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
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
Soil Culture Forum
Posted: July 7, 2014 Filed under: activ8, eARTh | Tags: art and science, arts research, Bideford Black, CCANW, Earth, earth pigments, eco art, Ecology, ecopsychology, Environmental art, indigenous culture, Pigment, Prayer, RANE, Ritual, Soil, Soil Culture 1 CommentFalmouth University, 2-5 July 2014
soil culture forum poster and logo; dirt dialogues poster for WCSS 2014 (p ward 2014)
The first major event of the Soil Culture[i] programme organized by CCANW[ii] and RANE[iii] at Falmouth University took place over the last week. The event brought together talks, workshops, social gatherings and exhibitions of artwork and posters from local and international artists, soil scientists and agriculturalists to celebrate and investigate how the arts may contribute to shifts in attitudes and understanding of a matter we take very much for granted – soil.
woodlane campus library display (with francesca owen) and work in group show, falmouth (p ward 2014)
painting with earth workshop at soil culture forum, falmouth (p ward 2014)
My own contribution included the forum logo, a small display of soil inspired work with Francesca Owen in the Woodlane Campus Library, a poster commissioned and printed for the 20th World Congress of Soil Science in South Korea by Alex Toland[iv], a Painting with Earth workshop and a number of art works in a pop-up exhibition on site. It was good to meet, hear and see the rich and varied work of those of like minds and inspirations, and especially to hear the no-nonsense common sense of Graham Harvey, author of one of my favourite books, The Carbon Fields[v]…
“Why, she wondered, were Indian peasants being pushed into debt and penury by a system of agriculture that was supposed to bring prosperity to rural communities? And why did monocultures, which were intrinsically of low productivity, come to be accepted as highly productive though they required huge inputs of chemicals and fossil fuels, and then produced less food than traditional, diverse farming systems?” from The Carbon Fields by Graham Harvey, p.100
“Organic milk, for example, is a blend of the good and not so good. Organic standards require that at least 60 per cent of the ratio must be in the form of grass and forage. In terms of its nutrient content, milk produced to this minimum standard won’t compare in quality with milk of cows getting 80 per cent of their feed in the form of grazed pasture, organic or not. And, as on conventional farms, milk produced to higher standards will be diluted with milk produced to the bare minimum standard.” from The Carbon Fields by Graham Harvey, p.136
a simple prayer for the earth, participatory painting with earth pigments, falmouth and westward ho! (p ward 2014)
soil circle for soil culture forum, falmouth (p ward 2014)
It is always exciting how participation in such events can provide the space to create new work and to make and renew contacts. Let’s hope that the forum will lead to increased future awareness, projects and collaborations towards our need for changes in attitude and policy around issues of our care and relationship with soil, a living substance upon which our and all life depends. Also thank you to Daro Montag for all his hard work organizing and raising funds[vi] for this event.
© P Ward 2014
[i] http://soilculture.wordpress.com/
[iii] http://rane.falmouth.ac.uk/
[iv] http://soilarts.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/dirt-dialogues-an-integrated-arts-program-at-the-20th-wcss/
[v]THE CARBON FIELDS – GRAHAM HARVEY (Bridgewater UK; GRASSROOTS; 2008)
[vi] Funding for the Forum was provided by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
i am utterly magnificent
Posted: August 15, 2013 Filed under: activ8, the ash tree, Uncategorized | Tags: art therapy, earth pigments, eco art, Ecology, ecopsychology, empowerment, Environmental art, Feeling, healing, Meditation, poetry, Prayer, Ritual Leave a comment.
i am utterly magnificent,
resplendent in my omnipresence,
as old as the hills and as fresh as a daisy,
feet deep in moist fertile soil,
head in the clouds
and joy in my heart.
.
my eyes sparkle with a million stars,
feet dance to the breaking waves
oscillating to the rhythm of the cosmic spheres
and time in all her many guises.
i sneeze with all my might –
laughing, laughing, laughing…
.
powerful beyond measure,
knowing all that is
becoming myself
in humble
peaceful
beauty
.
