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Lotte Glob

Posted in creativity, from the dark room, photography, tagged durness, pottery, scotland on August 14, 2008| 8 Comments »

Some ten years ago my daughter lived way up in the very north west corner of Scotland – just outside Durness. There was a local pottery run by a woman called Lotte Glob. Her work was really not like any other pottery I’d ever seen. As well as making cups and utility pottery (but quite exquisite and each piece totally unique), she gathered materials from the ground around where she lived, mixed them into works art and placed the art back into the landscape where she’d gathered the material. The idea completely caught my imagination. Over a few trips we collected a number of cups. I love how underneath each one is just two words “far north”.

Here are some of them –

She has an exhibition currently and she’s published a beautiful book about her “floating stones” project.
I saw her exhibition at the Watermill Bookshop in Aberfeldy last weekend. It was stunning. Look at this simple tile for just one example –

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Vanity Fair at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Posted in from the dark room, photography on August 13, 2008| 3 Comments »

I think one of the loveliest buildings in Edinburgh (inside AND out) is the National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street.

Until the 21st of September they have a special exhibition on show – the Vanity Fair Portraits 1913 – 2008.

I can’t emphasise enough the difference between looking at an image on the web, or in a book, and actually seeing the original in a gallery. As I walked into this exhibition the first portait I saw was of Isadora Duncan.

isadora duncan

Now, that photo doesn’t look much in this small form, does it? But in the original, large portrait, it is simply stunning. The exuberance of Isadora makes her seem as if she is filling the entire image, yet the smallness of her inbetween the huge pillars makes her seem tiny. Somehow, as you stand in front of this portrait, you can perceive both her greatness and her smallness at exactly the same moment. It’s unnerving, it’s amazing and it’s intensely moving. Well, that was the first portrait I stopped to look at and one after the other this fabulous collection totally captivated me.

One strong theme runs through many of these images – the uniqueness and the impressiveness of the subjects. Powerful, vibrant, unique human beings. I strongly recommend this exhibition. If you can’t get to Edinburgh look out for these portraits being shown near you.

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Nigella sativa

Posted in from the dark room, photography on August 12, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Black cumin, or “love-in-a-mist”, or “nigella sativa”
Isn’t that a beautiful flower? I love both the double layer of petals and the spiral patterns. They give such a feeling of movement.

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Belief

Posted in from the dark room, life, photography on August 11, 2008| 2 Comments »

All human beings try to make sense of their lives. We each have different ways of doing that and we use different frameworks of understanding to do that. (Owen Flanagan uses the nice concept of “spaces of meaning“)

With that in mind, take a look at this small bookshelf. I saw this in a little independent bookshop yesterday. It’s the section of the shop labelled “Religion” and “Esoteric”. Those are two interesting words to put next to each other to begin with……

Check out the book titles (if you can’t see them clearly click through to the flickr page where I uploaded a copy and click “all sizes” to see a larger copy of the photo). Along the top the shop has a New English Bible, books of psalms, the Q’ran, books on Tibetan Buddhism and Zen……this isn’t an unusual selection these days, even in a village bookshop in the Scottish Highlands.

What do you think about the books on the bottom shelf? There’s a book about the occult in London, a book about Celtic myths, one about Druids, and “Derren Brown’s Mind Tricks”!! That’s the one that struck me! Derren Brown, for those of you who don’t know, is a hypnotist and magician!

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The sky never ceases to amaze me

Posted in from the dark room, photography on August 9, 2008| 6 Comments »

I swear the sky I see from my window looks different EVERY day. I’ve posted photos of the sunset over Ben Ledi before but tonight, in the last hour, I looked out and saw this sight.

I have never seen anything quite like this. It’s amazing.

Funnily enough, I just finished reading a book by Pierre Hadot. The book is called “N’oublie pas de vivre” (Don’t forget to live). His key word is – emerveillement – which you could translate as “wonder”, “marvel” or “awe”. If you want to live, to really live, (as a hero, not a zombie, as I’d put it!), an attitude of “emerveillement” will do it. The more we wonder, the more amazing we find daily life, the more we feel the thrill of being alive.

