Everything is Changing

Having taken a laid back and flexible approach to producing work for The Serenity Series, (as would only be appropriate for the subject matter!) I didn’t set out with a goal in terms of how many pieces I expected to produce. 

This is especially true as I didn’t really feel there was a very clear aesthetic link beyond a general idea and that the whole thing had happened quite accidentally. Since recognising how influential Buddhist iconography had been and then choosing to learn more about it however, it feels right that perhaps having reached a better level of understanding it would be time to move on. Upon completion of a seventh canvas in May, I was able to collate the images and realised that actually, the little ‘family’ of apparently hotchpotch pieces did have quite an identifiable visual link and didn’t just rely upon the conceptual to unite them at all. 

Driving on in a conceptual vein, I have decided to begin exploring notions of impermanence, a key principal I have discovered in Buddhism, and personally very relevant to some of my recent experiences. Whilst I very much enjoyed reconnecting with painting and mixed media, in moving forward I have again reverted to drawing and sketching. This has seemed especially appropriate as the theme I have now chosen to explore encourages recognition of our desire to ‘capture’ moments in time which are necessarily fleeting. Photography is an obvious tool for attempting this, recording a fraction of a second with the highest shutter speeds, however drawing, and the time required to sit, observe and translate the three dimensional and dynamic world around us into a static two dimensional form brings with it an interesting dichotomy of process and goal. Interestingly, it also embodies another Buddhist ideal; that of mindfulness and integration of ones experience with the present moment. 

I’m not yet certain where these new sketches will take me though I’ve titled the book ‘Everything is Changing’ and I’ve enjoyed their creation so far, which can only be a good sign! I’ve now added some them to the Sketchbook pages of this site and have recently published two new poems, (linked below and also on the More Words of Mouse page) which instead engage with the concept of impermanence from a literary perspective. 
In writing this update, I have also just noticed the title of my last posting; how right I was!