Painting Michael Eldridge 'Adriatic' series
Leonard Cohen was asked in
an interview in the seventies where creativity comes from, and he
replied 'If I knew, I'd go there more often' A good question and an even better answer. But I wonder if it really matters what we call
this seemingly inexhaustible source; some refer to the Universe or
the Cosmic Creative Pool but you could just as easily call it The
Cosmic Fridge (I do suppose) for all it matters. We just know that
it's there, somewhere between us and outside of us, some space that
is continually energised and which usually arrives when it chooses;
ready or not. I like to think though, that it also leaves a glimmer
of itself inside us, if we were but to know it, some sort of residual
memory of its splendour, in passing. Like a glowing ember waiting for
us to breath and blow it back to flame and keep it alive should it
fade.That it is, if you will, a symbiotic relationship, that we
cannot live without each other. Our lives without creativity, whatever
form this might take, would become shallow and arid. And creativity
without us?
When the first earthquake
struck us a few weeks back (here in Italy) there was a roaring which
travelled at the speed of a Eurostar beneath our house, and I often
think that Creativity is just like this, that it comes roaring past
us, maybe always, maybe just when it feels like it, I don't know. But
the sure thing is that we have to keep ourselves in a receptive state
to be able to catch it like a leaf in a gale and hold it close and
accept it as a gift.
You might not be surprised
to know that our workshops in Italy are about this fascinating
phenomenon; this merger between something which resides within us and
something outside of us
which we could call another
realm.
Sure, we paint, we take
photographs, make music, poetry; but what we produce is incidental.
What?
Yes, incidental.
Read this.....
Who says my poems are poems?
My poems are not poems
After you know my poems are not poems
Then we can begin to discuss
poetry
Zen Poet Ryokan
That sort of thing.......
So this seeming act of indifference to our work, in fact gives it
tremendous freedom and this is when
quite marvellous things begin to happen. It is this that I call
creating beyond ourselves; entering this
realm of timelessness, where what we might refer to as our normal
selves simply dissolve and
something greater appears.
This is the arena we play in at Starstone.
And we choose places in Italy of great power and beauty, Venice and
Assisi, which fuel our adventures with colour and energy, away from
la vita abituata, the daily grind.
Workshops in Italy...
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