A few photos from the hood here in Hackney Wick.
Ok, I woke up about 7:30am this morning. Went to bed about 1:30am last night. I am not taking as much time as I would like to just chill and reflect yet as I might do at my studio but that is to be expected.
It is hard on collage artists and probably anybody to arrive to an unknown place and then set up and organize oneself, meet a lot of new members of your cohort and then dig in and get something accomplished. But that is OK and all part of the adventure. Like most artists, we all are accustomed to work privately in our own hard won studio spaces and you have to change modes, lower expectations, chill out and trust yourself that everything is going to come round right.
All of the sudden the old Shaker song came to mind, memorialized by the composer Aaron Copeland.
Ah, yes, lovely.
‘Tis a gift to be simple, ‘tis a gift to be free.
’Tis a gift to come ‘round where we ought to be.
And when we have come down to the place just right
we will be in the valley of love and delight…
Again, Kudos to Les Jones for his very generous and thoughtful preparations for the event. He seems to be in his element. And I so much appreciate all of the wonderful artists who have joined us to make this week a time to remember among ourselves. I am sure we will all be good friends by the end of the week as we spend time together and hang out.
I have met many wonderful Londoners here in passing as well. I don’t get out much, I typically stay in my own studio hermitage. So it is fun to get out ‘among um’.
More soon…