Posts Tagged ‘secret garden’
The Spirit of the Land
I feel that there are places in nature that are very powerful, where the veil between the dimensions is thinner. When I make art in nature I am drawn to these places; it is not about how it looks really, its about how it feels. The reason I love the Burren is because of how it feels or how it makes you feel I love how it looks too! In the book Spiritual Alchemy the author says that Ireland is one the countries where the veil between the dimensions is the thinnest and therefore easiest to feel certain energies. Out of all of the places in Ireland that I have been to I think Clare and the Burren area is one of the strongest. It seems to attract allot of healers and creative people. (I see healing as being very creative and music and visual art and poetry and other forms of creativity as being very healing.) I wonder was it the energy of land that attracted the people, then because of all the creative people and healers that it became even stronger? I love the idea of all of that music floating around out there echoing off the ocean and the rocks for eternity!
I was talking to someone who plays music and writes, about a certain place I have made two drawings I said that I reckoned that it was a very special place, he agreed saying that `if fairies do exit, they exist there!¨ Later that day I spoke to a woman who was very passionate about the same place and brings all of her guests there at least once. I was amazed the other people felt something there as well as myself and James.
I love the book Eternal Echoes written by John O´Donahue, who died earlier this year. The painting Secret Garden was inspired by a story he told about this garden in the mountains he remembered from his childhood. I loved the idea of a secret garden in the mountains, all ordered and cared for, surrounded by wilderness.
I am going to do some research into Aboriginal art and their connection to the land. I just read about an aboriginal woman Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910-1996)who started painting after she was 70 years old, she was very prolific, and made up for all all those years of not painting!
The Secret Garden
Spain (Camino to Santiago)
The back of our Lada Niva 4×4 was filled with the contents of James’ herb garden, which luckily was in pots! Lavender, Rosemary, Thyme, Mint, Tarragon, Fennel and a few more, along with lanterns and candle holders, painted tiles, pieces of oak from old wine barrels which had some words painted on them hoping to inspire the passing pilgrims. A couple of woven table cloths to cover the top of the rusty well, and a watering can. The location was the sight of an anciant Roman village, now all that there is is a dry well and two benches. Suddenly it was a little herb garden!
Every morning we brewed fresh coffee and water for tea that were left along with a little teapot and cups for the ceramony! We left a mound of oranges and lots of granola bars along with a few handy backpacking supplies like cloves of garlic, chillies and shallots! Every morning after leaving the fresh supplies James and I would light the candles and wind up the musical duck pond and dissapear quickly to give the pilgrims a very surreal experience in the middle of a lonely track!
For two months we left these little offerings for pilgrims. The idea of the donativo or donation system that we always used was so that anybody could afford to have something to eat and drink it didn’t matter if they had no money, people could leave what they could afford and what they felt happy leaving in the donativo box. This system worked really well for us and things seem to all level out in the end and everybody seemed to be happier including us! It was hard to believe what a huge difference this little idea made to people’s day, perhaps even their Camino.
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