Le Danse

Handmade kozo paper with holes marked and paper chatterboxes

When things are flowing, you feel like you are dancing. Ideas flow from one thought to the next. Suddenly you are brim full, your body performing a dance of hands, head and materials as you respond in a frenzy of creativity. This morning was like that as I saw my materials in a new light. 

Sound lines printed onto telephone book pages was inspiring, chatterboxes formed from second hand book pages, woven books became eight pointed stars needing a circle on which to stand which led to tearing circles from handmade kozo paper sourced from Jan’s papermaking studio in Le Vigan. I moved effortlessly from one idea to another, until by le déjeuner (the midday meal) I was able to stop, reflect and be ready for tomorrow’s foray.

The sound of Birdsong at Lasalle.

This afternoon I was treated to a trip to the nearest large township, Alès where we saw the most superb Picasso artist book exhibition. He was so prolific. He wrote, he painted, created sculptures and drew. His books were illustrated with passion and elegance. The exhibition also featured some of his lithographic prints and etchings. Such simple lines, but from them you felt the spirit of the bull or the horse or the person emanate.

Picasso lived through two world wars and his style developed in response to the people with whom he mixed, the writers and poets Max Jacob, Paul Éluard, Guillaume Apollinaire, fellow cubist artist Georges Braque. They were giants and their creative output enormous.

My output is so tiny by comparison, but then again, I was a later starter. I would not have it any other way as each part of my life has led to this particular moment. The moment when you surrender to the intelligence of the body. It knows. It moves with ideas. We just need to find the net to catch them as they take wing, to become le danse.

Picasso's artist book Les Chants des morts, 1948.

This project was assisted by a grant from Create NSW, an agency of the New South WalesGovernment. The NSW Artists' Grant is administered by the National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA).