3 – 4 June sunrise 6.32 Gargarou cliff

May, June a new series of Illuminations after the winter erosion

Nov 26 intense looking, expanded awareness, find marks, lines relationship

marks from digging the pit, marks from fire and ash,

pit fire and sun fire transformation

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.

Nov 28   frottage drawings,  shadow  new beginnings

olive branch charcoal from the pit fire each twig different softness, unknown

spontaneity balanced with intention

Sunrises over the mountain range opposite the cliffs where I work map the relationship of the Earth and sun

23 June  clear bright sunrise after weeks of hazy sunrises from Sahara dust in the air

13 October  big deep red sun of autumn, slow rising

10 October  waves, rain and wind re works cliff face

weather cycles – creative processes, erosion gives creative raw materials

regenerated cliff offers new surface to work with

deep quietness emerging

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

intense heat in northwest of pit, fire fuses 5 clay pieces together, create one, 3 arrangements 

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

Mar 20  vibrant fire of the plants

12 Dec   Earth – one body  –  feel olive tree my extended body

places on the tree trunks where I have pruned in past years contribute to my image imprinted on the bark of the tree

Nov 26 dig out pit – earth fallen inside, handfuls of earth on sides of pit leave my hand prints

Nov 27  moving olive branches towards pit

Nov 28 rainbow into sea. gather logs for fire pit cut from trees at harvest years before

prune wild sage bushes on land, sage for beginning and end of fire

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

minerals, fossils, shells of sea creatures embeded in earth

In winter rain softens clay, force of water from hills, land saturated, clay expands, falls

Shells revealed in silt in lower cliff, silt fall. Make with clay fallen, roll in silt and broken shell

June 15  feel fire of sun rise in my body, intense concentration, focused awareness, allowing space for the mystery to come in

sun illuminating,  link to beginning of time, feeling momentarily merged with cliff

sun sets, fire burns down, mountain of ash in pit and piles of leaves left, return to the land

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

Harvest olives dawn to dusk, huge pile of branches. Hands soft, touch thousands of olives. Hitting olive branches with stick, reverberates in my sleep body, seeing olives in dream state.

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