I've been home from my travels for three weeks, and already my time in Santa Barbara feels like a remote and beautiful dream. However, life goes on, and I've been busy catching up, reconfiguring my work spaces, planning projects, and generally settling back into everyday life.
The dining room now includes a section for small artworks on paper, leaving the outdoor studio for more robust (and messy!) projects. The guest bedroom has been rearranged to house my recording studio, which will greatly facilitate the musical projects and videos I have in mind.
Part of my everyday routine includes long walks to the beach. Now that winter is almost at an end, and the days are warmer, strolling along the sand is a wonderful way of reconnecting with Nature and clearing the mind for creative processes. When I'm writing one of my novels, it's also a perfect way of resolving plot issues.
Dragonflies and butterflies dance along the woodland path, and the roar of the surf is punctuated by the striden calls of wattlebirds and the busy twittering of fairy wrens.
High overhead, a Brahma Kite scans the trees for prey, while far below, translucent ghost crabs patrol the vast expanse of sand.
I am at peace.
After a while, even as my eyes feast on the beauty around me, my mind begins reviewing the artworks on my list.
I've already started on my printmaking projects, the first being an experimental linocut. Some years ago I was on holiday in the South of France and I ventured one day to Monte Carlo. While I found that tiny principality a rather unpleasant place, its location was magnificent and the architecture was bizarre and eclectic, which provided the inspiration for this study.
I love texture, and working with lino offers an opportunity to create dimensional works. Next, I'll experiment with collograph, which provides even more textural surfaces e.g. corrugated cardboard, mesh filaments, plant matter, hot glue, and string.
But it's during my walks that I find the most beguiling textures, thanks to the abundance of palm trees in the wildlife resort where I've made my home.
They're my obsession, and I know I've posted some of these before, but today I decided to try a different approach with photographic filters, with a mind to making art prints from the images.
The matted fibres never cease to fascinate me; they're so tactile, so regular, almost as though they had been woven by hand. I find I'm always wanting to peel some from the tree and make little vessels to contain glazed beach pebbles as part of a sacred installation - a votive offering...
Another project will be a new concertina book, decorated with watercolour and acrylic inks. I enjoy making these miniature art journals, and also plan to create one to feature my haiku poems.
My poetry vlog has also seen its first entry on YouTube, and I'll be publishing another one at the weekend.
So, as you can see, life is full, and the approach of Spring sees the creative sap rising - both in Nature and in my own creativity.
May you also find inspiration, no matter the season in your part of the world!
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