Lights Out: Lights On.

    Margaret Atwood -The Times

We took part in the Lights Out campaign to commemorate the fallen during WW1 this week. We lit candles in our newly patched up conservatory and sat amongst the flickering lights until it went dark outside. We agreed no electrical equipment so phones, music and kindles were turned off and we sat quietly, Simon reading and me with a sketch book a friend had given me for my 30^th birthday. The only sketches the book contained so far were ones by Simon and his 3-year-old nephew, sadly none of my own. I find I have less and less time for sketching ideas with having a full time job, a Labrador and a new house.

I have been giving myself a hard time lately about ‘not being an artist any more’. I felt I had no time for it; that being an artist was now in my past, no more exhibitions, no more commissions or projects. Why bother keeping my blog, it is all old work and it just highlights that there is nothing new on my CV. As if somehow I thought I could only be an artist if someone was paying attention to me.

However, sat in our candlelit conservatory, writing in my sketchbook I came to a realisation. You don’t choose to be or not to be an artist, you either are or you aren’t. I am now slowly coming around to the idea that the house and garden are my new sketchbooks.

I’m now appreciating that I don’t have to create ‘artwork’ to satisfy my creative needs, I can put my creativity into everything I do. I remember reading that Gilbert and George never cook; it was a life decision they made so as not to waste their creativity.  I don’t have the luxury they have to eat out every night, but actually I’m not sure I’d give up cooking, I quite enjoy experimenting with it. Walking the dog in the woods is as inspiring as a walk through any gallery or museum and the garden and house give plenty of opportunities to experiment with different creative ideas.

As Margaret Atwood says, being busy doesn’t have to mean the end of creative output, I just need to stop thinking about it so much and maybe spend more time with the lights, phone and television turned off.

 

Ancient Burntwood and The Mystery of The Green Man.

Three months ago we got a Labrador called Tommy, he was just short of two years old but pretty much still like a puppy. Shortly afterwards we moved into our house in Loggerheads, Market Drayton (not Loggerheads North Wales – that’s the next house!). We have been walking in the local woods, called Burntwood, it is a paradise for Tommy, full of tree hurdles from the storms, interesting smalls to sniff and a giant pool for swimming. For us there are some beautiful trees and loads of rhododendrons; I can’t wait for them to flower. We’ve also spotted some oddities; someone keeps remaking a green man face with leaves, sticks and mud, in the same place every time and there are a very intriguing trio of pumps hanging high in a tree with ‘April 13’ inked on the soles, as well as a play ground gone to ruin.

When we finally got the Internet sorted in the house I did a quick search and discovered that Loggerheads is built around an old Tuberculosis Sanatorium that was near the woods. Thought to have fresh air good for healing the patients, people were brought out here and made to sit out in the healthy air even in the winter. I’m sure this must have done more harm than good but I do like the idea of the woods being full of wooden huts with patients sitting in a beds dotted around the trees.

When you walk around the woods there are still some signs of the Sanatorium and what seem like some once manicured areas of trees and walls. I was still intrigued by all of these things so contacted the Forestry Commission who manage the woods. Roger, a very straight talking man from the Forestry Commission came around to tell me everything he knows about Burntwood. It turns out he knows quite a lot as he has been working in the area for 15 years. I can’t remember all of it but the areas I was interested in were part of the Sanatorium, they have been left to overgrow. He also told me that parts of the wood are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the areas are Ancient Woodland, which means they have had native trees growing in them since before 1600 AD and are therefore considered completely natural and not planted. In these areas are Birch, Oak and Holly trees. Apparently living in the heath areas of the woodland are some rare butterflies and moths too, the Argent and Sable moth is a black and white moth that flies in the daytime and the Welsh Clearwing is a very odd looking butterfly. The Clearwing is only found in Wales, Ireland and, as the UK Mothswebsite states, ‘it has been rediscovered in quite good numbers at a location in Staffordshire.’ Location undisclosed but it has to be Burntwood.

On my few walks in the woods since the meeting I’ve enjoyed locating the SSSI areas and imagining what it would be like with the Sanatorium up and running. I’m also looking forward to trying to spot some of these odd looking moths and butterflies. I’ll see if I can spot the mystery green man creator too! As for Tommy, the woods continue to be a paradise of flying sticks, rabbits to chase and fallen trees to kangaroo hop over.

Wales to the Rescue: Saving doesn’t have to be Boring.

