‘The object isn’t to make art, it’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable’ ….Robert Henri

This is a photo of Minu. She is one of three kittens we gave away some five weeks back, Minu to a family in town who live in an apartment. We were a bit apprehensive as Minu was born in our tool shed and had spent her first two months of life playing amongst the flowers in our garden.

However they are a nice family and we thought it would turn out OK as they had a big terrace. Well, the mother of the family called us three days back to say she was worried that Minu buried herself away all day and crept around with her tail between her legs and never played with the other older cats. So Lili went to bring her back and she said she was a sorry sight and utterly depressed, and what’s more was locked in a bedroom every night with the other cats and put in a carry cage. But the story ends in a happy note because after three days back home she has refound her sparkle, is back with her mother (lots more to learn) and has been revisiting all her old hang outs; this afternoon she went back to the shed to the very spot where she was born. I have come to the conclusion that four months with here mum was what she needed and we know now that she has recovered her true nature and all is well in the garden.

I love the remark by Henri at the top of this blog. It’s my fall-back point and the one which I jump back on to every time I get intellectual hiccups about creativity.
So all my blogs from henceforth on this site will be on this theme; that to shift (back) in to the magical and parallel world of creativity is essential for the very survival of our species on this planet.

And it’s such an adventure too. A journey, if you will, and one which is almost Hobbit-like in its twists and turns; and its labyrinths with monsters lurking around every corner to block you and gobble you up if you fall asleep and drift back to the dull world of rationality.

You see, creativity cannot be divorced from life itself. To be creative is to be fully human, fully alive. And our species has gotten itself into a right pickle because it has left the garden, the poetic garden of that wonderful state which Henri refers to above.

Image making is as old as our species. It is our nature and is fundamental to the very essence of existence. It is something we are born with and which never truly leaves us were we but to realise this.

So we need to vibrate again with fesh energy and re-connect with our unique creative poetic selves which have been patiently awaiting a timely re-awakening.

So what’s the big question here? I’ll tell you. It’s to find a space, find a path, find a community of like souls to help us see again that which our culture has made us blind to.

On Monday next, I am running a painting workshop for a bunch of seven year-olds here in Italy. I love doing this. I do the same with adults who I magically turn into seven year-old by various tricks and games. You see, this is the age where children arrive at a critical junction in their young lives and are drawn away from the poetic creative by mainstream education and parental pressure. And to be creative with children at this age is a great reminder of how wonderful human beings are before the onslaught of dull rationality seeps in and sullies the soul.

But all is not lost, dear readers. Rescue is at hand. We will bring you back home to your true creative selves just like we rescued Minu, and free you from the dull corridors of constraint that everyday life has been forcing upon you.

Look out for our creativity workshops in Assisi this summer
Write for more info for how where and when to… Michael and Ant (write contact you think best)