3 – 4 June sunrise 6.32 Gargarou cliff
May, June a new series of Illuminations after the winter erosion
Nov 30 mark making with the remains of charcoaled branches from the pit fire
Dec 5 hardness in the old scars from pruning the olive trees, this year’s softer marks
frottage drawing with the olive trees, allow chance into the creative process
cycle of cut branches – growth, olives, olive oil, fuel for pit, charcoal/ ash , drawings on old paper/ new growth
30 Nov pithoi made in the local villages last 2 centuries were rolled down the earth paths trodden by donkeys, to the boats that stopped at a wooden jetty on the beach.
Huge pots rolling past our olive grove.
old man with donkey stopped often on the track 10 years ago, exchange smiles, the potter in village a mile away, no donkey or potter now.
sea worn shards found on the beach, fallen off boat or broken and thrown into sea.
mountains of seagrass along shoreline, waves churn stones on sea bed, shards of pottery washed up, cliffs battered, erosion of the soils and rocks creates a new cliff face
April 4 flowering sage covers clay pieces, butterflies around fire, hear explosions in fire
intense heat of fire and sun as we throw olive branches on the fire
April 5 pair of golden eagles fly in the valley and over the olive grove
April 6 energy of fire transforms, animal images appear, clay pieces erupt and crack like clay cracks on the cliff with the heat of the summer sun
sifting through ash in pit, ash to the olive grove
last making with clay before pit fire, mother.
need to give air to fire
surrounded by bees in sage flowers, owl in south west, deep peacefulness at dusk
church bells across valley chime 3 tones as fire burns to ash
birds sing, soft pink tones of setting sun reflected on mountain peaks
October 31 Birth day, remembering line of mothers before me. talking with the ancestors, sage fire
Nov 4 full moon rises over sea, moonlit olive grove, bright fire, deep quietness, moonlit shadows
Nov 7 little owl in olive tree in east, fly south and away
Nov 8 making with clay, balance, images of myself, woman energy, giver of life, moving body
Nov 10 high piles of seagrass cover stones on beach, easy to walk on, collect clay, new cliff fall
Feel elements as the raw energy of life. Whirling wind through olive grove, waves crash rocks, sand, stones, bring seagrass onto beach creating cliffs of bouncy seagrass along tide line
Find sea worn fragments of olive tree bark, cuttlefish.
strong warm winds carry sage and orange blossom scents. Olive trees flower. bees, orchids
fire leaves traces of touch on clay forms, smoke, fir tree resin, silt soils, irons, seawater/salt deposits on clay, like on shells, rocks in sea. Burnt olive oil cans iridescent colours, ash and charcoal remain, charcoal shows growing rings of tree, find shell on beach with similar ageing rings, lines of my skin layered in clay as I make.
Nov 21 dig half the ash out of the pit, return to earth around olive trees, rain coming
Nov 22/23 pit face, notice my shadow, lightness of ash, see visible and invisible images emerge
15 Nov Pit fire of clay works, burn fig, bay, fir and hollyoak branches after we prune, clear the land
many clay pieces from summer making in the sea, soft again, collapsed, some erupting with salt crystals
dug deep pit, 6 big olive oil cans inside hold clay pieces, ones stored last years olive oil, opened, 2 to create reducting atmosphere, the other oxidising more pieces around cans, thick tree trunks, fir branches protecting, on top wet grass and mallow. Ignite fire with olive oil from bottom old cans
burn branches constantly til dusk, dancing leaves, fire blazing, crusts and flames, clay transforming, still air, little smoke. Fire burns bright through night, ash molten glow, quiet flames, new moon resting
16 Nov big pile of ash, cans revealed, keep burning during day, burn fig tree branches and heaps of dried grass to smother and keep heat inside, wood deep in pit burns red
natures processes, physical and creative, body immersed, oneness in the moment, deep state of being, experience my body in nature being the doorway to sentience, presence
Oct 24 Dance in olive grove, feel tall wild flowers touch hands, become part of my dance, light into darkness, sense directions, feel the elements, lie on ground feel the pulse of the earth
dig on the land, once seabed, find stones with shells embedded, holding millions of years of life
Oct 29 Dusk, clay, hands, moving, knowing, belonging, no words, no thoughts
30 October, dance with fire in wheel, feel my bones, feel my skeleton dance/move inside my flesh, watch in minds eye, feel boniness of body, holding clay, bright fire, bright energy
Oct 31 Birth day, stand on seaweed beach as sun rises, rain drizzle, sun hidden by cloud, sing/voice to mountains, listen, turning of the year, make with clay on beach, bone like forms, give to sea, crashing waves take half the clay, immersion in the elements
walk along beach, find bone eroded by sea, like forms I made at dawn, shell fragments washed and worn smooth by salt and water
dusk into night, darkness, talking to ancestors, bright fire sparks animate flames, I move in infinity, energy being, deep quietness in olive grove, owls calling, unseen animals rustle
2 Nov, two days of rain and storms, feel change from old to new
4 Nov, sun light bright, 24 degrees, meet man on Gargarou beach, collecting shells, he shows tiny long shells, found on beach fallen out of cliffs, revealed after storms
Autumn equinox storm, torrential rain, hail and thunder, lightning bolt over head, feel on edge, feels cleansing storm, election, leaving behind old Greece, opening to the unknown
sudden end to my mornings working under the cliffs, too dangerous to gather clay now, sodden cliffs, heavy soil, ending allows a new way of working to unfold.
