Figures in / figuring the landscape
Day 1, residency at Callemondah Studios, Illawarra, NSW.
Listening to small talk in the kitchen where it is snug and still, I felt compelled to seek solitude outdoors, to absorb nature, the new surrounds and soak up the sun’s rays.
Sitting in the afternoon sun with the wind roaring all around, the birdcalls are lost.
The trees take up the chatter, each communicating with the next, through textures, colours, sounds and scents.
Standing stones hold strong and still against the gusts. Magnolia petals fall and dried leaves twirl in whirly-gigs around the cows.
All the while the wind gathers, builds, carries and rushes across the escarpment overhead. It moves in waves down the valley to where I sit outside the stone buildings.
Eddying below, the wind sounds like the sea but it can’t be, as it’s some distance away – a slip of deep blue on the horizon, beyond the undulating fields, rows of cows, trees and houses.
Immersing myself in this crisp mountain air feels luxurious, stimulating and new. It awakens my senses and clears my mind.
And as the afternoon quickens, the cold starts to settle and chill the wind.
I am driven to the indoors where it is still, fire warmth and human talk fills the air.
6/9/17
