Tag: Artist

Artistic Inspiration

News from my world of Art, and it was wonderful to discover that my painting, ‘Rural Market’, won an Honourable Mention Award in the 2023 Teravarna Art Competition.

Rural Market; by Susie Williamson

This piece is from my collection of African inspired landscapes depicted in my Abstract Landscapes blog – click here. These pieces are painted from memory, thought, feeling… work motivated quite simply to remember friends from a time I lived and worked on the continent in 1999 into early 2000s, including three years in South Africa. Those friendships inspired the following poetic conversation…

Abesifazane base-Afrika

You were meant to be guardians of your homeland…

Not suffer to be stifled by cruel apartheid,

The greed, the violence, the pillage and rape,

Of your gifted ancestral lands.

*

You were meant to sing the chorus of your homeland…

You were not meant to face your name replaced,

Your identity scarred by language stripped,

Your songs and prayers denied.

*

You were meant to know freedom in your stride…

You were not meant to suffer the indignity of poverty,

To see with clouded eyes from your tin roofed shack,

As the lights flicker off.

*

You were meant to sow fertile soil of Africa…

You were not meant to strain on mountainous terrain,

Rock littered earth, soil too thin to harvest,

Lingering memories of forced evictions.

*

You were meant to be proud of your ancestral lands…

Not suffer shame-filled hungry pangs,

Belly empty, mouth watering, looking down over vast fields of crops,

Where your homes once stood.

*

You were meant to carve the future for your children…

Not be shackled to a fate of criminal debt,

While you walk cracked earth, parched droughts, breathing fumes,

Of industries of the rich.

*

You were meant to know peace in Africa’s sun…

You were not meant to know the violence of desolation,

Cool breath of fear, as gunshots chime through the midnight hour,

And a distant scream rings.

*

You were meant to smear red earth and white clay on your skin…

Your blood was not meant to stain that earth,

These were not meant to be your stories,

You are the keeper of your stories,

And you sing with heads held back and mouths wide, as your notes carry far and wide, in a tune…

POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWAY THE MOUNTAIN.

I still sway in the harmony of your song, and feel the tremors of the steps you take,

Your words remain on the tip of my tongue, my pen is poised with the rise and fall of your name,

My heart swells with your fears, your hopes and your dreams…

But…

…you are the keeper of your story,

While my brush sweeps on canvas to house memories of you,

Shared times we aspired and I cherish your smile…

Sicula ngesizulu,

Abesifazane base-Afrika,

Ekhaya e-Afrika,

Iningizimu Afrika,

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.

Nature’s Magic

Summer is upon us and the weather is warm warm warm. Still, no excuse for not sitting indoors writing! And the writing is flowing, for an array of shorts, and for the novel. Inspiration is a common theme, and I don’t have to look far to be inspired, by nature, by colour, by stories both personal and fictional.

A recent trip to the river Otter gave a glorious fix of wildlife, or at least a tantalising reminder of those special moments of hope. Following Devon Wildlife Trust’s successful reintroduction of beavers into the area, I had hoped that maybe, just maybe, I might see one. Alas, it was not meant to be, but special in any case to see gnawed trees and an impressive dam. Given a chance, these industrious creatures are fighting back against flooding, while bringing a whole host of species back into area – the magic of nature. And so we looked, scouring the riverbank, soaking up the wild atmosphere.

(Click here for more about the river Otter in a previous blogpost – #lovedevon)

Nature is a prominent theme in my series, Blood Gift Chronicles. In Return of the Mantra, I explore the cost of exploitation; in The Warder, it’s the fight to preserve wildlife; and in Book 3, there’s a personal connection with the natural world, so personal we might actually merge. Like its predecessors, Book 3 is bringing a personal arc that is out of this world, transformational, and colourful.

Colour…

At home, flowers are starting to bloom…

The bikes are out…

There’s art in the cathedral on the theme of nature…

And my own art is slowly taking shape.

Colour, nature, magic…

What’s your inspiration?

Happy New Year 2023!!!

With each new year comes a brand new book with blank pages just waiting to be filled, and I wonder what the new year will bring. In many ways, 2022 has been bursting with creativity, and it has been fun looking back on some of the highlights.

