A seasonal creative pivot
We need to respond
Welcome to my wee corner of Substack. I am a seasonal artist living on the Isle of Arran, off the west coast of Scotland. I am the custodian of approximately two acres of land that includes a woodland, a meadow and my wee garden. I offer a seasonal book arts project for paid subscribers if you are interested and you can read more about that HERE. Grab a cuppa and lets delve into our relationship with the shifting seasons….
I have been a seasonal artist for over 20 years and I have learnt a great deal from Mother Nature during that time. Perhaps the biggest take away is the joy of living by natural time. I rarely know what the date is and if I am away from my phone (which is more and more often) I could only guess at the time. The pay out for investing in natural time is a sense of freedom but this is linked to a deep connection with the natural world around us. Not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to live by natural time and I understand that completely. However, you might locate some pockets of time where you can let artificial time elude you…..
Responding to that narrative the seasons do now know what month it is or how far we are through the month. They do, however understand the journeys of the sun and the moon. They do understand light. There is my rationale for being a seasonal artist. I want to be prompted by Mother Nature that spring is on the way rather than a calendar, or worse, social media. I walk daily in the mornings and I follow a very similar route so this becomes my teacher. Right about now nature is beginning to show its spring hand despite the cold grey days. It is seeing some light that I am obviously missing.
If you commit to creating in tune with the seasons you need to learn to pivot. I pivot during the transitions between seasons as a way of seeing the world in a 360 degree viewfinder. If I see one crocus attempting to bloom I go in search of more. If I see the camellia coming into bud I gather a couple to bring inside. I rest them in a tea cup of water by the window and let the light do the rest.
I add in some other spring finds and all of a sudden I have a beautiful spring arrangement on my desk offering me gentle inspiration. In my transitional pivoting I am always reminded of the two layers that exist when you become a seasonal artist. The first is at the surface layer and comprises of all the sights and sounds that surround you just as a new season is knocking on your creative door. That means the sketchbook comes out to capture before printing early spring images comes into play. Joyful. Responding to what you see around you is so important. The second layer is just as important and, in my world, probably more important. This relates to how the season speaks to you and how it makes you feel. In these transitional pivots the mind is busy looking for signs of the new season and therefore the surface layer seems to dominate. However, lurking deep in our subconscious minds is a more considered response that is far more personal. It is far more about our ‘relationship’ with the shifting seasons that draws on countless memories of the same time of year. This thinking is totally life affirming as it speaks to your inner unique voice.
As winter begins to let go of its tight grip on the world I feel a growing sense of promise growing within me. The promise of more light, more colour and more movement. I pivot around these concepts deep in my mind reflecting on how they make me feel. Somewhere inside this thinking new creative work is birthing and I owe that entirely to my ability to pivot with the seasons. I move around seasonal concepts investigating what they mean for me and the wider world.
I have always believed in invisible streams. Water flowing around us, underneath us and through us creating a sense of flow. It is that sense of flow that I need to be the artist that I have become. I will be talking about how I do this in future pieces but I mention it now as I instinctively know it relies heavily on my ability to pivot during the transitional times of the year. So, at this time of year I am pivoting around all the small changes I see as spring makes it suggestions clearer and clearer. I gather this information up in sketchbooks, prints, stitching and more knowing full well that new work is beginning to call me. I wonder if you would like to join me in some transitonal pivoting to help make sense of the immediate world around you? What might you uncover?
Until next time,
Fiona x
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A lovely life-affirming reminder than in living seasonally, we might find hope, nourishment and sustenance 🌱
This piece makes so much sense to me and you have articulated a 'phenomena' which I have experienced but struggled to put into words - even fully in my own mind. How I have always thought of it is along the lines that the less I think, the more my creative endeavours make sense to me, in response to both the outer and my inner world. Taking this approach helps me process very challenging mental ill-health, but also connects different parts of myself and - as you are speaking of here - connects me to nature! Our true home! I look back through art journals and can tell the season based on colour, form, the mood of the piece. It's all so interesting. I look forward to reading your further reflections as you share them. Thank you Fiona.