More beauty for sale for MSF
My house is a curious house. It’s a peaceful place. At the moment there is quiet. The log burner sings a warm song of fire crackle. Outside there are the wings of small lives. No wind at the moment. Dogs and cats live in harmony here and I wish I could say the same of cats and the small lives, but for now, all cats are dreaming. I’m lucky. I’ve been aware for years that humans are drawn to dark narratives. I’m not. But finding tales that are rich with beauty, life and light? Well, it’s difficult. Years ago I watched Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders and Peter Handke and Richard Reitinger. In the film one of the characters muses:
” No one has so far succeeded in singing an epic of peace…. what is it about peace that makes its story so hard to tell?”
I have always felt that we imagine and write and tell our own future. Why are we not capable of making the story of peace the narrative we wish to sing? Horror, the dark, tales of death, murder, all these fill our tv screens. It is one of the reasons I do not have a tv, because I do not see these tales of serial killers, death and horror to be ‘entertainment’. To write of the light is so much harder when the audience is a species that is drawn to horror…. We live in times of our own making, and we should do better for those who will inhabit this earth after us.
The original posting about items for sale to raise money for Medicine Sans Frontiers is getting a little unwieldy, as so much is sold, so I have moved things that remain to this new page. I have also stopped taking commissions for doves for now, as, much as I wish to raise money for MSF it is becoming all consuming and I need to make doves straight from the heart, and not to order ( a curious difference, but a strong one, so I am looking for other ways to raise money) There will be more doves, in time. I will still be sending out Unwinding postcards to say thank you to folk who simply donate to MSF, with the odd dove making its way out at random, so if you simply donate, then leave a comment I can contact you to get an address for the card. The chorus of generosity so far has been beautiful so, thank you. To reserve any of these please email me.
2:Still for sale is the beautiful panda drawing from Cathy Fisher, a sketch for the front cover artwork. This is below. The sketch is a pencil original and comes with a copy of the first edition of the book, signed by me and Cathy: £1 200
First edition copy of first album The Lost Words Spell Songs (not widely available)
Copy of our second album Spell Songs II: Let The Light In
Spell Songs Tote Bag
Spell Songs Original Tour Poster from our 2019 Tour
Spell Songs Winter 2022 Tour: £75 (RESERVED)
Next is a perfect Christmas present for a folkie in your life. Many thanks to all at Spellsongs for the donation. Spellsongs began six years ago when Robert and I went to the Winter Festival at Hay. At the beginning of our event we played a film by Kerry Andrew, with a song inspired by the Wren Spell. Caroline Slough was in the audience and was inspired to form this amazing group. There’s a live album coming at the beginning of December so keep an ear out. Digital only, music from an incredibly moving performance at the Natural History Museum, London. Anyway, see below and above and many thanks to Folk by the Oak for the donations.
Rob has an auction running on his instagram page, so you will need to follow this link to bid on these two foxes. Large pieces, they are practice pieces for performance.
Today’s settling of head moved from chaos to peace.
Below are 2 pieces of transfer gold leaf. The transfer leaf is for sale, but the stones will be returned to the beach, there to be discovered by someone, or the sea……
7: Gold soul of a heavy light ( transfer gold leaf- 8x 8cms) £150 ( again I will photograph where the stone rests for a while, but the stone belongs to the earth and cannot be sold)
I do not pretend that after centuries of literature I could be the one to write that epic of peace, but through my art, through my words, I would like from this day forward to sing its song, which I hope might become a chorus, a choir, a symphony.
Your desire to write/sing of peace in a song which draws together to become stronger, reminded me of a rhyme I wrote for ‘Spellsongs’…
Jackie M & Mr. Mac
Were having a discussion.
They were appalled
At the loss of words
And decided to take action.
They planted the seed of an idea,
You could call it an acorn.
It grew and grew
And grew and grew,
And more ideas were born.
The root went down,
The stem went up,
And put out many branches
Books for schools, for old folks – all
Then, further happenstances.
Musicians heard the calling spells,
They answered with their vision.
The words, the images
Became sounds,
All one, without division.
The spell-songs ring
The voices sing
Instruments join the chorus.
The vision expands
Throughout the land
Restoring the words –
For us.
******
A similar hope.
I read what you said, about a narrative of life and love and peace, and my heart leapt. I, too, have felt this, perhaps all my life. The TV I do have, from when my late husband was still alive here in our home, is mostly silent now. I’m seeking beauty, hope, peace, love. It’s all I know how to do. Thank you for the validation. I’m truly grateful.
With soft synchronicity I was prompted to look at your Journal and came across your wonderful doves . The images seemed to chime with some words I had written a short time before. I am forever writing poems about the light and how we are part of it , and thought to send this one out with its twig . . .
Doves
You are the calm
in the eye of the storm.
You are the lantern ,
You hold the dove in your hands .
You are the carriers of Light ,
the bringers of peace .
Many doves ,
Many lanterns ,
Flying through the dark
Shining the light .
Reaching through the chaos
to create a new world
with the power of Heart ,
the quiet strength of Love.
I truly believe that we are not bystanders but can affect the world with our thoughts , energies, intention, words, meditations , art . . . . in a profound and creative way. And the more people that sing the song , or make the story of peace , the more powerful the wave of change becomes.
I am at present enjoying your beautiful words , feeling , and design of Feather, Leaf, Bark & Stone.
Thank you for all your heart lifting work .
Linda x
thank you. a gift of light and flight
Hi Jackie, I chanced on your page from the Katherine Langrish blog. I love the beautiful images here. A red fox watched me driving up the road, all picturesque and sleek, till I got to close for (it’s) comfort. Here in rural west Georgia (US) the countryside has been de-populating for decades, and wildlife is moving back in as the new growth forest marches in on the unused fields and long-decayed home places, and I get plenty of wild encounters. I wish I could capture their essence as you can.
Maybe our epic songs of peace are our stories we pass on to the people we love. Five generations of my fathers and mothers are buried in this county, and my father’s and his father’s stories recounting the poor agrarian community of past generations here—of picking cotton and driving wagonloads to market, chasing raccoons through the woods at night with their lanterns, dogs baying and yelping as they treed the ‘coons, catfish netting barefoot in the river, hog slaughtering on a crisp autumn morning—are more dear to me than a song of the rage of Achilles.
Love your art, Thanks for the beauty.