on being grounded…
Posted: September 10, 2019 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: Arte Povera, ecopsychology, Feeling, Meditation, poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Visual arts Leave a comment 
Arrrrgh, Let me OUT!! (pen on envelope on human head) © p ward 2019
there are some of us
who are accused
of being ‘grounded’:
perceiving the world and our actions
through a balanced, responsible and rational lens
rooted in practicality and common sense.
but then some of us have also been ‘grounded’ as punishment,
our freedom curtailed by a parent or guardian
for actions that often do not lie within preconceived moral boundaries,
boundaries of balance, responsibility and rationality,
often rooted in practicality and common sense
often according to Nature and her Laws
Teignmouth, South Devon; Big Silver Bentley, Gurnard’s Head, Cornwall © p ward 2019
but how we wish to fly
to shed the shackles of good sense
for other and ourselves
in search of learning, perspective and sensual joy
defining new boundaries beyond our knowledge
or otherwise fleeting original experience
before our time is out
in magic
we see
in magic
we live
Trease Mine, Boscaswell, Cornwall © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
and yet…
Posted: September 10, 2019 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: art and science, Arte Povera, climate crisis, climate emergency, eco art, ecopsychology, Feeling, Interdisciplinarity, Meditation, poetry, Prayer Leave a commentthis climate emergency, part 2
drawing on my face 4: seeing (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
and yet,
the sun and moon still rise and fall
birds sing
grass grows
everything is somehow in place.
despite imagery evocative of an abrupt demise,
despite rising popular opinion and attendant fearful frenzy,
despite the corroboration of a high percentage of scientific peers,
despite indicative physical, ideological and pecuniary global suffering and conflict,
despite a lifelong personal acknowledgement of our continuing abuse of Nature…
I do not sense
I do not feel
the end.
I cannot sense
I cannot feel
the end.
I do not, cannot
and will not accept
the end.
so what of instinct and intuition (the antithesis of science)?
what of individual response?
what of collective consciousness?
what of the uninformed, the common man?
are we, en masse, running from the ensuing fire?
and anyway, where can we run in this apparent global catastrophe?
if I do not feel it,
if I stand aside the mindful stampede,
am I simply burying my head in the sand
in denial of empirical objectivity,
in fear of the inevitable?
or is it that
I do not know within my power what more I may do?
as I stand on this excellent brink of oblivion, this ending of sorts,
with the knowledge, wisdom and capability of all I have before
there is opportunity
there is technology
and there is love.
I must either believe in the magic and wonder of the human spirit within Nature or not
like every day
like any day
I breath
I choose
I act according to (my) Nature…
drawing on my face 4: seeing (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
it is like being told I am dying
Posted: August 24, 2019 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: Arte Povera, arts research, climate crisis, climate emergency, eco art, ecopsychology, extinction rebellion, Feeling, Meditation, poetry, Prayer 3 Commentsthis climate emergency, part 1
in a climate of overwhelming societal and professional expectation as an artist and an earth being i have struggled to know how to meaningfully and effectively respond directly to this ever-present issue. here are some of my thoughts and feelings expressed through words and an ongoing visual project…
it is like being told I am dying
that I am in the final stages of a terminal disease
after a long chronic illness or complaint
and that if I live the way I always should have,
the way I always have,
the way I have always known I should,
the way I have always said we should,
then maybe, maybe, maybe
I will not die.
it is like being told I am dying
but that everyone else and every other life is dying too.
that we are all dying and that it is all our own fault,
well, maybe not allour own fault
but somebody’s fault, some system’s fault, some thought-form’s fault,
that this beauty, this wonder that we experience on a daily basis
will no longer exist (for us)
because of us
it is like being told that everything and everybody that we love
is going to die, to not be.
it is a just like dying,
my experience of dying and death
in normallife –
we are all dying.
we are all going to die.
we are all living with the knowledge that we are all going to die,
that everything and everybody that we love is going to die
and that we shall experience suffering (and joy)
together.
it is still a shock when it comes.
when the reality of our imminent passing becomes apparent.
the utter enormity of it
combined with our inherent inability to conceive of such.
and who are we to talk to
other than those others similarly afflicted and condemned,
others who love and feel and care,
those who are afraid of what might become?
so
how shall we live?
how shall I live?
how shall I end this final sentence?
drawing on my face – smile (masking tape and marker pen on human head) © p ward 2019
© P Ward 2019
living within limits – an affirmation
Posted: January 26, 2019 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: ecopsychology, poetry, Prayer Leave a comment(Thanks to Mat for a good conversation about politics, age and forward thinking)
while the universe may be perceived as infinite,
as our imagination does allow,
this world (upon which our existence depends) is not.
there is life
and there is death.
beginnings and ends.
throughout our history, especially in certain cultural geographies,
there has been a gradual shift towards arrogance as our understanding has increased.
with our own permission, in the names of progress, evolution and survival,
we have plundered, transferred and transformed the dynamic integrity of earth.
yet for us, as humans, omnipotence is not a possibility.
