February 10th, 2010

Good news. The Arts Council of England have awarded me a grant so that I can make a fourth migrating stone - this comes as an enormous relief and brings with it a sense of trepidation. Where to take the fourth stone - this is the main question that is occupying me at the moment. I have an idea of what I want it to look like and even the stone that it will be made from - but it's destination is as yet unclear. Although, it is curious to note that two people have suggested I take it to the birth place of Aphrodite - Pahpos - on Cyprus. As three is my favourite number I figured I might wait a little while longer just to see if a third person comes along and suggests this location as well. Various other places have also been suggested - Iona and Iceland being the most popular.

So, if you have any thoughts about where the fourth stone should go then please get in touch and let me know.

Meanwhile, I'm excited to be embarking upon the next stage of this project. There's something quite different about being involved with a piece of work that is long-term: and the migrating stones project is now coming into its ninth year. Sustaining the work is an issue, but there is something distinctly subtle and rather delicious about working slowly with an idea, there is a process of unfoldment that does not adhere to any externally imposed order or time-scale. I rather like this. The work unfolds when it is ready to do so. Of course, from time to time I try to rush it because I am blessed with a great degree of impatience - but to little effect. In the end I acquiesce to the pace of the stone and together we slowly make our migration.

Greetings - to anyone out there who might still be checking in with this woefully neglected blog.

Things are changing. To be more precise, the migrating stones project is changing. I have just heard that the beloved Arts Council has said and almighty YES to funding the next migrating stone.

Given that I am in post swine-flu recovery, the strength of my response to this news cannot, and is not, going un-noted. I am, quite simply, delighted. Happy. Excited. Already my mind is buzzing with new ideas and thoughts about how to proceed and I'm in that 'i can't wait' to get on with the research and play involved in developing the project further.

So, it's interesting to note what a Yes can achieve: my self esteem seems to have leapt a few inches higher today and the prospect of money has set the synapses firing. Given that I'm a fairly impoverished (financially at least) poet who ventures forth irrespective of pecuniary reward for the most part, I cannot deny the relief involved in knowing that money - lovely money - is going to enable me to eat, pay bills and commission the next stage of the work. Body, mind and soul are more than delighted to receive financial recompense for work about to be performed.

So, watch this re-enlivened space - ask questions if you have any - and let's see how things develop. I've got a funny feeling that stone number four is going to need to help of a lot of people in order for its journey to come to fruition.....

13th October, 2009

Greetings dear friends,

this is just to let you know that if you missed the programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning about my migrating stones project, then you can either listen again on the bbc i-player or tune in on Wednesday 14th October at 9 p.m.

There will soon be movement with regard to the next and fourth migrating stone and as soon as this movement achieves verbalisation then i'll be blogging about it!

At last there is movement.
After a long interval, the journey of the migrating stones continues.
This time, it is in the form of a programme that will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on October 13th at 11 a.m.
The programme, Nature: Migrating Stones, is an audio diary that I made when taking stone number three to Australia last year.
This curious project evolves slowly, unexpectedly, consistently.
I am currently applying for funding for the fourth stone.
I will keep you posted about plans for the future......

Greetings and best Equinox wishes to you all.

The stones are still rather dormant at the moment, but meanwhile there's an exciting new adventure afoot. I'm going to start teaching again - after a year and a half's break - at the wonderful Home Farm in Welcombe.

The short courses are open to anyone interested in writing - we're close to the sea here and the remote landscape is simply stunning.

If you're interested, I invite you to visit the website at www.way2go4.com/writingcourses

Finally a few new ideas are beginning to arise and I am now wondering how to fund the next stage of the project. All Arts Council funding has been spent and, as with most things, the project cannot move forward without some money.

It's interesting to contemplate the need for cash in a time of economic crisis. As a poet and author I have never known anything other than economic crisis and to a certain degree it has become my norm. Financial constraint is something that always has to be factored in to plots and plans and yet curiously I have always managed to find the money to enable me to do the things I have to do.

I live a very rich poor life.

Much like a pebble or a stone I suppose.

And on that note I read an interesting article about the French artist Messager. At one point in her life she decided to name the tasks she undertook in order to define herself. I thought it might be fun to do this too. And so what am I? I am poet, author, stone carrier, dreamer, carer to my unwell mum, walker (walking is as much a daily need as breakfast for me). It's good to name the different occupations as I often think I should narrow my focus and concentrate upon just one thing. But that wouldn't be me - and what's the point of being someone other than myself?

Let me know if you have any ideas about good funding sources for the next stone. I'm wanting to open the project up to a lot more people this time and need a good, strong wad of money behinid me!

So, more than two months have passed since my last blog and what have I been doing? Readjusting to life in the UK after being in Australia and Hong Kong, wondering what comes next and finding no answers.

Really, none at all.

And then this morning I rose at 5 a.m. to meditate. In the deep stillness of early morning I finally realised that this 'not knowing' (also known as floundering) is as much a part of the creative process as anything else. I'm unsure whether to repeat what I've done in the past or whether to sharpen up my receptive faculties and see what arises. I've decided on the latter and will wait for as long as it takes.

The stones project has never been about speed - it moves with the velocity of a snail and now is proving to be no exception. Floundering is only uncomfortable when I'm pressing myself to move forward and expecting something to happen. Waiting for the next instructive dream, or an idea that rockets me into action. But there is no idea for now and no dreaming, apart from one small glimmer of an A-5 book of stones and stories.

Beckett had a lot to say about waiting. Various railway companies also have a lot of announcements to make about waiting. There are waiting rooms and waiting times, people who wait on tables in restuarants, waiters and waitresses. Ladies in waiting. Artists in waiting. I am waiting on something and have no idea when it will arrive.

Meanwhile then, I am returning to play, something that has been almost edited out of my life over the past couple of months. I'm painting again, writing little things of no consequence, staring at blank walls and dreaming. Lying in hot baths until I'm wrinkled like a prune. The only thing of note, at least the most interesting thing of note, was the liberation of a lobster on the 20th December. Since then, lobsters have begun to crop up all over the place. I'm not sure what this signifies - although it's probably something fishy and profound - so if you have any ideas please let me know.

Until the next blog, I wish you all a magical new year.