Just the white light of mid-winter coming in dimly from the balconies. I pour a few drops of fennel essence on the salt lamp, listen to the silence of this house and my body becomes as light as a feather. Fb reminds me that 7 years ago today I was making bread with ancient grains.
In February the geraniums have sparse leaves and this reminds me of Massimo and his brilliant and thoughtless way of writing, of protest, but light, subdued, without disturbing, just to insinuate a doubt, a divergent and poetic vision, simple, limited to observation, a hundred times more interesting than what everyone sees. I’ve always told him to get to writing. Everything always tells me that’s what I’m here for, a midwife of talent, the kind that gives birth to you in the water, in the shadow of courage, little pain, pain is of no use to those who look beyond.
I was reflecting on the need to leave some free spaces in one’s day, without anything. Not real meditation, which doesn’t work for me. Because force me to do something and I immediately become claustrophobic, even if I force myself. Better to stare out the window, sink into an armchair, stare into emptiness, wallow in real boredom, without stimulation of any kind. This is important, because if not, the energy that brings you what you desire and need comes in from where? Find all the busy passages
Since the beginning of January I started a new work, on the cutout of a sheet of cotton not too thin. They are large cotton flowers, placed on the left of a square field. I was inspired by an artist named Lilit Sarkisian and draws flowers everywhere, in this case on the walls of a house; you can see a shot of it in the image below.
I also went to look at quite a few real photos of cotton flowers, which unfortunately I’ve never gotten to see from life, and implemented the design with a dried leaf and a few still-closed buds; this gives the design that downward weight that as a graphic designer I can’t do without, and it’s also good for my need to root, to stay grounded when I need to.
Not that I want to give up my innate ability to instantly abstract, no matter where I am and whoever I’m with. But over time I’ve learned that there are certain fixed points that help us artists materialize what’s swirling around in our heads and throbbing in our stomachs, and one of those, which has really been a game changer for me, is daily consistency in doing.
Even if I just have to think about or design what I want to work on, I have long since gotten into the healthy habit of devoting two or three hours of the day just to my embroidery work. Winter, summer, vacations, holidays and weekends, nothing deters me, and if I happen to miss a day or two I make up for the hours I’ve lost in the following days. This helps me not to get lost, which is common to all creatives, and one of the most important reasons why one doesn’t get the results one wants.
Another attitude on which I had to work a lot, and on which I still work, although more and more rarely, also very common, is the “who can like what I do”. This is a self-evaluation that probably stems from collective ancestral karma, or discouraging parents. And in any case it makes no sense in the field of art because art should not be created in order to please someone. Art is an end in itself, it has the dignity to live whatever aspect it has, to be appreciated by those who feel it resonates within themselves, hated if necessary, to leave indifferent.
If we had this awareness and the ability to translate it to everyday life when, as teenagers, we worry about pleasing this or that person, how much more serene our existence would be.
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