walk beaches after storm, cuttlebones battered, some pecked by birds, some smoothed by sea
Sept 22 stirred sea, muddy, cliff fall, thrown off balance
spontaneity, when it cuts through the thinking and pre conceptions, it arises in me, unity with sea, entering the sea of unknowing, touch the mystery
Sept 27 hard waves, making on beach under part of the cliff that feels solid
cliff embedded with shells and fossils , some 5 millions years old
Sept 17 lumps of dried cracked clay fallen, embedded in seaweed on beach, crack some open, cliffs change each day, more earth fallen, graffiti and marks integrated into cliff
2 Sept dawn, pink sea, slow steady ripples splash feet, dusty acrid smoky air, 3 fishing boats, sunrise dull fazy hazy grey pink, soft hues on cliff, subtle, delicate imprint
my body dancing tonight becomes the squeezing of clay I felt this morning on beach, the making of shapes, with my arms and hands, my body feeling like clay, my body fluid and solid
sharp rise of sun, glow to brightness, clear imprint. Limited time to work after dawn, fierce fire on my back, allows spontaneity, quickness of process. I make for an hour before sunrise, an hour after, sun fire feels burning at 8.30, wade through sea alongside cliffs
27 Aug walk past eroding cliff at dawn, aware a storm or earth tremor might bring it to beach
dream state after siesta today of small tablets shining out from rocks with small symbols on, like ancient script, inscriptions cut into earth, Linear B clay tablets?
29 Aug dawn, warm air, red glow over mountains, find pocket of clay beneath a cud of earth fallen in sea, roots extending, deep orangery brown, very soft clay, press into cliff, image of my shadow disappears. clay tablets crack as they dry, like cracks in cliff as they bake in the sun fire
body imprint on cliff akin to my skin imprint on forms, same unfolding processes, evolving from spontaneous fleeting moment, unconscious fusion of energies of the living Earth
man carves determinedly deep into cliff, fishing knife, letters ‘sts’, digs with forceful energy. Synchronicity, the day I begin to make tablets, incise into clay, someone incises their tag in cliff
red dawn, golden sun rises over mountains, birds fly across, high, bright sun beam across sea, capture moment, turn to photograph cliff behind me, try to avoid my shadow
fleeting moment of my shadow imprinted onto cliff, infused with colour, layers of soils, impregnated with fossils, shells. Unseen for weeks, feel momentary flash of unity
each morning walk alongside the cliffs, just a few moments after sun rises to capture subtle elusive energies, days different – slow rising big deep red sun, quicker bright golden sun
spontaneous. chance, split second of time, decisive moment when everything comes together
elements integral, transformation, fire from sun and fire burning the olive tree wood, unveiling of mystery held in images emerging and from forms unearthed
Intense summer heat, fall asleep with flashes of my shadow, one to another, fading in and out, flashes of light, illuminating pre – conscious states
Begin making on beach at dawn, clay fallen from the cliffs after storms, making immersed in sea water, rest clay forms in sea worn bark from olive trees fallen onto the beach and washed by the sea.
After burnishing and drying in sun, salt crystals appeared on the surface of the clay forms.
Before the fire in December the dry burnished clay forms had returned to soft clay like the day I made them, many collapsed. Sea salt had absorbed moisture in the damp air which softened the clay and the forms collapse. The same cycle as the cliffs, after storms and sea lash against them the soil becomes sodden with rain and seawater and the cliffs collapse.
As the clay forms dried again with crusted salt crystals, no burnish remained and in the fire the sea salt combined with the burning olive and fir tree branches leave their marks on the forms.