Here we are in January once again. Cold, grey days and resolutions for the new year. January is the most challenging month in my view. It is unpuctuated by celebrations, and summer feels so far away. I work hard on strategies to lift my mood and stay positive. It is a time for reflection and planning. I don't make resolutions, but I do spend a bit of time gazing at my navel, wondering what to focus on when the garden is quiet and my studio is too cold to spend much time in. I watched a Youtube video on Buddhist principles that got me thinking. It challenged me to ask 'What is my Why?' More specifically it asked me to name the three things that really matter to me. I sat down with my trusty typewriter, Olive, and made a list of things that came to mind. There were many more than three.
The list included, in no particular order.......
Many more than three, so I tried to allocate them to groups with a common thread.
There seemed to me to be three key categories emerging:
So first, I put 'Self Care'. Into this group fall good relationships, time for creativity, regular exposure to outdoors and sunlight, healthy eating and exercise, activities that allow me to feel useful, and making space in my week for time alone in a creative environment.
The second group I call Landscape
Into this group I place natural environments that I crave, such as oceans, forests and mountains, together with time for exploring and 'adventures'. My adventures are not epic, but going away even for a few days to new places is really important to my sense of purpose. Even a few hours immersed in a forest or wood are immensely uplifting. For this year I plan to travel by train across Europe. From west to east and back..... destinations as yet unknown...... but I would like to make it to a little town in Croatia where I spend happy days as a teenager in a tiny caravan with my family. Lastly there is the third category, Environment. This creates a degree of conflict with the second category. My desire to explore the world conflicts with the effects of travel on the environment. I can, and do, choose train and bus when possible, but in order to visit family I have no choice but to fly long distances. Much of my art work recently has been about my local environment, in particular beach litter. The images that you see above are made from manipulated screenshots from Google Earth of places that I long to visit, but would feel guilty about travelling to, Antarctica is one such place. In the meantime I try not to eat things that have travelled long distances, and spend more time than most people picking up litter........ So what have I been doing in January to live by my 'Why'? I visited a solo exhibition 'Kaleidoscope/London' at the Guildhall Art Gallery by Anne Desmet. Anne's kaleidoscope based collages created using her own wood block prints of London scenes were inspiring. Her attention to detail is extraordinary, and I enjoyed seeing all the different types of paper that she uses in her printmaking. I particularly enjoyed her collage onto razor shells. Anne was inspired to use the pastel colours of the razor shells to represent a dawn or dusk sky over an international city skyline. The fragility of the shells serves as a metaphor for the vulnerabiity of all human civilisation with respect the climate cricis. A subtle but powerful work.
I went to my regular writer's group for an uplifting chat and a friendly ( sheepish) cup of tea.
There I learned about the naming of full moons. Did you know that each month's full moon has a different name, based on native American culture? January is a Wolf Moon, named after the howling of wolves during the food scarce winter month. My favourite is 'Worm Moon' for March. Imagine the worms throwing up their first casts as the frozen soil thaws in early spring. You can read more about moon cycles and names here. No matter that I hadn't written anything for the group. I can't write to order, and luckily others were feeling more inspired. I have started trying to do a daily meditation. Five to 10 minutes daily. The first was sitting with my eyes closed in the morning sun in a small shelter on Rye golf course, during my habitual morning walk. I find meditating extraordinarily difficult. My mind races with thoughts, and as I try to 'bat them away like clouds', more appear on the horizon. But it is exactly for calming these thoughts that I am going to try ( again) to make this a regular habit. If I could do it every day with my eyes closed and my face turned to the sun I am sure it would be a whole lot easier. I will let you know how it goes.
And what of creative endeavors?
Not much has been happening in January.... and this is normal for me. So to make myself do 'something', I created some marks on paper for the @areyoubookenough challenge on Instagram. This month the theme was 'wild'. I had the idea to create images of 'wild 'places on earth, and manipulate them as per the images at the top of this post. But my heart wasn't in it, and it reminded me too much of lockdown , when I yearned to be somewhere other than suburbia.. So I changed tack and made some wild marks on a long sheet of paper, which I then folded into a concertina. I enjoyed the process, and experimented with different objects to make the marks. My favourites were a feather and a piece of fishing rope from the beach. Son sent me off to north London to draw meerkats in a wildlife drawing class. I now know that drawing fast moving furry creatures is a test! How to stay calm when the delightful creatures hold poses for less than 10 seconds.. I found it challenging: a bit like an exam when you turn over the paper and don't understand the questions....... but it was a great exercise in enjoying the journey rather than worrying about the outcomes. Highgate is a very interesting part of town; I even found a delightful river walk with ducks tucked in between the road and the expensive houses. Oh, and I nearly forgot....... I took 8 trains and two buses to deliver my work 'Sansui 1' to the Royal West of England Academy for the upcoming exhibition 'RWA Open 2025: Paper Works' I think that comes under 'environment' as well as creativity. It was an exhausting day! Do let me know your top three 'why's'. I am intrigued to know how different they might be.
