Impressions in this enlightened age
Dear Monty,
I confess to untidiness - a lack of neatness - I notice that you have relaxed a bit too Monty. Perhaps it was enforced by the death of hedges, and sometimes it takes death or disaster to move us on, to accept and then to live with the consequences.
Our destructive nature is yet again being illustrated - played out in the world - our world - this better world ?
15/7/14 Frustration melts - the garden absorbs me - time becomes timeless.
17/7/14 Death and terror - shock and awe ? - Hatred of our enemies. Has anyone ever achieved the love of their enemies, if ever there was a time for such a thing - it is now and forever will be. Are we really capable of creating paradise on earth ? Lasting peace ?
'Blessed are the peacemakers - for they shall see God'
18/7/14 Community - does community die with an increase in our individual standard of living ? Internet communities thrive, but to try and get people to work together in the 'real world' is so much more of a challenge. Was there ever a 'Utopia' ? Life has always been full of troubles. We strive for Utopia but in order to build it it may mean the loss of individuality and this seems to be the point of tension. To be connected with one another we would have to be of one mind. Any community is flawed for that reason, whether it is a community of gardeners, farmers, artists, priests, congregations, children.
Community gardens like any other form of community or group will always have disagreements as well as concord. So does that mean we give up ? Gardens can bind minds as well as bend them ! Tribalism is a fact of life and I am as guilty of it as the next person - it seems inbuilt - hardwired, and it is hard to overcome, but in order to live and work together we have to keep fighting for peace.
I favour a particular style of garden, but it is just that - a preference - a leaning, but it could become a conviction which then by its nature becomes exclusive. I love art, poetry, music, philosophy and faith - which means my garden and my paintings reflect that. I used to be obsessive about weeds both in the 'lawn' and borders - but now I have relaxed and now edit instead of erradicate, and even tolerate. If someone who prefers pristine grass, clean edges and colourful flowers came here they would baulk.
We can find like minds and build communities but they can become ghettos or sanctuaries depending on your view.
20/7/14 Nowhere new to go so we go back, we revisit. I am in awe of J.M.W.Turner and the painters in France who became labeled 'Impressionists'. Out of fashion for a season, the way they captured moments of light and colour still grips me. This morning the early light back-lit the garden from the terrace (patio!). It was the light that embraced me. It was warm, bright , dancing and alive - joined with rowan berries forming in the trees below us - the crow calling from the oak - the peacock on the hill behind us eeee - auing and a red kite wheeling in the powder blue and clouded sky.
This is Ystalyfera ! This is mining country, this is where the earth was raped in order to fuel the industrial revolution and with it bring those higher standards of living we live today - which we seem so unsatisfied with.
Paul.
I confess to untidiness - a lack of neatness - I notice that you have relaxed a bit too Monty. Perhaps it was enforced by the death of hedges, and sometimes it takes death or disaster to move us on, to accept and then to live with the consequences.
Our destructive nature is yet again being illustrated - played out in the world - our world - this better world ?
15/7/14 Frustration melts - the garden absorbs me - time becomes timeless.
17/7/14 Death and terror - shock and awe ? - Hatred of our enemies. Has anyone ever achieved the love of their enemies, if ever there was a time for such a thing - it is now and forever will be. Are we really capable of creating paradise on earth ? Lasting peace ?
'Blessed are the peacemakers - for they shall see God'
18/7/14 Community - does community die with an increase in our individual standard of living ? Internet communities thrive, but to try and get people to work together in the 'real world' is so much more of a challenge. Was there ever a 'Utopia' ? Life has always been full of troubles. We strive for Utopia but in order to build it it may mean the loss of individuality and this seems to be the point of tension. To be connected with one another we would have to be of one mind. Any community is flawed for that reason, whether it is a community of gardeners, farmers, artists, priests, congregations, children.
Community gardens like any other form of community or group will always have disagreements as well as concord. So does that mean we give up ? Gardens can bind minds as well as bend them ! Tribalism is a fact of life and I am as guilty of it as the next person - it seems inbuilt - hardwired, and it is hard to overcome, but in order to live and work together we have to keep fighting for peace.
I favour a particular style of garden, but it is just that - a preference - a leaning, but it could become a conviction which then by its nature becomes exclusive. I love art, poetry, music, philosophy and faith - which means my garden and my paintings reflect that. I used to be obsessive about weeds both in the 'lawn' and borders - but now I have relaxed and now edit instead of erradicate, and even tolerate. If someone who prefers pristine grass, clean edges and colourful flowers came here they would baulk.
We can find like minds and build communities but they can become ghettos or sanctuaries depending on your view.
20/7/14 Nowhere new to go so we go back, we revisit. I am in awe of J.M.W.Turner and the painters in France who became labeled 'Impressionists'. Out of fashion for a season, the way they captured moments of light and colour still grips me. This morning the early light back-lit the garden from the terrace (patio!). It was the light that embraced me. It was warm, bright , dancing and alive - joined with rowan berries forming in the trees below us - the crow calling from the oak - the peacock on the hill behind us eeee - auing and a red kite wheeling in the powder blue and clouded sky.
This is Ystalyfera ! This is mining country, this is where the earth was raped in order to fuel the industrial revolution and with it bring those higher standards of living we live today - which we seem so unsatisfied with.
I go back to what I have - the curiosity of the explorers of light and colour. I would so much like to make an impression of a scene - to relive the moment. I will get on and paint, both in the garden with loppers and secateurs and with plants. In my small back room I pretentiously call a studio - I will slap plaster and paint on canvas in hope that it will reflect my recent journey to the sea, the way back to the rock.
Paul.
Light, light - it is all about light. The garden is a harvester of light. Capture it!
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Yes! Now to the challenge! X
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