Walk in the Wind

The adventure with the yellow twine didn’t work out too well yesterday. It kept getting blown away and tangled up.  Plus I was visited by the local sheep. The “teenage” lambs insisted on trying to eat my string and bags – and at one point I had to rush up to the road to rescue my car, where I found one of them happily munching on my indicator light.

Resorting to Plan B, I laid out the labyrinth with short sticks, which was good because it allowed me to judge the type and quantity I will need for my event next month.  Here’s the result, with me walking round immediately after I had finished work.  As far as I remember, it was just on 1pm. Apologies for the poor quality video – it was done on my little stills camera.

World Labyrinth Day

Classical labyrinth (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tomorrow it is World Labyrinth Day. I wasn’t going to do anything about it, but suddenly, just an hour or two ago, I had the idea that I might be able to contribute to this annual event initiated by The Labyrinth Society, and at the same time do something useful towards a labyrinth event I am planning for next month, here in Devon. I have left it rather late to register officially, so it is going to be a casual unplanned sort of thing.

The Labyrinth Society’s mission is to support all those who create, maintain and use labyrinths, and they have a fascinating and comprehensive website including a research section and a world-wide labyrinth locator.

World Labyrinth Day is celebrated every year on the First Saturday in May, when people from all over the world join in walking labyrinths at the same time on the same day for the good of all.  The idea is for everyone to walk at 1pm in their own time zone, with the intention of spreading harmony and peace. Walk as One at 1.

For my own particular event in June, I have to try to work out roughly how may small twigs and sticks I will need to lay out a good-sized seven-track labyrinth . “Aha”, I thought, “I shall lay one out with string. Then I should be able to see how much string can be covered with one sackful of twigs, and just multiply… “

I am sure there are easier ways of doing this job. Some people are good at mathematics, some people are good at measuring and calculating… but what I am good at is crawling around on the ground with large quantities of string and sacks full of sticks.

So tomorrow morning I shall set off with bags full of thick yellow twine and maybe a sack or two of sticks and my special home-made nifty measuring devices – and I shall lay out a labyrinth on the grass near the beach. I am sure there will be  people around, and they are most welcome to walk the labyrinth paths – though ostensibly the purpose of the exercise is  to get a bit of practice and see how much string it takes, so I can work out the quantity of sticks I am going to need. I will make sure to do a special walk at 1pm, thinking of peace, and of all the folks around the world who are doing the same thing at 1pm in their own time zone.

Almost one year ago, I carried out a cross-Atlantic labyrinth project in collaboration with American artist Carol Maurer. If you click ‘Here and There‘ at the top of this blog, that will take you to my report on the project. It includes some delightful images and videos, as well as a rather long detailed account of how we managed to run simultaneous labyrinth walks with live online coverage.

Labyrinth at Delaware Art Museum. Photo: Carol Maurer

Carol is Secretary of The Labyrinth Society, so I am sure she will be greatly involved with World Labyrinth Day tomorrow, and am very much looking forward to hearing of her experiences.

Related articles

• Wilson College to host World Labyrinth Day activities (cumberlink.com)
• Labyrinth (sawabundance.wordpress.com)

gathering shells, feeling three years old again

Swallows flash through the air with lightning speed, tiny sanderlings skip along the beach. The wind vibrates noisily through the marram grass… nature music, not human.

It is sheltered near the ground as I crouch down, though the wind sweeps through my hair, blowing it all the wrong way. And my nostrils catch the sweet scent of animal dung; sheep, horses, rabbits and others…

A growing chorus of bleating tells me of approaching sheep. I listen to their communications and their contented munching sounds as they come close. I glance up, straight into the eyes of a gawky lamb, and we stare at each other in astonishment before continuing with our tasks.

Farther away, more bleating. Farther still, a lark singing, invisible up in the blue sky. Farther still, a soft golden moon amongst the blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the next morning, I realise I must have seen some of the first swallows of the year. I am utterly amazed at their incredible migratory journeys – and how both swallows and sanderlings landed on this North Devon beach in front of me – the swallows recently arrived from Africa, and the sanderlings ( I believe, though I am no naturalist) about to head off for their high Arctic breeding grounds. I hope I will never stop being amazed.

Here’s a good bird info link. The site is well worth exploring: RSPB – Swallows

Knightacott Woods: A breath of fresh air

Yesterday, to Knightacott Woods – a clear crisp day after a lot of dull very cold weather. It was sunny, with just a slight sharp breeze under the trees.

I walked into the stillness. Gradually the noise of ‘civilisation’ in my head subsided, and the stillness deepened. No humans about – just clear birdsong penetrating and echoing through the canopy, and the sparkling stream running quietly alongside me. I was captivated by the vibrant green aliveness of everything.

Looking up at the trees, I briefly wondered about them being the earth’s aerials or antennae, and about their absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen for us to use. I felt grateful and connected. I could sense the oxygen seeping into my body (though that might have been imagination!) I could certainly feel my breathing slowing down.

I came to the place where once, when I was sitting by the side of the pathway, changing my camera battery – somebody’s Labrador dog ran over me, not just once but twice, with its muddy feet, overbalancing me each time. When I demanded the owner kept control of her dog, her reply was: “People don’t expect to take their dog for a walk, and find people sitting on the grass like a garden gnome”! I was speechless. My friend Jacky said I should have said: “People don’t expect to get run over twice by unruly dogs when they are changing their camera batteries”. Wish I had thought of that!

