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.