As somebody who has been self employed, working all day every day to either find work or deliver it, I find the summer holidays in my new job very difficult. If I’m not achieving something every minute of every day I start to feel a bit like I’m wasting time. I can’t sit and do nothing, I’ve got six weeks, in that time I should be able to make a fortune, go on an adventure, build a huge list of experiences etc etc. Whilst struggling with this dilemma last summer I managed to spend over £1000 in one month, not on any bills, that was just spends, money that I didn’t have. Now I’ve made the decision to buy a house I had to tackle this summer spending problem and decided I’d spend the six weeks not just saving but earning money as well. So far I’ve managed one and a half weeks working for my Dad, a few evenings decorating for a friend, I’ve put a load of stuff on ebay and have started a pile of things for a carboot sale. I’m trying to organise some art workshops for this week as well, so three weeks into the holiday and I think I’m doing quite well. The only problem is that about a week ago I had to start avoiding facebook. There are lots of people on there posting about their amazing holidays and trips. Adventures have started clocking up including a month in Norway, two weeks in the Alps, a campervan trip around Europe, beach holiday in Tunisia, working in Bangkok and to top that my boyfriend is planning an all boys sea-kayaking circumnavigation of some islands in Croatia. Cue feeling of frustration and jealousy… gah!

Then, something magical happened … we went to the homeland last week, travelling around North Wales in the camper. We started with a great family holiday at Bala for two days, friends and family sailing and playing in the water. Then we went to the Rhinogs, the first time for me, which was beautiful and adventurous, as we couldn’t see a thing because of all the rain and mist! We found a great pub with friendly people; on awaking in a car park in Llanbedr one of the local allotment owners offered us a cuppa! Then we went on to another beautiful spot on the estuary in a magical campsite before heading home. Oh what an amazing time you can have on little money in Wales. Cymru am Byth! I’m totally inspired to continue to discover new beautiful and exciting places in Wales (oh and maybe England), who needs expensive trips to foreign places when adventure is right here on our doorstep! I’ve ordered a book on welsh scrambles, borrowed a few OS maps and can’t wait for the next trip!

Tarka the Blackbird

I’ve just finished reading Tarka the Otter and it was everything I expected it to be, whilst also being the opposite. I laughed, I cried, I exclaimed in shock and much to the annoyance of my partner I kept on insisting that I read bits out loud to him. I’m still recovering from the sad but heroic ending and still very confused about what some of the animals actually were! If you haven’t read it I would definitely recommend it. Sometimes when you read a book you are touched by the subject, sometimes you are so unaffected you can pick up the next book straight away. I have books that I can read over and over again, some that I cherish because of the way it looks or the way it feels. I don’t think I will ever throw Tarka out! Since beginning the book I have developed an insight into animal behaviour and an inquisitiveness.

Last week there was a series of bird stories flying around the staff room, almost all of us had almost hit a bird in the car, witnessed a tawny owl in the tree house or disturbed a nest of some kind. Mine goes something like this: I was retrieving a bucket in order to wash my car from the outdoor store and awoke a mummy black bird, she chi-rupped at me very loudly until I dared to return for the sponge at which point she swooped over my head and into a nearby tree. She continued to chi-rup at her baby that was still in the nest and looking more than a little straggly. The baby eventually made its escape but couldn’t manage more than a few meters before it grounded, mummy bird hot at his heels chip chip chi-rupping. That was it I thought, he has had it and it is my entire fault for wanting to wash my car. A good excuse to go to the car wash next time, but I couldn’t shake the guilty feeling. The next day driving down the road we encountered another baby black bird sitting in the road, the mother again on the side of the road chi-rupping what I can only imagine was something like ‘use your bloody wings you daft bat, get out of the road!’ But it only moved when I attempted to pick it up, it flapped and scurried into the hedge. I felt a little better but never forgot our blackbird. Then this morning I had a little surprise, I looked out of the kitchen window into the garden and saw two little blackbirds, one mummy looking and one a bit rough around the edges. At first I thought that they were fighting over some food we had dropped the night before, but then I realised they were sharing it, or were they playing with it? Inspired by Tarka I began to imagine their story since leaving the store, perhaps that was the push the baby needed to spread his wings and start on the difficult journey of becoming an adult. I imagined the mother teaching him how to find food, how to survive life outside the nest, maybe it was him we rescued from the road and that was another lesson learnt?Whatever their story is I’m confident it is the same baby and that he will go on to live a full and exciting life.

Making it Happen

So often teachers come to our centre talking about cuts; lack of money and resources or unsupportive management and parents. All of which makes the visit to us harder and harder.

Last week was a little more refreshing, a head teacher had come with his school and one morning, on a whim, he enquired about the possibility of doing a follow up kayak river trip in a few weeks time. My boss found a vacancy for him and by the afternoon he was on the phone to his secretary asking her to send a letter out to parents. Just like that a decision was made that will enrich the lives of the children who get to go and possibly become a pivotal moment for them, be that through increased confidence, making new friends or even starting a new hobby.