Most recently, it’s been wonderful to see my piece, Desert Flower, exhibited with Art Show International.

I often think that the process of creating my intricate, hand-painted mosaics, is as much a part of the art as the end result, and this one holds particular personal significance, as it was painted while staying with my dad when he was ill. The patience involved in the painstaking process of painting mosaic effect is something I know he would have appreciated. Art is significant, in all its forms. The smallest book can be the greatest gift. A painting can hold a world. Desert Flower was inspired by the deserts of Sudan, which I maintain great fondness for, from when I lived there many years ago. It’s a place that inspired another painting, Tuti Island. Deserts and the life I found there, also find their way into my stories:

‘The line of the horizon transformed into great mountainous peaks, cloaked in shades of orange with the setting of the sun. It was almost dark by the time we reached the first slopes on a path that abruptly grew steep. In the shadow of splintering crags and sheer cliff faces we meandered narrow paths, the soft thumps of the camels’ padded feet, and occasional whip cracks echoing around deep canyons. Like the desert, this was a barren landscape. I thought of the stories I had grown up with, thought of the picture my great grandmother had painted, and imagined a time when people had climbed these same mountain passes on a pilgrimage, imagined their footsteps still echoing where camels now trod.’ Return of the Mantra

My life is also enriched by the creative endeavours of others, in all its artforms, which in turn inspires me to continue finding routes to share my own. My re-kindled passion for poetry saw me invited to be featured poet for the night at a local favourite open mic event, which was great fun.

And of course it has been great to get out and about with my books, Blood Gift Chronicles, either in person, or online (thank you Covid!). And, as is customary, the new year will begin with scheduling for more, so plenty to look forward to.

In contrast, it’s always good to take the time for some R&R and a breath of fresh air. I’ll leave you with some photos of a recent trip to Haldon forest, where scores of real-life Xmas trees live, watched over by a robin or two.

Wishing Everyone a Happy, Healthy & Peaceful New Year…

xxx

Quiet Contemplation

It has been a long and productive day on catch up with emails and various admin tasks, mostly in relation to up-and-coming events and conventions. Countdown has begun for WorldCon, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago – thanks to Zoom I will be attending from the comfort of my writing room.

I’m looking forward to taking part in more panels and readings at WorldCon and other events coming soon. There’s certainly no time like the present to hone in on some of the subjects that strike a chord for me in reading and writing: intersectional feminism and queering the genres, non-conforming women warriors, challenging stereotypes, power dynamics, worldbuilding and the societies and creatures that inhabit them. I could go on…! It will be wonderful to share thoughts and ideas, be inspired, and add to that all-important reading list that never seems to diminish. Magic, literally magic!

In the meantime, around home are colourful corners for quiet contemplation. With more recent artwork to hang, I’ve been discovering unexpected partnerships between portrait and abstract mosaic landscape.

For further afield moments of calm, I feel grateful to have a river close by. Last Saturday involved a day’s cycling trip downstream as far as the sea, seeing the changing flow and feeling refreshed as the ocean’s vast expanse takes shape.

Yesterday evening, in need of a quiet moment and a big breath of fresh air, we took a meandering amble along the river, catching a riverside scene basking in a golden glow, before resting a while in Belle Isle park, where the weeping willows drape feathery tendrils against the riverbank.

Wishing everyone a good weekend ahead.

Art and #IWD2022

Following on from my last blog, this is part two of this year’s International Women’s Day theme, and news from my world of art. It has been a pleasure to, once again, be a participating artist with the Menduina Schneider Art Gallery’s virtual collective in celebration of International Women’s Day. Looking through the exhibit I’m inspired by the creative interpretations on the theme, and reminded of the role art can play in raising awareness, highlighting injustice, and offering inspiring messages of strength, resilience and empowerment.

My own contribution to the show was my painting entitled, ‘Women’s Movement’. This piece draws on colours, symbols and language from the International Women’s movement. It highlights the historical suffragette movement, and current campaigns, including those against sexual abuse, domestic violence and female genital mutilation. The cogs of the movement are set against a shattered backdrop, representative of broken pieces coming together to form a whole.

To view the accompanying video, click here for the YouTube link.

Until next time…