small things (felt pen, p ward 2009)
whisper (pen and pencil); white birds (oil and earth pigment on canvas, triptych) p ward 2009
dust II (digital image from pencil drawing, p ward 2009)
(The images above have been taken from ‘an antidote to grieving’ a body of work completed in 2009 while recovering from the passing of my father, grandmother and aunt, their relevance as pertinent today as when first created. The use of art as a process of healing, acceptance, understanding and empowerment should never be underestimated…)
P Ward 2013
white face and wigs 4813
Posted: August 8, 2013 Filed under: BIOSPHERic, eARTh | Tags: Aesthetics, arts research, Bideford, Bideford Black, Bodypainting, Earth, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, Environmental art, indigenous culture, Nature, North Devon, Ritual, Visual arts Leave a commentbIDEFORD bLACK meets the cREMASTER cYCLE
Since creating the black wool balls with Bideford Black and locally gathered, seasonally molted sheep fleece[i], for some inexplicable reason I have had a strong urge to tie the wool to my head!? Its resemblance to a toupee or wig as it lay not-quite-passively upon the table was animatedly uncanny[ii]. So, having collected some white clay[iii], and following on from my recent facial investigations with Bideford Black[iv], it only seemed right to cover my head with the stuff and place the offending article of fashionable esteem quite reasonably on the top.
white face and wigs 4813 1 – petrockstowe white clay (p ward + f owen 2013)
Francesca kindly agreed to photograph me, and to add more paint. The attendant lively conversation rendered a gamut of imaginative eventualities and furtherences – Old Mother Riley[v] (my mother said), French clowns, transvestitism, eighteenth century courtly wigs, tribal face painting and regalia with references to Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle, and then just plain daft! Again the process of obliterating my features with colour from the earth and its transformative inferences, both during painting, photographing and the resulting photo editing was invigorating and filled with power. When applying the clay in the mirror it is similar to painting a self-portrait but I am the canvas – thicker clay obliterating some features but highlighting others. There is definitely a physical as well as a metaphysical quality to the process. How much of this is due to the nature of the materials and the locale of their gathering, and how much due to the visual mutations and intensity of tactile and visual observation I am not sure, but it is an avenue I will continue to explore…
white face and wigs 4813 2 – petrockstowe white clay, bideford black, shoe laces and molted sheep fleece (p ward + f owen 2013)
white face and wigs 4813 3 – petrockstowe white + orange clays, bideford black, shoe laces and molted sheep fleece (p ward + f owen 2013)
white face and wigs 4813 4 – petrockstowe white + orange clays, bideford black, shoe laces and molted sheep fleece (p ward + f owen 2013)
white face and wigs 4813 5 – cleaning up (p ward + f owen 2013)
A selection of the resulting images and materials will be displayed in the forthcoming BIDEFORD BLACK exhibition at the white moose gallery[vi] in Barnstaple from September 6th. Many thanks again to Francesca for her patience, good humour and sensitivity[vii]. All materials have been gathered locally and responsibly in North Devon.
P Ward 2013
[ii] https://intim8ecology.wordpress.com/2013/07/31/searching-for-a-voice-of-love-in-an-ecology-of-blame/
[v] Old Mother Riley was a music hall act which originally ran from about 1934 to 1954 played by Arthur Lucan, then from 1954 to 1977 by Roy Rolland. (Wikipedia)
bideford black face 8713
Posted: July 10, 2013 Filed under: A BUNDLE OF STICKS, eARTh | Tags: Aesthetics, art and science, Arte Povera, arts research, Bideford, Bideford Black, Devon, Earth, earth pigments, eco art, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, Nature, North Devon, Pigment, Ritual 3 CommentsContinuing my research and experimentation with the North Devon earth pigment Bideford Black for both The Story of Bideford Black project[i] at the Burton Gallery and the forthcoming exhibition at the Whitemoose Gallery in Barnstaple[ii], I have felt inspired to paint my face (in keeping with my tendency to gain intimate knowledge of my subject matter[iii]); both as a response to its commercial use in the make-up industry (as the basis for mascara), and also through the local miners’ stories of being continually covered in this sticky sooty substance. During the 1950’s and ‘60’s the miners were given a bar of carbolic soap to wash themselves at the end of each day but it often took months after leaving the mines for the pigment to sweat out of their skin – their clothes, bed sheets and furniture constantly ingrained with the stuff!
bideford black face 1 (p ward & f owen 2013)
bideford black face 2 (p ward & f owen 2013)
bideford black face 3,4,5,6 (p ward & f owen 2013)
bideford black face 7 (p ward & f owen 2013)
bideford black face 8,9,10 (p ward & f owen 2013)
The sensation of smearing the 350 million year old earth pigment into my face (albeit in a somewhat suburban setting) but more so seeing the images that such a primal action creates (for no other purpose than visual exploration) was pleasantly liberating, slightly unnerving in its transformative power and most enjoyable (to both myself and my long suffering and supportive family)! The process of washing it off was equally appealing and visually remarkable – a little like removing charcoal from paper, working back into a painting or washing a really dirty car. Thankfully it came off a lot easier for me than for the miners.
