Permaculture is “a philosophy of working with rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labour”
Bill Mollinson
I’ve dabbled with an interest in Permaculture for several years now. Permaculture is a design system based on 12 principles which are illustrated by proverbs and sayings. Some of the principles move easily from horticulture to sustainable living practices to ethics to art. I don’t hold with the view that you have to go with everyone of the priniciples (there are 12 in all and you can read more about them here ) but I do like number 1 – “Observe and Interact” though I think you could fine tune it so that it reads “Observe then Interact”. (Incidentally the proverb for Principle #1 is ‘Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder hence the title of this month’s blog’.)
I’ve been working on the Coblynnau project for more than 6 months now and done a fair amount of observing. I’ve looked at and read about The Keepers ;
I’ve spent time outside sketching in different seasons and in different weather conditions;
I’ve spent time inside sketching while Gill & Hollie of The Cedars Tea Rooms plied me with snacks and home made cakes.
Finally, last Saturday, the time for observation was over and the time of interaction had begun. My exhibition of Textile Art created for the Coblynnau project was held in the Visitors’ Centre at Bryngarw Country park. 194 people viewed the work over the 2 days and for many of them, it was their first experience of Textile Art. Of the comments written on the day, some words came up time after time : interesting, creative and inspiring. Some of the comments that I’ll remember for a long time, however, were not written down which was a shame. There was the man who said the images ‘creeped him out’ and the 86 year old lady who wanted a lesson in stick weaving so she could do it while she was watching her favourite quiz programme on TV. Because art is often a solitary process, it is important to ground what you are doing and how you behave by having interaction with others. An exhibition or an artist in residence session is a great way to keep your feet on the ground and remember that there are more important things going on in the minds of some people than looking at your art. And, if proof were needed, I will leave you with a record of a conversation I had with 9 year old Emily:
Emily: Who drew all this?
Me: I did.
Emily: Wow. Awesome.
Me: Thank you.
Emily: Are you famous?
Me: No.
Emily: You should be famous if you can draw like this.
Me: Thank you.
Short pause while Emily thinks about her next question.
Emily: Are you the sort of person who comes to people’s houses to help them with their Art Homework?
Me: No.
Emily: Shame.