and while we may have broken it
and know how and why
we are not capable of mending it
beyond abstaining from activities and attitudes
that may perpetuate such demise and hopefully promote a self-sustaining recovery of sorts.
the universe is quite simply too vast, too diverse for us to knowingly manipulate or predict.
although we may want more,
whether that is peace or possessions or power,
there is little more to be had.
there is already more than enough.
we are simply regurgitating past revelations in a different guise,
re-appropriating wisdom again for our own selfish ends.
to be grateful
to be thankful
to appreciate what there is and what we have
to strive for less
to recognize our own limitations
and to live within them
while not profitable or fashionable
may provide and define a feasible space for creativity, for resourcefulness, for compassion and for joy…
but then, who am I to say?
trellisick trees; cot valley, cornwall © p ward 2018
levant mine, cornwall © p ward 2018
© P Ward 2019
ode to winter
Posted: January 25, 2019 Filed under: the ash tree | Tags: Cornwall, poetry, Prayer 1 CommentPenwith 2019
In darkness, I think of you
And in my thoughts
I cover you with flowers,
A multitude of colours, shapes and scents,
And remove them one by one
To reveal you anew
In beauty and in wonder.
May your world be full of light and joy,
Inspiration, warmth and love
porthmeor farm, penwith © p ward 2019
peregrine; zennor church; godolphin house, cornwall © p ward 2018
© P Ward 2019
burnt CARN
Posted: August 31, 2018 Filed under: A BUNDLE OF STICKS, the ash tree | Tags: arts research, Cornwall, Cornwall Area of Outstanding Beauty, Ecology, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, poetry Leave a commentPendeen, Cornwall 190818
a howling man dressed in black set fire to the hill (carn) behind Pendeen…
burnt CARN, Pendeen, Cornwall 190818 I-III © p ward 2018
burnt CARN, Pendeen, Cornwall 190818 IV-IX © p ward 2018
burnt CARN, Pendeen, Cornwall 190818 X © p ward 2018
burnt CARN, Pendeen, Cornwall 190818 XI © p ward 2018
it has been a while since I have felt watched,
since I have felt the company of an-other.
the scent of burnt earth
forms distorted by fire
a thick sea mist blowing through the hilltop
silence…
© P Ward 2018
with sadness (and in love)
Posted: November 13, 2017 Filed under: the ash tree, Uncategorized | Tags: #GNAP France 2017, Arte Povera, Devon, Ecology, ecopsychology, Meditation, North Devon, poetry, Ritual Leave a comment.
at times of loss and grief
we may turn to Nature for solace,
to water, wind, fire and earth
to rocks, soil, fungi and trees
to insects, animals and birds
.
for guidance
for resilience
and strength
.
we may immerse ourselves
in the mundane, in the everyday
in routine and simplicity
.
not to avoid the pain
but to live with it
to feel it without distraction
.
we may assimilate our feelings and thoughts
through our work
through creative activity
through cathartic acts
through play
.
I sit in the flowing river
the cool water moves around my stationary working form
touching my legs, ankles and hips, hands and forearms,
I feel connected to life
once more
.
or through physical activity
where the rhythm of movement,
of muscles and breath and heart working in time,
lift us to an alternate state
.
to see our situation anew
in a different light
not with mind
but with body
.
and in fantasy and dreams
the world becomes larger
not illusionary but more real
past present future revealed
.
through our actions we may sense
the wonder of each passing moment
of being alive with our pain
of feeling at all
.
and with thanks
we can move forward
and in love
.
la grille d’entrée, Les Perrières, France © p ward 2017
les crânes et les plumes, Les maison troglo de Forges, France © p ward 2017
pic vert, les Perrières, France © p ward 2017
graffiti, Ackermann champagne vaults, France © p ward 2017
morning lake, Offwell Woods, Devon © p ward 2017
pollen path, Coombe Woods, London © p ward 2017
blocks, The Lizard, Cornwall © p ward 2017
blue butterfly, Hele, Devon © p ward 2017
mine shafts, Penwith, Cornwall © f owen/p ward 2017
Portland Place, Ilfracombe, Devon © p ward 2017
Croyde Bay, Devon © p ward 2017
.
© P Ward 2017
terms of engagement
Posted: November 12, 2017 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree | Tags: Arte Povera, arts research, collaboration, dialogical aesthetics, eco art, ecopsychology, Interdisciplinarity, poetry, Social change, social sculpture Leave a commenta conversation of sorts 121117
Q:
“What’s the difference between a social or educational project and an artwork?”
uncomfortable orchids, London © p ward 2017
A:
each may indeed have much in common and much to share.
it is the means and manner through which they communicate,
in which they engage, inform and sometimes transform that renders them effective or benign.*
.
an understanding of an audience, a demographic, an ecology
may encourage participation and transformation
reaching out and beyond those and that originally targeted.
