Capturing a state of mind...

A two hour car journey, heading to Germany...a captured moment reflecting a current sentiment; finally a breakthrough of clarity through this jumbled confusion I have been experiencing... through transit emerges lots of questions, reflections, doubts... and sometimes clarity.

Glamorous solitude...

Inspiration always seems to hit at the most awkward of times...such as on a lone winter night's walk home from town...where the passing traffic, the distant rush of trains and the swift sway of tree branches invites the mind to drift, memories to flood and reflection to flourish. And, of course, where paper and pen are absent...

Another Friday night spent alone...not out of lack of trying to find enthusiasts to join me in an evening of vernissages and emerging art creations throughout the city. I can't complain as I did bump into one or two people I knew... but you know, the kind of situation where you know them through someone else so you don't quite feel justified to call them 'your friend' and they hardly consider asking you to join them for a drink... after all, you're 'so-and-so's' friend, not theirs. Anyhow... venturing in my own company in and out of galleries and artistic spaces, I realised the following:
I have friends in New York, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Canada, London, Newscastle, Wales and Paris. All very glamorous indeed... But is it really? As while I have friends in these fabulous locations, how many do I have here? I remain with few to none at home... or the place I identify as home.

The glamour of travelling and living abroad soon wears when you suddenly realise that it is quite a solitary thing. This thought reminded me of what a guest artist mentioned in a class of mine; she was talking about the concept of mobility; always moving. And while few agreed – I really related to her comment that the excitement of travel and move into the unknown soon diffuses into a certain sentiment of solitude. She was discussing how travel is in fact a very solitary experience, and the glamour and ideology of it can soon become lonesome. After all, you're always leaving someone, somewhere, something behind... and some things are irreplacable.

Mood du jour: Fed up

There are days like that. We are fed up. May it be called the blues or getting up on the wrong side of the bed… in the end, it doesn’t matter. We are just tired and have had enough.

From the moment that we wake up, nothing is right. To begin; we didn’t hear the alarm clock so we get up late. We feel rushed so we go onto ‘speed’ mode; we hurry ourselves to get dressed; we hastily do our hair: we try to grab a quick bite to eat (although some mornings we don’t even have the time); we quickly brush our teeth; grab our stuff and swiftly head for the door to find ourselves sure of having forgotten something but unsure what. Then we run to catch the bus and there, due to the morning madness, we hesitate in our memory as to whether we did actually lock the door or not. And all this – even before stepping into work, where we have a niggling feeling that things are not going to be better.
This is not intended to be a rant, but surely most us have experienced such mornings… it seems that in this modern 21st century society, it is somewhat inevitable that we experience this at one point or another.
However… in the course of the day… there may be a moment amongst the clouded chaos, solitude and fatigue, where a glimmer of sunlight appears (literally or metaphorically) that lifts our spirits and temporarily transports us to another dimension; a more peaceful and pleasant dimension away from the stress and worries. We allow ourselves a few seconds to indulge in this other universe... to think that tomorrow is another day, and perhaps a better day…

...in transit...

...nothing like a cup of tea to start the day