0 Comments
Son writes a blog. Once a week, without fail. Until he doesn't....... I feel that this creates a certain pressure for yours truly. I try to write monthly, and am now three weeks late. Son wrote recently about the Nike trainers that I never let him have as a child. About skiing and the anticipation and excitement of his first ski of the winter season. Daughter reminds me of the rule that I set for them as children that no breakfast cereal should cost more than 30p per 100g. I was a tough negotiater.... a 'mean' mother...... I left all these scars. But we all have scars, right? My mother wouldn't let me play a second instrument. She couldn't afford it. So I took up the oboe as an adult, and then discovered that counting bars when my instrument was not playing was nigh on impossible for me, so I was never able to join an orchestra. Maybe son can buy his own Nike trainers now that he is grown up. And daughter can have any cereal of her choosing. I was only trying to stop them eating too much sugar. Fortunately Weetabix and Shreddies are cheaper than Cheerios and Frosties. Strange things are happening; I find myself playing the piano again after years of abstinence. Drawn in by Bach's Goldberg Variations, which featured highly in the novel 'Do not Say we have Nothing' by Madeleine Thein. The novel explores the cultural revolution in China. How much tougher was the life of those sent to detention camps for playing music. Their instruments smashed and their compositions burned. I feel so lucky in comparison, and am trying to learn to play some of the easier variations. It is a very slow process. But I am really here to tell you about Uzbekistan. My other half (OH) and I spent 10 days there in November, The problem that I have, is that I was so blown away by the whole experience that I haven't known where to start, or what to say. I was tempted to book the trip by some photos of the Tashkent metro stations that I saw on social media. I find it odd that I chose to book on such a whim. The rest of the trip far outshone the metro. Taking photos without a tripod and an empty station was challenging and unsatisfactory. The metro stations are ornate and dramatic. Each has a theme. Photography has only been allowed since 2018, as the stations used to have a secondary function as nuclear fall out shelters. This one below, Kosmonavtlar, is about space exploration and cosomonauts. When I booked the holiday, I knew that we would be visiting cities from the ancient silk roads. Nothing prepared me for the breathtaking architecture found in the mosques, mausoleums, city squares and ancient madrasas ( colleges of islamic instruction). From Tashkent, to Samarkand, and on to Khiva. So many buildings, so much beauty, and so easy to confuse them all after a whirlwind tour. I could dazzle you with ornate ceilings, walls and doors, but mostly I keep thinking about the people and the culture of the country that is about twice as large as the UK. The local tourists were as fascinated by us as we were with them. They were very friendly, and just as obsessed with their mobile phones as we were. The younger generation are learning English as well as Uzbek and Russian, and were keen to practice on us by asking us for our telephone number and suggesting that we call each other ...... we politely declined. We were warned before we travelled that the diet consists mainly of meat, and that the local dish, Plov, a lamb, rice and vegetable dish is greasy and heavy. So we were surprised to find that to he contrary, there were many options for delicious vegetables and salads, as well as the predicted kebabs and plov. Locals eat plov at least once a week, so it was interesting to see that you can buy pre-prepared carrots and potatoes in the local market. No plastic bags or cellophane wrapping in sight......! The main reason to visit Uzbekistan is to visit the cities that formed part of the ancient Silk Road between the east and the west. We were bamboozled with historic facts wherever we went. A history that was unfamiliar and complicated. I found it hard to take it all in. Mosques, mausoleums and madrasas, all built to impress with their blue tiles that denote wealth. Overwhelming in their scale and beauty. We struggled with the local currency. One UK pound is 16,000 Uzbek Som. We needed 2000 som for a visit to the local 'facilities'. That's a loo, bathroom, restroom or WC to you, and is about 12 pence. in UK money. We held on to 2000 som notes wherever we could. I was transfixed by the cloud formations in Tashkent. They seemed unlike any that I have seen in the west. We heard about family culture from our wonderful guide, Lochin. He explained that when a girl marries she is not supposed to smile at her wedding, as she should be sad at leaving her own family. We saw many very miserable looking brides. The grooms looked pretty serious too. Another custom is related to finding a partner that you might wish to marry. You don't tell your parents that you have met 'the one', instead you place a carrot on your father's shoe. The youngest son of the family traditionally lives with his parents and his own family. This ensures that the parents have support as they get older. A very different attitude to many western families. I remember much more about these little details of daily life than the exploits of a fourteenth century adventurer. OH will have taken in all of the history and added it to his already extensive personal library of historical facts. I blame Mrs Newsome, my secondary school history teacher. She has a lot to answer for. And unlike most of my teachers I remember her name, and what she looked like. Short, with orange hair...... I was struck by the cleanliness and feeling of safety in Uzbekistan. No litter. No no-go areas. Street cleaners with hand made brooms wherever we travelled. I felt very safe. A testament to the honesty of locals is the way in which street stalls are wrapped up at night; a simple cloth and some string. I yearn for a return to such values here in the UK. I have so many photos, so I will leave you with just a few favourites. My next task is to create a book of our trip before I forget names and places. There is work to do! And if you would like to sign up to my next online photobook course please sign up to my mailing list on the online courses page to be alerted to new dates. online workshops - click here! |
Caroline Fraser - an ordinary life
on life, suburban living, art, creativity, photography, book art and travel. Categories
All
Archives
January 2025
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of Cookies |
Welcome to Caroline Fraser Photography
Colourful abstracted and traditional photographic landscapes, book art and workshops. Capturing the moods and beauty of nature whether in wild open places or in small sanctuaries in suburbia. |