MOTHER ISLAND
Mother Island.
IT IS HERE THAT I HAVE TRANSCENDED OVER AND OVER, AND HAVE FELT PERMEATED AS I HAVE BEEN CREATING.
I have travelled in many places before I finally found myself here. At the time that my soul was looking for a home, my greek roots called me to return closer to my source. It was Crete who chose me. This ancient island, undoubtedly brimming with an unexplainable kind of energy - spoke to me very deeply.
This land is the womb and keeper of a history that is several thousands of years old, perhaps even hundreds of thousands - a true mystery that is yet to be confirmed in numbers. In these landscapes used to inhabit people that preceded western civilisation as we know it. My great great grandfathers and grandmothers - most possibly yours as well. They settled on this island, traded and created beautiful art, lived their lives here amongst the tall peaks and fertile hills in the presence of the wise olive tree. They were living a life of ritual and devotion, worshipping the bull and the great mother snake goddess.
It is in this very island that I have felt humbled by the mountains. It is here that I have witnessed the most incredible symphonies of colors, from the ever evolving exhibitions of wildflowers, to the most ethereal colours in the sky.
It is here that I have experienced the true essence of the elements.
Strong winds of change, an air that sounds as though it’s singing. A fire-filled sun that burns everything golden in the summer. Feelings carried in water, from rivers and streams to the wide open sea where I have shed my clothes and let myself float and be held in surrender. Earth that is rich in iron, clay and rich in stories from the beings that have walked on her. In some places she is tinted like the blood of mother earth. These colours have made their way into my palette, almost subconsciously.
I have smelled scents of fig leaf. Jasmine. Wild herbs and smoke. I have listened to birdsong, olive branches dancing in the wind, waves crashing on the shore. I have cried. I have laughed. I have danced. I have come apart and come together again. I have come home to my own essence.
IT IS HERE THAT MY ART BECAME MY CRAFT, MY METHOD OF RECEIVING GUIDANCE AND TRANSMITTING IT THROUGH MY HANDS. MY WAY OF CONNECTING WITHIN AND WITHOUT.
It is here that I have come to understand the true meaning of earth connection and ritual. It is here that I have created and woven these practices and medicines into my daily life. Nothing has ever felt mundane or rational since. Nothing really is. I feel grateful that I have come to meet such a teacher.
Because of this, I know and understand how life is a gift.
I used to not know or be able to define where my inspiration comes from. These days it is very clear.
I used to not know how to describe my art or what words to use to explain what I felt.
Words still certainly feel like a fallacy, but today everything I create has a meaning.
One that comes to existence from a place of depth, a place of heart.
✺