telling etc). Again, balance. And playing…I am craving the human…And yet I wonder what is human these days?

So many thoughts. And with thanks to some wonderful gifts, the opportunity to reflect around them. To share them. And thanks to you, eyes and ears, people, to share them with!

Wishing you time for reflection and space for rest. And as we move towards a new sun calendar year, wonderful stories unfolding for your new year, too!  

This entry was posted on Monday, December 24th, 2007 at 3:14 pm and is filed under art, creativity, musings, quotes, walk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.