Winter Art Walk
"From a far it sound's like a group of friends, so much laughter + joy"
Images by Rae Story
That was what someone said who walked past our little group at dusk in Stenner Woods in Didsbury. We were laughing so much because Ifi had just said that she admired the squirrels with their simple life, and Lima commented that she wasn't so sure, and Ifi continued that they just have a simple home and wear one outfit and don't have to worry about things. For some reason it got us all giggling and Lima did a little squirrel dance asking if we liked her tail, and then acting all anxious about someone stealing her nuts. It was very funny. But maybe you had to be there... But the fella passing by recognised the ease and comfort of our noisy group and reflected to us that we must be a group a friends. This is one of the themes that we keep coming back to - the importance of relationship and being in the presence of others. Particularly during Covid times, particularly when we are feeling isolated and lonely, even if we aren't speaking or laughing just being close to people, being with a trusted group gives us a sense of belonging, of connection, of kin.
Today our walk was a lovely exploration of Winter and what it means to us. We looked for signs of Winter around Fletcher Moss and surrounding green spaces.
Images by Rae Story
Ifi noticed that in Winter we might think everything is dead, but really it is just covering up what we can't see, which is the life getting ready for the next season, and we gazed at the layers of copper leaves covering the ground and wondered what bulbs and surprises lay beneath. Lima also picked up on this idea of the 'under layer' beneath our feet, beneath the leaves and she worked in audio on her phone recording her musings and beautiful melodies.
I thought it was a dark day, but then you come here, and you really open your eyes to look and you see all the colours and the brightness, its amazing!
Images by Rae Story
The colours today were rich and full as autumn tones took on a quality of decay. Perhaps because of the weekend snowfall many plants had really dropped in the freezing conditions, they are done now until next year when they will re-sprout and start their cycles again. Although we can not really say when a cycle begins, that is the beauty of it, when you look closely these categories fall away. We talked a lot about decay and want that means in nature. Paul reflected on what decay means for the human body as we age and things are just not what they used to be. We talked about how we project our own feelings onto terms like death and decay and actually they are all just part of the natural cycle of existence and it is we who judge these parts of the cycles differently.
Winter definitely offers us that chance to cast our ideas and beliefs around, but actually Winter is just Winter, nothing more nothing less, nothing good nothing bad, just a necessary part of the seasonal clock ensuring things are in their place and that the cycle can turn and life continues.
Images by Lima Al-iskalachi