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Some thoughts from my journal, kept every day during my residency at Mawddach:
The mountains here have a vastness and stillness that make my mind feel slower, more meditative without trying. I have never been somewhere where my creativity has felt so held, so important, so needed. It is almost overwhelming. Being creative feels so life-enforcing; it feels like I am making the most of my individual experience on this Earth. Being an artist alongside my mum is so life-enforcing, in the most literal and spiritual ways. Being around creative people is so creatively vital. Seeing the roots of how a creative community has been nurtured has inspired me to question how I might help art communities grow. It has shown me how beautifully expansive these roots can become - touching and shaping so many lives. Scarlett and Jake have created a life where community is at the heart of everything. Their creative practices are so deeply inspiring, but equally inspiring is their drive to use art as a means of social good. I’m breathing especially deeply here, so that after this I may be able to reconnect with how this feels: being grounded in awe, nature, love, simplicity, and the now. When I draw a leaf, my eyes can tune in to the beauty and intricacy of each leaf that day. When I make art with nature every day, it becomes a way of seeing. Leaving the house with just a sketchbook and pencils is the most freeing feeling. Art is so enjoyable when it is going well. More than enjoyable — it feels like the most important thing on Earth. But when it is not going to plan, I feel an all-encompassing stress, a tension I hold in my body and mind. When I make something I like, the excitement is not just in that work, but in the potential for a whole body of work to evolve from that piece — a glimpse into an unknown but energetic potential that lies ahead. How can my experience of Mawddach reverberate into my life afterwards? I am learning to proudly identify myself as an artist. I am living the lifestyle of an artist — with my eyes wide open to the intricacies of beauty that surround me, and a head learning never to belittle the power of this. Elsa Greenland
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