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East meets West

Posted in art, from the dark room, life, photography, tagged china, culture on August 8, 2008| 1 Comment »

This young woman was standing next to the statue of David Hume on the Royal Mile last weekend. She was one of a number of people who perform as “living statues”, standing very still for long periods as people gather, watch, photograph and maybe leave some money. It’s such a strange phenomenon, this kind of performance. What amazes people is their stillness. Isn’t that interesting? In the bustle and hurry and continuous doing of life passers-by are caught by these artists’ stillness, their not-moving. And what effect do they have on the crowds who rush by? Well, either only a passing glance, or they are caught. They stop and they stand and they watch, sucked into a moment of stillness. It’s quite something to see.

But it was the juxtaposition of this performer and the huge solidity of David Hume’s statue which especially caught my attention. Set me off thinking all kinds of things……..the relationship between contemplation and philosophy; between thinking and acting (who’s thinking and who’s acting here?); and, probably because this is the EIGHTH day of the EIGHTH month of the two thousand and EIGHTH year today and at EIGHT minutes past EIGHT tonight, the Beijing Olympics will commence, it got me thinking about the intermingling of East and West, of different traditions, different views, different cultures and how they influence each other.

This is a time of change. The old orders are creaking and shaking. As China engages with the rest of the world and the rest of the world engages with China we’re going to have a lot to learn about each other and, actually, right at this moment, I find it awe-inspiring and mind-boggling. I think many of our presumptions are going to be shaken to the core. (BBC2’s Culture Show special on China is an example)

It’s times like these when great opportunities arise to wake up from un-reflective, passive ways of life, (zombie life), to creative, radical, active ways of life (hero life).

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Edinburgh Festival time

Posted in from the dark room, life, photography, tagged edinburgh festival on August 7, 2008| 3 Comments »

You know this plant? It’s a Buddleia. People who love butterflies plant it in their gardens because of its reputation for attracting butterflies.
Well, I’m sure it’s not the Buddleia hanging off North Bridge that attracts all the visitors to Edinburgh in August every year, but something does (and it’s not the sunshine…….)

Although the rain doesn’t stop them enjoying the pleasures of al fresco drinking and dining…….

Thousands and thousands of people come to Edinburgh in August for “the festival”.

The Royal Mile becomes a vast pitching ground for the hundreds of theatre groups and performers trying to persuade visitors to come and see their show.

It can all get a bit much, but if you need to escape from the crowds, Edinburgh has it’s emptier spaces to explore.

I suppose some of the things that repeatedly amaze me about Edinburgh at this time of year are the chances to really see and feel the rich diversity of life, the natural exhuberance of people and the overflowing expressions of creativity and passion. It’s worth having a day wandering around and just soaking it all up. But don’t forget your umbrella!

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From different perspectives the view can look very different

Posted in from the dark room, perception, photography on July 27, 2008| 2 Comments »

This photo of a cliff with the clouds swirling around it looks distant and remote. You could imagine it’s a landscape in a wild, barely populated area.

However………

When I pull back the zoom without shifting my feet a single inch I can capture this photo……

Different impression entirely, huh?

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Plants, music and sacred places

Posted in from the dark room, from the living room, from the music room, life, music, photography, tagged ethnobotany, lily, plants on July 26, 2008| 1 Comment »

I wandered into the Cathedrale Saint-Saveur in Aix en Provence the other day. It’s one of those awe-inspiring spaces. In fact, it’s a multiple of spaces inside, some vast, and some small and intimate. I’m always interested in the way plants are used by human beings (enthobotany is the correct term!) and so it was no surprise to see the prominence of lilies in the cathedral.

Lilies are one of those plants which have special spiritual signifance over many centuries. If you ever wander around a gallery of French or Italian paintings for example, you’ll spot lily plants in many of the religious ones. The white lily is sometimes referred to as the “Madonna Lily” which further conveys the extent to which people have imbued this plant with spiritual significance.

The scent of lilies is very, very strong. I find it quite overpowering. In fact, it doesn’t take long before I feel rather queasy in a room full of lilies. It’s a pity for me because I think they are very beautiful but I can’t have them in my house. Fortunately, the cathedral is so large I could escape the scent of the lilies pretty easily.

What did surround me absolutely everywhere was the music. They were playing Thais’ Meditation. You know it? Here’s Sophie-Anne Mutter playing it. It’s one of those pieces of music that always, but always, makes me feel tearful. It moves me in my core.