Sunday, June 18, 2006

maureen st.clair from grenville, grenada

My Creative Way continues to take the form of daily walks, writing three morning pages, painting empowered women and exploring my interior landscape.


My morning walks feed the creative spirit. Walking on the earth one step at a time. It is on these walks that I think of present and future creative projects. While walking over the past month the act of writing seems to have dominated my thoughts. Walking through Harford community every morning, I see not only the beauty of the valleys and gardens and the Atlantic sea stretching out in front of me, but I also think of my neighbours’ stories. I think of stories in general and how every one of us is a story. I think about writing people's stories through documenting their oral histories and putting together a book of photographs and personal her/histories I think about writing my own story through my grandmother’s story and my mother’s story. I think about writing about me here in the middle of this small village in the middle of Grenada, in the middle of my mind.

Writing my three morning pages also feeds and nurtures the creative. Every Sunday I go back over my week’s writings and search for the patterns. This past month has been full of plans for up coming trip to Canada. I write down what I would like to see happen this trip like buying a second-hand car and travelling to the east coast with Maya and Theo; whale watching in Cape Breton; small reggae jam for the opening of my august exhibit; visiting the Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton and meeting Pema Chodron a Buddhist nun who runs the abbey and who has taught me “the wisdom of no escape”; visiting and sharing meals with the many wise and courageous women I know; hanging with Maya and Theo and immersing them into my Canadian roots.

Painting vibrant empowered women is part of my daily doings! This month I have been working on pieces for the exhibit in Canada. The name of exhibit is “Sensitise your vibes”. I realize how much reggae music influences my work. I paint to the conscious lyrics of many reggae artists like Anthony b, Sizzla, Luciano, Marcia Griffith, Ganel Worm, Buju Banton, Culture and many more Rasta women vibsing to conscious music dominate the exhibit coming up in August!

Exploring my interior with Julia Cameron’s second book “The Vein of Gold” continues to be a great source of creative exercise. The past month I have been writing narrative timelines; discovering my secret selves and learning how to nurture and keep them in balance; identifying my vein of gold through analysing the major themes in my life; and creating visual collages that act as a map to my interior. I continue to learn, unlearn, expand, transform, create, be, and become.