With special thanks to Francesca[iv] for taking such a wonderful selection of sensitive and intimate portraits for me to work with.
P Ward 2013
circles around me
Posted: June 24, 2013 Filed under: activ8, Uncategorized | Tags: Aesthetics, art and science, Arte Povera, arts research, Circle, Communication, Earth, eco art, Ecology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, Interdisciplinarity, Meditation, Nature, poetry, Prayer, Ritual, Strandline, Visual arts Leave a commentexpressions of an intimate ecology 1
whatever impression we make
whatever mark or intervention into the world
that we add or subtract from our immediate environment
in the grand scheme of things
it is merely a pin prick
a rudimentary breath of life, in and out,
a statement of our own nature
a purposeful manifestation of our own individual spirit
our essence in relation with all
we pick up matter along the way and cast it aside as we process it
as we use it, enjoy it, ingest, digest and excrete it
sometimes affecting us deeply
and other times hardly touching the sides
circles in the sand, northam (p ward 2013)
i was recently informed by a most learned colleague
referring to a prehistoric trace of worm movement in a sample of carboniferous mudstone
that all our actions may be divided into three basic categories:
to procreate
to feed
and to escape
how true this is i have not yet had time to process
but it does beg me to wonder “so what is art?!”
and further, for example, “what are politics and science and faith?!”
into what category may such cultural realizations, exploratory or not, fall?
may our fundamental actions be likened to that of a most simple invertebrate
or do we really embody, within our large brained bipedal opposing-thumb-ness, something more?
more power perhaps
more understanding or more rights to annihilate and create?
and do we really have it in us to make amends
to unravel and undo the complexity
of our previously, largely subconscious, peripheral interference in this earthly dynamic?
for one i fear not
so as i draw giddy circles in the sand
or piece one word against another word most joyfully
expressing myself within this intimate ecology that we share,
i may only ponder what my true intentions are…
am i prancing like a peacock, all full and feathery, to ultimately impress some mate or other?
or aiming to provide nutrition of some kind, putting bread upon the table for myself (or not)?
or am i more reasonably aiming to find another world beyond this everyday world
this world of miraculous mistakes?
P Ward 2013
recent practice 2013
Posted: June 24, 2013 Filed under: A BUNDLE OF STICKS, activ8, eARTh, Uncategorized | Tags: Aesthetics, art and science, Arte Povera, Arts, arts research, earth pigments, eco art, Ecology, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, Interdisciplinarity, Meditation, Nature, Pigment, Ritual, Strandline 1 CommentI keep on practicing but just can’t seem to get it quite right!?
Alongside the ongoing ‘Story of Bideford Black’ project with the Burton Gallery in Bideford, and experimentation towards an upcoming show at the White Moose Gallery in Barnstaple, my personal practice and research has been somewhat treading water since finishing my MA last September. Having been encouraged to put aside my work with local pigments during the course and explore something new (with some very interesting results it must be said) I have once again been drawn back to the earth, both through the projects mentioned above and also involvement with Soil Culture (a programme of events, research, residencies and exhibitions initiated by CCANW for 2014-15). While I appreciate the deviation and diverse input the MA provided I am still struggling to see how the more academic and conceptual ideas developed may be integrated in a positively sustainable way.
Here are some of my more recent misadventures…
bagful of somewhere, skern 12313. simple drawing; castle beach soil ball; roadside bundle, dale (p ward 2013)
embryo bundle; cordyline bollard tag; cherry blossom kerb; sod hole stack, westward ho! (p ward 2013)
stone top bundle; bundle of sticks in sheep dung ring; fallen bundle, northam: avebury bundle (p ward 2013)
a bundle of sticks at buckland filleigh house (p ward 2013)
small patches of ground – traces, northam (p ward 2013)
a bundle of sticks at the british museum (p ward 2013)
willow dome, broomhayes NAS (p ward & f owen, 2013)
sand drawings, northam (p ward 2013)
body paint, greencliff (p ward + f owen 2013)
shadows, greencliff (p ward 2013)
Maybe in some ways just to keep playing with ideas is enough, to at least to be still doing some art, (and of course reflecting upon it). To scratch in the sand on my local beach while I watch the world turn and the seasons change, to maintain contact with the source of my inspiration – my interactions with the animate world – to make simple and gentle interventions, reinventing my work and exploring again its potential influence in the world and to myself. To make and to find space to work and to regain contact with the community around my home. No longer trying to ‘save the world’ but more to provide a nurturing experience for any who may come into contact with it. Maybe more meditation than performance, more transient than objective, investigation than statement – whatever way is simply a manifestation of my own artful intent.