I looked for the place where I made my piece ‘Ancient Sunlight’, I think in late autumn 2011 (I’ll put a pic at the end of the post) – but had difficulty recognising  it.  Everywhere looked so different – previously, everywhere had been mellow and golden, and abundantly leafy, now it was open, with clear views through the trees; the banks of the stream were bare with roots exposed along the edges, reminding me of complicated Celtic carvings.

The sunlight was bright but cold, most of the ground was in shadow.  I came to what I thought was a secluded pond that I did not remember, but on looking closer, saw that it was the stream greatly swollen in size, and taking a new course.

Clambering up the side of the footpath, away from the stream and into the woods, I sat down in the undergrowth like a gnome, and had a couple of hot drinks before continuing on my way.

I lost track of time, and seem to have come home with these images. I would say they are a true record of my visit, though by no means all of it. It was only after I got home and examined them that I was able to deduce the story of a year full of torrential rain – especially in the ones where huge amounts of soil have obviously been washed away, leaving tangled masses of exposed roots. It is also a true record of the place – for me, some of the images could not possibly be anywhere else but North Devon woodland.

I intended to go back today, but it was too bloomin’ cold.

Here is the piece I made earlier…

Thomas Köner – Novaya Zemlya 1

Somehow the sound gives form to the utter silence.

I feel the depths of my heart beginning to crack like thick ice, and the faintest stirrings of memory.

My attention is gripped by the simplicity of the screen image.  Aeons of frozen tears almost obliterate a distant icy landscape.  I am frozen in time, and the landscape is out of reach.  There appears to be a rope, or maybe it is barbed wire, stretching across the foreground of this image. Then I lose interest and drift away.

Now that it is all over, the familiar sounds of my room have taken on a living presence. There is the computer… and there is another low sound, that I have never noticed before, and I cannot quite place where it is coming from – yet it must have been there all along.

I  came across Novaya Zemlya quite recently on “Some Landscapes”, the wonderful blog about landscapes and the arts,  by Plinius (Andrew Ray).  The complete album is available through Touch (www.touchmusic.org.uk), and there are also a number of Thomas Köner’s tracks on Youtube.

I read quite a bit about the work after hearing it for the first time (there are actually three tracks in all), and found it well worth the enquiry. Novaya Zemlya, I discovered, is a bleak and desolate area of Northern Siberia, close to the Arctic wastes. And there is  a very interesting review in The Liminal  of  this evocative and profoundly chilling piece.

Wonder-walking at Heddon’s Mouth

I try to pick a new beautiful place along the North Devon coast each time we go out, but Heddon’s Mouth is one of our favourites – so this is the third time we have been there. (It is helped of course by having Hunters Inn with its comfortable surroundings and delicious refreshments as our meeting /finishing place).

The idea for this Saturday was to carry out a Wonder Walk, an idea borrowed from fellow blogger Tara Pappas over at Artful Explorations in Nature.  Tara explains that a Wonder Walk is a time that you set aside to go empty-handed and open-minded into nature – no camera or art supplies – just being fully present and using  the senses to explore the world all around.  Then, on arriving back home, spend some time reflecting upon the experience, and perhaps develop some of the ideas it inspires.

When taking a wonder walk, you should imagine that you are experiencing everything for the first time. Take interest in things that you would normally overlook–perhaps something will surprise you or inspire you!

All through our walk, we were surrounded and bathed in bright winter sunshine. We have had so many dark days and torrential rain and floods lately, that we just revelled in this fabulous weather. We saw snowdrops and gorse and deer gazing down on us from the hillside. The  river,  swollen with months and months of rain rushed down through the valley with ferocious power, fed by sparkling streams tumbling down the steep woodland bank.

We were walking (wandering) for about 2 – 2.5hrs.  I am a little embarrassed to say that I could not resist the temptation to grab hold of my camera (as you will see by the pics above).  In fact, only one of us did an actual Wonder Walk thoroughly, just as described by Tara… my friend left all her stuff at home and said she just wanted to be fully there,  enjoying the experience. Her main creative activity is writing, and she did not want to get into “doing writing”.

The walk was just perfect, all of us approaching it in the way that suited us best.  Tara, at Artful Explorations in Nature, noticed she had increased clarity of mind and greater creative flow after a couple of Wonder Walks. I will try this experiment again alone, as well as variations on it, and see how I manage without resorting to camera or pencil. It is always exciting to explore, to extend oneself and make new discoveries!

This was an Essential Nature Walk. All our posts will be on this blog now, and not on the Blogspot one (http://essentialnature-throughstones.blogspot.co.uk/). You can still see all the previous posts there, though. They won’t be deleted.

2013 YATOO-i NATURE ART WINTER WORKSHOP – YouTube

This year, Yatoo-i invited their artist members from around the world to join their Winter Workshop, which has been taking place in Korea since 1981. Each in our own countries made our way into wild places between 21st and 23rd January, to  connect with the earth  and pay our respects.

The Korean folks finished their workshop with a delicious traditional Korean meal in a famous restaurant, all together. You can find out more about YATOO-i  on this link.

The Korean Nature Art Association YATOO has a distinctive theoretical framework where artists and nature interact as equal partners. The artists’ actions are often fleeting or short-lived, but their resonances can extend far beyond the time of the activity.   Since 2011, YATOO has extended to include an  international network of artists (YATOO -i).