on being grounded…

Posted: September 10, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | 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

and yet…

Posted: September 10, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | 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 comment

this 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

it is like being told I am dying

Posted: August 24, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | 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 Comments

this 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?

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

eggs have legs and other tales of intimate rebellion…

Posted: April 26, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: activ8, eARTh, Uncategorized | Tags: Arte Povera, Arts, arts research, Cornwall, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, Environmental art, indigenous culture, Interdisciplinarity, Meditation, painting, Pigment, poetry, Social change, Soil Culture, Visual arts | Leave a comment

(more paintings from the end of earth 2019)

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”― Rumi

as I sit with peaceful abandon

far out upon my churlish perch

painting pontifications of intimate expression

in relation with place and time and all,

I have most recently been given good cause to reflect…

beneath me now (Cornish earth pigments on canvas; 30x25cm) © p ward 2019

not only upon an inherent inability for punctuation (and breath)

or the ability of egg (local and free range to boot),

both yolk and white, with most moist unctuous fluidity

to stick and bind and glaze (with a little vinegar to dilute;

PS1: tempera is not a light batter originating in Japan)

but upon movement and change and responsibility

and power and loss (and hence gain) and intent and motivation

and communication and honesty and truth

and (of course) magic and then stories and pictures and love.

the time has come to pick up our arms and dangle our feet

to the tune of an age old heartache – our connection (or lack of)

to life that gives and takes and breathes and yearns to live again.

so, thank you to the warriors,

the shouters and dancers,

the artists who care,

the thinkers who dare

to speak their thoughts for all and all and all,

hand in hand with birds and beasts,

with clouds and sea and rain falling in the sunshine fields.

I am me and you in you.

It is once more… rebellion!

inconsequential wildlife of an aquine persuasion (Cornish earth pigments on board; 40x40cm) © p ward 2019

memories of life after life (Cornish earth pigments on reclaimed wood; 64x18cm) © p ward 2019

heady (Cornish earth pigments on reclaimed board; 30x50cm) © p ward 2019

as loud as a moon – lord and lady muck (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 17x18cm) © p ward 2019

9 cornish earth forms (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on paper; 48x42cm) © p ward 2019

dichotomous circumstance (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on reclaimed wood; 45x45x4.5cm) © p ward 2019

walking through time (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on reclaimed wood; 29x14x4.5cm) © p ward 2019

approaching the ocean; bridleway (on wood); stars and stripes; dark head; track; lake; across the river (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on paper; various 16x14cm) © p ward 2019

head I (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on paper; 28x28cm) © p ward 2019

head 2 (Cornish earth pigment egg tempera on paper; 28x28cm) © p ward 2019

oops, upside your head! spring equinox full moon (Cornish earth pigments on reclaimed board; 78x78cm) © p ward 2019

the pigment hunter (Cornish earth pigments on reclaimed board; 87x87cm) © p ward 2019

you are stronger than you think you are – dancing with the goddess (Cornish earth pigments on reclaimed board; 98x90cm) © p ward 2019

consequences of loss I – catering (gaffer tape and glue remnants on repurposed card; 50x25cm) © p ward 2019

consequences of loss II – patellidae (true limpets) (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 36x35cm) © p ward 2019

consequences of loss III – walking with spirit (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 43x28cm) © p ward 2019

earth heads I (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 37x28cm) © p ward 2019

consequences of loss IV – exclusive (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 25x27cm) © p ward 2019

consequences of loss V – holding on too (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 36x44cm) © p ward 2019

earth shield (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 52x17cm) © p ward 2019

riding fox-back in the cloud of cuckoo-land before the almighty deluge begins… (Cornish earth pigments on repurposed card; 55x47cm) © p ward 2019

PS2:

this is not an intellectual activity,

doomed to a critical aloof

or heady reevaluation in words alone,

it is body and blood

co-mingling

conjoined

codependent

striving for and in

action

to survive

living within limits – an affirmation

Posted: January 26, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | 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

ode to winter

Posted: January 25, 2019 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: the ash tree | Tags: Cornwall, poetry, Prayer | 1 Comment

