flowerwalks and finding inspiration through spring

Having witnessed the change it brings firsthand, I am delighted to write that I too have started Julia Cameron’s 12-week artist course, The Artist’s Way. I was inspired by watching Priya work her way through the book, the volume of completed journals piling up as she writes each day, and how her art has changed and grown in such a short time.

I, like many others, am someone who was encouraged to play and be creative as a child, but after a certain age was pushed into more academic and ‘important’ subjects. As an adult, I definitely do not define myself by my job, and working through The Artist’s Way is allowing me to reconnect with my creative self in a safe environment and let loose more.

One key aspect of the course is the artist date - a weekly exercise in allowing the inner artist to run free and explore. It sounds simple, but dedicating time out of a busy week is much harder than it seems! My first date was a photowalk through the city and down the river. It was fun and refreshing to go out with the sole intention of taking photos. To go out with no other place to be, no rush or looking at how much time I have until I need to be at the other place. I recently read and connected with felicity zhang article on photowalks - although I haven't been walking with a group yet, allowing myself the time to wander by myself has been great for my photography.

For week 2 I wanted to do something a little different. A lot of the tasks and reading in TAW takes you back to your childhood - a time before there were expectations of you and where you have complete freedom in expression. Although I had never tried it as a child, I had been wanting to try flower pressing for some time. My previous attempt was with a very low budget/DIY setup of kitchen paper and a stack of books - coincidentally during the time when Priya had a task of picking flowers.

This time I wanted something a little more robust and treated myself to a pocket flower press. I made sure to get something pocketable, so I had fewer excuses and could easily bring this with me.

Rather than a photowalk, this time I ended up on a flower walk. It was early spring - the air was refreshing that morning, but it was nice to be outside early in the day before the chaos and business sets in. I had wondered from the town shops to a large park, which was starting to be in bloom.

A flower walk, like with my photowalks, forced me to be more aware of my surroundings when it is often to get lost in your own thoughts, and truly be present - often finding things hiding in plain sight. I find that even with a camera in hand, there are certain streets that are more mundane to capture, but these are the ones that have small flowers growing and weeds rising from cracks in the wall. Even when I reached one of the larger parks, I was able to see past the benches and large trees overhanging the paths and could pick out pockets of different blooms and an array of colours. I enjoyed spending time slowing down and appreciating all that I could find that day.

Ever since this walk, I feel like I’ve become very aware of the changing seasons. Every few days I can see the differences when I’m walking down the same street or visiting the same park or garden.

This is of course not a new concept; the ancient Japanese calendar, kō, divided the year into 72 micro-seasons, marking everything from the last frost to the first song of the frogs. My flower pressings from this walk not only allow me to see and appreciate this Norfolk micro-season, but I’ve been able to preserve it, capturing this moment in time (much like a photograph) for something to look back at. Although these particular pressings have become part of my scrapbook, I am looking forward to seeing how I could use and display these in other ways.