The art of life
An unusually interesting day. I dropped over to my dear ‘artist’ friend’s studio in Henley to pick up my old vintage bike (wicker basket and everything!!!) in an attempt to squeeze it into my little mini so I could take the kids out for a bike ride tomorrow when they come back from their dad’s.
Anyway, we stumbled across his old container of old photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures…a lifetime of memories, finished and unfinished. There were hundreds…some very simple pencil sketches, some framed photographs, faint water colours, small plaster of paris sculptures. It got me thinking of how much we achieve in our lives that we either forget about, or think is unimportant, and yet when something happens that reminds us, it can bring an array of emotions…positive and negative. It reminds me of something my ex-husband used to say…’you never know when you’re making a memory’. I guess it’s like going through an old vinyl or CD collection which, when you hear years later, takes you straight back to a time in your life you had forgotten.
To my amazement (and utter delight!!!) we came across all the photographs that were taken when he sculpted, the supermodel and icon, Yasmin Le Bon. The intimacy of the sculpting process; the natural connection between artist and muse (I suppose not dissimilar between my role as a massage therapist and a client) was so obviously real and natural. The photographs were so beautiful and understated
And then…all of a sudden…he gave them to me and said, ‘take whatever you like’?!? Naturally, I was blown away, but as I sit this evening looking at the photos, I suppose I realised why he didn’t need them. A picture gives you a reminder, but doesn’t take the experience away from the person who had it. Those photos were only the tiniest part of of the process for him. He lived that entire experience (and is still great friends with Yasmin now), so the pictures, to him, really are insignificant. What was important was the creating process, the bond that formed, the ability to see into the soul of a person who you are spending time with in a very intimate way. Photographs are beautiful…but they’re a 2D image of a moment in time, of a memory that only you will remember in the way you remember it.
Don’t get me wrong, I love taking pictures, I love capturing ‘art’ and seeing things from a different perspective through a lens. But I suppose the idea of being mindful to look at life without a filter also needs to happen. To experience the reality of everyday, no matter how mundane it feels at the time (because let’s face it, most of us don’t spend 3 months of our lives sculpting Yasmin!!) is important otherwise that time just slips by. But also, how you see it will be unique to those around you and thats what makes us all beautifully different.
xx