It made me stop and think about what it really is that holds us back, sometimes it is easier to blame others than to accept responsibility yourself. It reminded me of how I got my job. I had wanted to be a windsurfing instructor since I was in school, but in my floaty way I ended up on a fine art degree, so when I graduated I naturally began work in galleries and museums. My floating eventually swept me to dry land and I realised that I was working in an IT suite as an outreach worker, with a boss who appeared to be agoraphobic. I blamed several things for not having my dream instructor job, my location, lack of qualifications, even my partner. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my degree and enjoyed lost of things about the job I had. I’m still in touch with some of the people I worked with, but I knew things were headed in a direction I didn’t want to go and so I had to get out.

One afternoon I googled outdoor pursuits companies in my local area and sent out a letter asking for advice on how to get into working in the outdoor industry. I expected the response to be at most ‘no qualifications equals no job’, really I expected nothing and looked for other avenues of escape. A few weeks later I got a response, in the form of two letters and two interviews. After all that time, all I needed to do was ask. The only thing holding me back was me.

I’m glad that this head teacher came to visit last week; I’m glad that he has reminded me that you can’t just wait for things to happen. A small action can make a big change… Imagine what a big action can do!!

Being an Artist Again

I graduated in 2006 with a degree in fine art, I spent almost 6 years volunteering as a board member at an art gallery, was a studio artist, took part in exhibitions, projects, commissions and residencies. I was totally immersed in my life as an artist and I absolutely loved it. My artwork had meaning and it was thought provoking, I was producing work about Alzheimer’s and was even invited to talk about it at events. It was more than pretty pictures and far from the clichéd watercolour painting of a fox.

Two years ago I got my current job as an outdoor education instructor and gradually I’ve slipped away from the art scene, I left the art gallery due to lack of time, I have a shed studio now but I never go in and let my website lapse. I hadn’t quite realised how far it had got until my boyfriend told me he struggled to describe what kind of artwork I do to one of his friends.

This was a turning point for me, it really shocked me and I immediately started work looking at the limited artwork I had done over the last two years. It consisted of drawings, some prints and some photographs. Putting together a new website really helped me to feel better about my past and current artwork. See it here www.katiemayshipley.blogspot.co.uk It has even sparked new ideas for artwork.

I’m nowhere near ready to start applying for exhibitions and projects, but I have got a few things up my sleeve…

BFF & Banff Film Festival 2013

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Last weekend I went to the Banff Film Festival in Stafford, I nestled in to my seat in the theatre full of down jackets and 40 something year old men and watched with awe, excitement and sometimes fear as the intrepid jumped, climbed and paddled their way across the screen. As inspiring as the dare devil acts were, for me there was one overwhelming theme that ran through the first few films: Crossing the Ice, Wide Boyz and Flow Hunters were all about groups of friends doing the things that they love… together.

I had a heart-warming moment as I thought of a friend’s birthday trip I was part of only a few weeks ago in Snowdonia. A T4, T5 and a VW Golf estate parked up in a lay-by housed 6 sleeping climbers one Friday night after work. We woke early took in the snowy views, yawned and headed off up to the Llanberis Pass. We walked up and up and up in low visibility, navigating through gaps in the clouds toward Parson’s Nose. As two groups of three we roped up and started the ascent with two more groups hot at our heels. We topped out on Crib Y Ddysgl and gently strode to the top of Snowdon in almost white out conditions, then gingerly descended down the Miner’s Path in the ensuing darkness. It felt good to get to Eric’s Café in Tremadog that evening to eat birthday cake, drink wine and chat about the day.

The highlight of the trip for me was at one point during the climb, a solo climber pranced quietly passed us stopping only to ask quickly ‘are you with a guide or instructor?’ to which I responded ‘no, we are just a group of friends!’ As I answered I was hit with a huge sense of pride and I can still feel it now, I’m so happy and constantly amazed that my friends and I have the ability and inclination to go on these adventurous trips. We all look after each other, without the need for baby-sitting or hand holding, there is little or no fear and no drama queens. Having capable friends around you makes these trips even more memorable experiences, knowing you can trust them with your life and that they are willing to trust theirs to you makes the experience and the friendship much stronger. Plus it’s just more fun to do things with your friends!

There was sadly one massive thing missing from the film festival, this was the inclusion of films about women (and no a cute film about a dog called Lily doesn’t count!). I know there are excellent films out there for example Jen Randall’s film Push It about her and her friend Jackie’s fun but remarkable ascent up El Cap; it even fits in with the friendship theme. There is only one thing for it, I’ve decided that I and a few of my female friends are going to have to get out there and start making films about the things we are up to. I’ll have to start saving for a video camera!

Check out a taster of Push It by clicking here...