Sunday 14th July

"Close your nose & jump in with both feet."

That’s what I did for my first Art Residence At Home today.
I made a schedule and it proved to work. Here are some of the activities I did today:

1 Making a labyrinth. (9 till 12)

When I made the silver Ammonite and posted it on my facebook page, Lidwine sent me a private message about the deeper meaning of spirals. Included was a beautiful video about the primordial spiral. In giving this inspiration a place I thought of drawing a labyrinth. Like a spiral it goes inward and helps with focusing your energy. 

I decided to draw the labyrinth on the floor of our recently rebuild shed. With several colours I drew in chalk a small version of the Chartres labyrinth. In essence the same, only smaller. Mine measures 7 meters in diameter. Pretty cool.

You can find more pictures on my google page.

I started with placing the nail, then measuring the rope for the outer circle. It was an excellent start of my retreat. Working on the labyrinth put me in the right state of mind. I got focused and quiet. I intend on walking the maze everyday just for getting my mind to quiet down.

Small Chartres chalk maze.

2 Lunch-break

During my lunch break, from 12 till 13u, I read. When you are in an art residence you encounter other artist. In talking with them you get inspired by their visions and motivations. There is actually no replacement for this but I found a solution: Reading The Power of Myth, a conversation between Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers. For a project later this week I want to research myth related stories.  Having it in conversation form feels like “listening”.

3 Porcelain clay

In the afternoon I started with the first session of clay “digging”.

For now only a small sample...

A few samples of porcelain clay tests, quick & dirty.

 

The first day was all about setting the tone.
It was a relief that my layout worked more or less. You can plan, but when you actually start working, you know if it’s good.  For tomorrow I will have to start typing earlier. It feels like I have not enough time.

Next read: Day 2

 

This is the first day of Helga's Summer Art Residence At Home. Previous posts are: - Making plans for a creative workweek - Preparations for Art Residence At Home Click this link to subscribe for the newsletter to follow me in my endeavour.