The fresh air of Annaghmakerrig

I have just returned home after four days spent at the Centre working on ArtLog. My task was to catalogue and abstract the entries. I have to say the content is fascinating. It is so interesting to see how people make connections, fashion their work and give their ideas physical form. More than one entry speaks about the impact that surroundings have on an artist's creativity. The Centre is positioned in a very beautiful landscape which has its own particular light changing with the time of day,not to mention the weather!. For example,this visit was punctuated by spectacular fog which surrounded the Centre in moist cotton wool and made it seem further away from the real world than normal! However, artists in their entries have spoken about how interacting with nature....simply by going for a walk..can stimulate ideas and illustrate new connections. One artist spoke about how the singing of the birds reminded her of a line in a poem. She mentioned it to a composer at dinner, he came up with music and now between them they have a poem set to music. Another artist spoke of walking to a faery fort which set off a whole load of associations in her mind that she used in her work. It seems to me, that as an artist, you are never off duty, that inspiration can lie in the most unlikely spots and in everyday occurences. How marvellous is that?