The wisdom of no escape.

There is a story of a woman running away from tigers. She runs and runs and the tigers are getting closer and closer. When she comes to the edge of a cliff, she sees some vines there, so she climbs down and holds on to the vines. Looking down, she sees that there are tigers below her as well. She then notices that a mouse is gnawing away at the vine to which she is clinging. She also sees a beautiful little bunch of strawberries close to her, growing out of a clump of grass. She looks up and she looks down. She looks at the mouse. Then she just takes a strawberry, puts it in her mouth, and enjoys it thoroughly. Tigers above, tigers below. This is actually the predicament that we are always in, in terms of our birth and death. Each moment is just what it is. It might be the only moment of our life; it might be the only strawberry we’ll ever eat. We could get depressed about it, or we could finally appreciate it and delight in the preciousness of every single moment of our life.
– Pema Chödrön, The Wisdom of No Escape.

White on white

I was having dinner with a friend in a little spanish terrace about two years ago.

We were initially talking about adrenaline, work, the summer and then out of the blue he asked me a question that has stayed with me until today.

“Could you please explain to me why a person can cry in front of a painting or a piece of art?, are you born with this sensitivity,  or is this a learned behavior, is it taught?.

In the most humble attempt to try to answer this question, I told him that at least for me there are clearly certain things that move me or excite me, that deep down it all comes down to how it makes you feel. Though I have to admit that ever since I started studying and finding out more of the historical background of the work and  the lives  and inspirations of the artists it gives the pieces a broader depth and power.

Then, I thought of my grandmother and  we’ve developed very sweet conversations on the phone (we are old school, no skype) , where she  asks me about what I am doing in the university, she enjoys hearing stories about the things I see, the people I meet, why I do what I do and asks a lot of questions.

When I visit, I love showing her my friend’s work , photos of things I saw in museums and hearing what she thinks about the pieces, sometimes she just laughs but other times she usually starts the  sentence with  ” This reminds me of…” and associates it with her own life.

Which brings me to the answer of how I would answer the  question today. It all  comes down to  have the desire and curiosity to truly observe and keep asking questions, art conveys individual emotions but you have to be willing to be in the receiving part.

Like I said this was two years ago, ever since from time to time I have asked a few of my teachers and friends this question as well and it leads to very interesting conversations.

What do you think?

Today I leave you with a painting by Kazimir Malevich which he considered “the supremacy of pure feeling.”

“Only when the habit of one’s consciousness to see in paintings bits of nature, Madonna’s and shameless nudes.. ..has disappeared, shall we see a pure painting composition. I have transformed myself into the nullity of forms and pulled myself out of the circle of things, out of the circle-horizon in which the artist and forms of nature are locked.”

• as quoted in: Marc Chagall, – a Biography, Sidney Alexander, Cassell, London, 1978, p. 178

Silvia Plath

 

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

I’m not afraid to say, that I want everything

Don’t you wish you had the time to just try different things, to experiment with new materials, to spend days in a single project without feeling guilty about not working?

I have a small list of things I want to learn, starting with baking, I wish I could be really good at it and also I want to learn to sew and learn to make specifically 2 things, long dresses and loose straight pants , the list goes on but each craft,  really is a small world with techniques l,tips, secrets, takes practice, patience, money for materials etc

And then try juggling that with real life, work, house work, family time,that thing people talk about mmm yeeee sleeping! and those of you who have children and still have Etsy shops and work from home, I tip my hat to you and admire you so much.

I want to learn about jewelry because is what I do, and when I see other things such as textiles I just think of how to incorporate it in jewelry, and my brain functions toward how to wear something.

And since I got to Antigua like a year and a half ago, for the every first time i traveled here,  I met  him, he is from Japan and who I bought the stones from, and from then and my travels here to today of me living here he has been my stone supplier, then one day I stop by and see him pulling out of some boxes the most beautiful leather bags

– I lost it-

Specially when I found out the whole thing was hand stiched all the little pockets, all by hand because is too thick for a sewing machine.

He  is so kind, and sweet and told me he can teach me a little bit, and I gave him ideas for belts and jewelry and we both have been collaborating this past week making some bags for my shop, using stones I love and that I would have used for jewelry. He makes the structures this while I learn to set stones with leather and make the right stitching so if over time one stitch got loose all the rest would still be there perfectly not like it would with a machine (you know when you pull it and the whole thread comes out 😛  )

It’s so hard because it’s new, is really cool the new tools, the stitching, the leather itself, it’s so beautiful and like he said, in the begining it was made this way, in an artisan way with a few tools and a lot of love and creativity

You know what I learned this week?

I learned that people are ok with teaching about what they do, if they know you will give it your own twist and you will respect the craft, because it’s true I could teach someone how to do the basics in jewelry but if I felt that person is going to make the exact same thing as I , changes everything, so this harmony of collaborating, sharing ideas, it’s so so so beautiful.

Well let me show you the first 2 bags :

 

This one made with ocean jasper, I am obsessed with mustard/yellow tones, and this stone has them all , and along the leather it looks so nice.

And this one with a faceted agate with a little pocket druzy , a belt with a pocket perfect for jeans and a tank or with a long dress like this…

As for mine I did a little stiching of it and is not done but is also one with a belt , I’ll post photos when it’s done..

I’m leaving in 15 days and well I’m a bit sad because I won’t learn as much, but back home I’ll experiment by myself and see what comes out, also I can’t wait to see my family it’s been way too long.

And now I’m off to list these 2 bags on my shop and I leave you with this song where the title of this post comes from and that I can’t get it out of my head..