P Ward 2013
how invisible may i become?
Posted: April 7, 2013 Filed under: A BUNDLE OF STICKS, activ8, Uncategorized | Tags: Aesthetics, arts research, eco art, Ecology, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, Meditation, Nature, Prayer, Ritual, Strandline, Visual arts, Westward Ho 1 Comment.
how invisible may i become,
.
how virtual in my being,
how camouflaged among the foliage,
how indistinct from any others who purport to express the same,
how discredited, how disrespected, underrepresented and misunderstood,
how taken for granted, how unacknowledged, how comfortable in my nonentity?
.
if i were to sink back and back and breathe slowly and silently
or slip my head beneath the safety of the waves and dive down and down
or dig a hole deep and dark and bury myself in it,
would i be walked upon more than i am already
or swept aside and ignored more than i am now?
in the earth, exmoor (f owen/p ward 2013)
do i not shout loud enough or shine brightly enough
or whisper clearly enough or use enough clever words?
are they too long or too short or just put together incorrectly?
or do i not put myself in the right place at the right time
or know the right people or ask for what is rightfully mine?
.
am i simply missing something, not seeing what’s right in front of my eyes,
some logical conclusion or analogy to make my essence clear,
some distinctive nuance of purpose and worth
to allow others to share their fortune
to become valued in this world?
cordyline tag, westward ho! (p ward 2013)
i am often told how gifted and talented i am when on show,
for which I am truly grateful and without which I would not know
how kind and capable, in word and deed,
how practical and sensitive to others in need, how skilled
and just how invisible i have become.
sand, sticks and shadows, northam (p ward 2013)
but then i am a lucky one –
i have a house and a home
i am loved and cared for
i am neither hungry or thirsty or cold or even ill,
i am simply disgusted at how so much talent can go to waste
.
how these precious resources are more often misused and abused,
how such potential may remain unharnessed, how so much love is lost.
.
now if i move inwards quickly enough, turn about and within this radiant form to leave an empty space,
maybe i can create a vacuum into which all the wars and stupidity will be pulled at once
and leave us all to wonder at just how invisible we have become?
P Ward 2013
painting with the earth – greencliff 27313
Posted: March 28, 2013 Filed under: BIOSPHERic, eARTh, Uncategorized | Tags: Aesthetics, art and science, arts research, Bideford, Devon, Earth, earth pigments, eco art, Ecology, ecopsychology, Environmental art, Feeling, indigenous culture, Interdisciplinarity, Land Art, Meditation, Nature, North Devon, Paint, Pigment, Prayer, Ritual, Visual arts 2 Commentsafter some years of research into other dimensions of my art practice, i have given myself a small space to paint again. while a greater part of my work promotes an understanding and connection of the places we live through gathering, geological interpretation and creative uses of earth pigments through workshops and presentations, i rarely give myself the chance to explore them myself. for the last 20 years painting has performed a number of functions within my practice, not least an opportunity to connect to the subconscious, bringing forth images and symbols locked within myself, often in response to the materials and landscape i inhabit.
greencliff 27313 (p ward/f owen 2013)
a quiet and meditative afternoon spent in the company of the 350 million year old seam of ‘bideford black’ (about which i am presently leading a project with a local public gallery – www.bidefordblackblog.blogspot.co.uk) prompted the collection of a range of colours and a time to feel deeper emotions. a pair of peregrines flew overhead, announcing their courtship and their power. the sun appeared and reappeared from behind a cloud as we sat in its growing warmth sheltered from the unseasonal icy wind. full moon waves gently rolling the pebbles below us at the base of the ridge…
reaching out – letting go (earth pigments; p ward 2013)
life blood (earth pigments; p ward 2013)
this time (earth pigments; p ward 2013)
“Aesthetic appreciation of the natural environment is not simply a matter of looking at objects or ‘views’ from a specific point. Rather, it is being ‘in the midst’ of them, moving in regard to them, looking at them from any and every point and distance and, of course, not only looking, but also smelling, hearing, touching, feeling. It is being in the environment, being a part of the environment, and reacting to it as a part of it. It is such active, involved aesthetic appreciation, rather than the formal mode of appreciation nurtured by the scenery cult and encouraged by photographs, that is appropriate to the natural environment.” Allen Carlson, 2009
working hard for what we believe in (bideford black; p ward 2013)
language (earth pigments; p ward 2013)
pebble ridge (earth pigments; p ward 2013)
If you would like to see more of my earlier work and earth pigment paintings please visit www.peterward-artist-illustrator.co.uk …
P Ward 2013
expressions of an intimate ecology 