Penwith 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

Painting with Earth – Cornwall: new home, new works

Posted: November 30, 2018 | Author: pw130524 | Filed under: eARTh | Tags: Arte Povera, Arts, arts research, Cornwall, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, painting, Pigment, poetry, Visual arts | Leave a comment

November 2018

despite the wind

despite the weather

despite the winter

despite the sense of vulnerability

this raw and new found exposure

despite the twisting and turmoil of our times

despite love

and loss

despite it all

this earth still shines

Before I embark on a new phase of experimentation, combining different binders with the Cornish pigments, I would like to share a few paintings that I have made in my new home – a caravan on a dairy farm in the coastal hills of west Penwith, Cornwall.

West Penwith, Cornwall – Morvah, Sennen Cove, Cot Valley and Chun Quoit © p ward 2018

Here, I am surrounded by the historic land markings of the ancient peoples who populated this extremity of the British Isles. Stone walls, reportedly demarcating some of the oldest working field networks in the world, built 5000 years ago. Iron age hill forts, burial mounds, settlements and wells set in the denuded coastal wasteland of heath and moor. It is at times bleak. After the rain and wind that lashes fresh from the vast Atlantic ocean, the colours of autumn shine. The constantly changing hues of the blue and grey and turquoise sea. Rainbows sitting in our laps. The sky heavy and clear and dark and brooding. Salt water permeating. The animals are exposed by their hunt for food, by the lack of cover afforded by the stripped land. It is a place of spirit and history and life, right now.

Penwith dream forms (Botallack black on paper); fogou (Cornish earth pigments on wood) © p ward 2018

mineral, vegetable; mist (Cornish earth pigments on wood) © p ward 2018

dance on the shore (Cornish earth pigments on canvas) © p ward 2018

virtually vertical; community (Cornish earth pigments on wood); earth bound (Cornish earth pigments on canvas) © p ward 2018

pigment drift (Cornish earth pigments on slate) © p ward 2018

I am slowly learning to listen to the language of the colours here. The earth pigments, their qualities, their sources are unfamiliar. New to me. They are similar in colour to those of North Devon, that I have been using for a long time but very different in other ways. Their formation. Their nature. They have not been part of my own story, until now. The marks and stories they suggest are gradually revealing themselves. Their relationships unfolding. Their dynamic. And despite my attempts at integrity to their provenance and the spirit of this place in which I find myself, it is the freedom of my children’s paintings and drawings that are inspiring me…

noah, agnes, noah, agnes (pastel and paint on paper) 2018

Professionally, I am working on an Arts Council National Lottery Project Fund proposal in association with Geevor Tin Mine to research the creative and educational potential of the pigments. Through recent projects and contact with the staff at the Mine I have started to appreciate and become really excited by the rich historical, geological, chemical and social provenance that the colours carry. After the far-reaching and ongoing success that Painting with Earth – North Devon has brought, let’s hope I will get some real financial support to enable the continuation of this rich seam of work ;-).

burnt CARN

Posted: August 31, 2018 | Author: pw130524 | 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 comment

Pendeen, Cornwall 190818

a howling man dressed in black set fire to the hill (carn) behind Pendeen…

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…

with sadness (and in love)

Posted: November 13, 2017 | Author: pw130524 | 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

terms of engagement

Posted: November 12, 2017 | Author: pw130524 | 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 comment

a conversation of sorts 121117

Q:

“What’s the difference between a social or educational project and an artwork?”

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

(* yet how we may quantify such effectiveness is another matter.)

expressions of an intimate ecology

the contemporary environmental art practice of peter ward

on being grounded…

and yet…

this climate emergency, part 2

it is like being told I am dying

this climate emergency, part 1

living within limits – an affirmation

ode to winter

Penwith 2019

Painting with Earth – Cornwall: new home, new works

November 2018

burnt CARN

Pendeen, Cornwall 190818

with sadness (and in love)

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