.
the artist, teacher, social worker and ecologist intuit a means
to estimate, interpret, facilitate and hence empower (oneself and others)
literally, pictorially, intellectually, imaginatively, actively, physically, emotionally and most skillfully
.
the aesthetic that directs whatever intent motivated the craft,
that manipulates, interferes with and informs the intrinsic (or created) dynamic
towards a specific end or beginning or…
.
it is not necessary to determine how or when or what
those (or that) which experiences may take away
or if anything further does become
.
but it is in relationship that one may experience and affect movement
from one moment to the next
.
from one breath to another
.
so different too
that a tension reveals
swinging back and forth and around
.
we are all children in this world
vulnerable
unknowing
.
dancing under the stars
of this earth
that we share
.
pavement, London; pavement, Nantes © p ward 2017
© P Ward 2017
(* yet how we may quantify such effectiveness is another matter.)
real time Sisters
Posted: October 31, 2017 Filed under: eARTh, the ash tree, Uncategorized | Tags: Arte Povera, arts research, Coldharbour Mill, ecopsychology, indigenous culture, poetry, Technology, Visual arts, West Somerset Leave a comment(Samhain) 311017
.
today time returns
and darkness drags us home, amidst swirling russet leaves,
to its familiar solstice resting place
as another year quietly slips away.
.
shadows lengthen
losing their resemblance to matter
and we descend into that underworld
of ancestors and past deities,
.
to industry and wonder,
to miraculous machines
and steam and noise –
hell for some, power for others –
.
weaving what was once made by hand
beneath clear open skies lit by a million stars,
connecting us to all that has been
and will ever be.
and the Sisters still sit
sharing their charms,
weaving mystery and fate
beyond our control or simple understanding.
tall chimney, Coldharbour Woollen Mill, Uffculme, Devon © p ward 2017
engine houses, bobbins and spinning machines , Coldharbour Woollen Mill, Uffculme, Devon © p ward 2017
skein maker, Coldharbour Woollen Mill, Uffculme, Devon © p ward 2017
threading the loom, Coldharbour Woollen Mill, Uffculme, Devon © p ward 2017
water wheel, Coldharbour Woollen Mill, Uffculme, Devon © p ward 2017
Last weekend I visited Dunster, a charming Medieval village in West Somerset with my family. We ‘watched’ stars inside an inflatable dome as part of Exmoor National Park’s Dark Skies program celebrating the unpolluted ‘darkness’ of the area and stayed at my brother’s cottage amongst the massive oaks and rich red soils of the Brendon Hills. On our way home we stopped off at Coldharbour Mill Museum in Uffculme, Devon, for one of their regular ‘Steam Up Days’. This restored working woollen mill is powered by water and steam engines (and electricity) and gives a fascinating insight into the ingenuity and industry involved in the production of wool and woven cloth over the last few centuries when Devon and Exmoor were one of the main centres for the wool trade in Britain. And all this on the days the clocks are turned back to solar time again and the Celtic New year begins – quite a brew for the imagination…
dunster, west somerset © p ward 2017
nettlecombe, west somerset © p ward 2017
© P Ward 2017
invisible friends
Posted: October 9, 2017 Filed under: activ8, eARTh, the ash tree, Uncategorized | Tags: Arte Povera, arts research, collaboration, ecopsychology, Feeling, poetry Leave a commentmusing upon the muse 91017
.
you warm me
encouraging and invigorating
my muscles, mind and breath
you are so close
yet not here
I long to share a meal, a drink, a show
a long slow walk home
valerian hapa-zome print © eARTh 2017
sometimes in life we encounter people
to whom we feel a deep attraction and connection –
a zap between the eyes
an undeniable pull towards,
unwarranted and unthought-of,
an often beautiful but emotionally inconvenient surprise.
whale shark on my doorstep © p ward 2017
yet circumstances mean our relationships are curtailed
or must take forms different from those we conventionally recognize.
contemporary communications may allow a frustratingly superficial contact,
hand written letters and gifts another, maybe more real,
sometimes even these are not possible
when we honestly crave a wholly physical means –
eye contact and the subtle nuance of body language
the time and space to freely exchange the energetic dynamic
that common interests and diverse histories reveal,
to share a meal, a drink and a long walk home
hands entwined
dragged through sand, woolacombe bay © p ward 2017
as an artist, such desire may act as muse:
a light in the darkness, a spark of imagination
exploring the unknown undiscovered spaces,
a chance to meet the familiar through another’s eyes,
or identify and examine new aspects of ourselves –
dreams undreamt , fears as yet unconfronted, renewed aspirations,
detaching oneself from the mundane,
an illusion or delusion
but inspiration all the same;
or fuel to intention
to communicate more wholly
through pathways beyond the visible
ground earth pigment rings © eARTh 2017
and for those of us who entertain such fantasies about a subtle sense –
who honour a telepathic connection,
like that between a mother and child
or soul-mates
or lovers,
then the distance between may become an ethereal whisper
a breath, a feeling, a warmth, a glow
a longing acceptance of fate
still not manifest
buoyancy aids and clamped wheel, hele © p ward 2017
so maybe this is ‘hope’
or merely wishful thinking
a means to find strength and courage in isolation
to believe in another way
in spirit
in love
.
I do
.
(with love and thanks to those who are not here)
© P Ward 2017
expressions of an intimate ecology 