Small Beauty Noticed
Polishing the Substack stone; stringing beads
Hello, and welcome.
You may find things look a little different this week; I’ve been polishing my Substack stone. Three months and 13 posts in (wow, I’ve surprised even myself) I wanted to give a few things a little TLC hence ‘Small beauty noticed’ and the image above incorporating what is still my favourite photograph of water from this year.
It feels important to be able to find and share joy amid the everyday - small precious things; ambiguous day dreams; fluidity in all forms. To grow writing into a habit, rather than waiting for a spark. If that resonates, uplifts, inspires, encourages, then all the better.
I enjoy finding fellow travelers, especially but not limited to others with a connection to water, who are rooted in place, who value nature and time spent outdoors, or who find that words are fluid too. The visual is important too, as is curiosity. Substack, for now, seems like it might be the vehicle for this. I’m on the bus, enjoying the ride, and I’m interested to see where it takes me - and you.
Generosity feels an important part of being here and growing. Writing this is a significant investment of time and effort, but I don’t want to hide what I create behind a paywall. You do now the option to support my work here through a paid subscription if you value it and have the means to do so; think of it as a virtual coffee and cake once a month. I plan to continue writing on a weekly basis about practice, process, what inspires me, brings joy, and to share other writing and art that brightens my day - and hopefully yours too.
My hope is the FLOW will be a place of ease for you - which is what peering into pools or through vegetation, experimenting with media and playing with words provides me with. Small beauty noticed.
On Sunday I went hunting for frost. Another walk, but this time with a twist; I’ve started talking to you as I go. It could be an age thing ;-) but it’s good to play with and mix up format too. Excuse the Paramo rustle.
So what did I find? Looking through Sunday’s photos I’ve made some more connections. Sometimes image making seems to loop back and around.
The first photograph was taken with a wide aperture through a lichen clad birch tree, and in mood and mark reminds me of this mixed media print.
When I started on Substack in late August we were in full heather bloom. My favourite images from Sunday are again of the heather, or rather through the heather. The flowers have bleached to soft earthy pink. Looking through it I find another reminder that we inadvertently revisit earlier stopping places.
And in turn these pairings take me back to last week’s work in progress and some of my monotype prints.
I’m hopeful that my circles will in fact turn out to be spirals, and take me a little further, rather than anchor me to the same spot. I’m beginning to see a pattern developing in my visual interpretations irrespective of media.
This week I’ve been working on an interview with Ian Hill for On Landscape magazine.
To borrow some of Ian’s words “Ultimately, the need I have to photograph and write is a compulsion; it is a means of giving a voice to the things in which I am interested.”
I think that says it rather well. The interview will be published in January 2024.
And on Wednesday, in a lull between snow showers, the grasses did again sparkle. The only question is ‘How abstract do you want to be?’
Thank you for reading FLOW. If you’ve enjoyed this and it sparks something for you, please let me know. A like or a comment, or restacking if you’re using the Substack app always brightens my day.
If you’d like to catch up with more of my writing and images you’ll find them on my Substack home page.
My photography and mixed media art live here.
Until next week,
I loved reading this and seeing your photographs. They are so beautiful. I think a lot about Flow as a writer and teach it all the time, so seeing it slantwise like this is a lovely start to my day. Thank you so much for polishing the Substack stone!
A wonderful post, am glad I found it!