I apologize for the long gap! This week has been a busy one -the first of the kind since I arrived at Sitka.
There have been all sorts of things going on and I am glad to be back to my nest in the net, to share them with you.
Another resident has left the centre, and new artists have arrived.
There has been a short day trip to Portland on Wednesday -it was my first time in a big city since I arrived in the US. I have found myself searching in vain for big trees, across the busy streets and buildings -I am not used to urban life anymore!
I spent my “town time” looking for art materials, especially fibers, threads and yarn, as well as paper and needles. Laurie Lambrecht, the resident and friend who left Sitka this week, has taught us other residents some fiber arts techniques -knitting, embroidery on paper, and waiving…something for which I couldn’t thank her enough!
I also had the chance to accompany her taking photographs around the Campus, and loved to see her at work. It was such a gift, to discover the forest through another artist’s eyes. Thank you Laurie! You can find out more about her amazing art in her website.
Now that my arts table in Morley House is covered with fabric materials, I am freely exploring the new media, diving in the process…and truly loving it. Stepping in a new art domain is always enriching, magic. It brings me back to the pure fascination of learning and experimenting, something that children do naturally all the time…”To keep your nose on the joy trail” -using the words of wonderful singer, artist and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie.
In the pictures you can see how I am learning to knit, finding out how to turn a series of knots and intersections into smooth rhythmic movements… something like a dance of fingers and yarn, that filters through time and brings me some place else.
My week has been spent then working on recent local connections, and on new distance collaborations.
I got in touch with two primary schools in our area: as you know, one of the aims of the NewWorldsProject is to offer free-of-charge workshops on arts and creativity to the local communities, with the support of the FUP Friends of the International Menuhin Foundation. I had a very nice meeting with one of the schools’ principal, and scheduled my first visit to the school for next week.
I am very excited for this opportunities, I really can’t wait to meet the children and the staff. My plan is to offer a mixed-repertoire concert to the whole school, and then small-groups activities in the fields of art, creativity, and marine mammals conservation. I hope I will be able to involve both the children and the school staff in the process.
As for the distance collaborations, a brand new project will bring me explore the world of Humpback Whale Song with colleague Alex South. Alex is doing a PhD in Zoomusicology in Scotland, studying the process of change in Humpbacks’ incredible song repertoires. We met in Barcelona during the World Marine Mammals Conference, at the workshop “Arts as a tool for communicating Marine Mammals Science” (more infos about it here) and this week our collaboration made its first steps.. and I am already over the moon with it!
It really is time for big news, so here is another one: I have been working hard towards the launch of my CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN! The raised funds will support the NewWorldsProject, especially its third chapter- the Canadian trip. Using the platform INDIEGOGO, I aim to raise 3500 euros in 45 days. The launch will probably happen at the end of next week… so stay tuned!!!
Meanwhile the second chapter of the NewWorldsProject is taking shape: this week I started the travel-planning work for the Mexican trip. There are some issues with the cello tickets, which I hope will get sorted soon.
It was a busy week indeed. There have been as well dinners, packings, an ocean sunset, an early morning false-alarm, and some consistent amounts of pouring rain… But now I’d rather take the chance to welcome the new residents Chris Rose and Ingrid Erickson who joined the Sitka community on Wednesday.
It’s so fascinating how this magic place can bring different people together, and I look forward to discover more about Chris’ and Ingrid’s work. We walked down to the estuary together on Thursday, and found a beautiful rainbow bending over Cascade Head. Quite a welcome!
I have been reading articles and listening to some interesting talks & podcasts, for more soon-to-start collaborations. I will share some links and resources in the next post.
Until then, my best wishes for a cozy, happy Sunday to you all 🙂
