Practicing my dance moves on an organ. Hmmm. Not sure it works.
I sat down at my piano tonight to try to capture in improvisation some of the feelings of jumping in at the deep end in rehearsal 5 of the Barrowlands Dance Project: excited, lost, confused, overloaded, with a glimmer of hope, and a real sense that’s emerging, of being part of something really special.
Day two of the drums vs piano battle.
Here’s the beginning of a collaboration (or a fight, depending on how it goes) jamming daily with Brendan for 28 days.
Our local heron, fishing. @southsidehap I can’t believe I got this close to him (about 3m).
It’s started. My 40x40 project, that is. I feel like my party was one of the 40 collaborations, but I’m not sure if I can count it. Hmm. Maybe I need some guidelines about what constitutes a project. The only two I have so far is that the projects must be collaborative (tick), and there must be a tangible (physical) outcome. So the party definitely counts, then.
We had an amazing time with a bunch of amazing people yesterday, with hula hoops, party poppers (seemed like there were 40 of them, but I’m not sure), sparklers as well as candles, 40 foods (including Mary’s cheesecake), talking collaborative projects, and ending with a jam session till the early hours with some wonderful musicians.
It was an amazing way to turn 40, surrounded by friends & family, sharing. I feel almost overwhelmed by the warmth and the feeling of being cared for by such wonderful people. Thank you.
What a cool end to the week. Not only did we discover a heron living in Queen’s Park, but we also discovered a patch of boletus (porcini / cep) mushrooms near Glasgow. I’d love to tell you the location so we can share them, so if you want to know, give us a call and we can go mushroom hunting together. For now, we’ve got to decide whether to cook them with roast chicken tomorrow, or dry them for later… Hmm… Decisions, decisions…
Yay!!! A heron has arrived in the pond near our flat. Seems like he thinks he’s a duck; sharing bread with the pigeons. Hmm.
Oh, and I blame @sophontrack and @artistsmakers for putting me up to recording myself playing. Here’s a clip for #riotcleanup - they’re the pair that got the snowball rolling. Sophie (@sophontrack) is a freelance copywriter and travel writer who came up with the perfectly crafted hashtag that covered the globe, and Dan is the social artist who created an amazing temporary installation artwork called Riot Cleanup, that may well have put a lid on the explosive situation that was spreading through England. For the last couple of years I’ve been pussyfooting around starting an artists’ consultancy; one that takes the mindset of artists and creatives and applies it to the biggest, toughest problems in the world, in corporations, and in society. In meeting Dan and Sophie, I’ve realised that I finally have all the evidence I need to head out with confidence with a creative toolkit. The world needs art more than it ever has. We all need to remember what it is to be creators, not consumers, because when we’re creating together, being imperfect together, being human together, there’s really no room for being selfish bastards. Thanks, Sophie & Dan for just being so damn inspiring, and thanks for insisting that I make a video while I played Freddy’s piano. ;o)
