It’s sweaty summer downunder and the mind of winter is a far-off fantasy. But if the Xmas fairy comes with a wish to grant, it’ll be an easy choice for me: I’d love to attend this zen art retreat at Zen Mountain Monastery. Here’s some info from the website:

Winter is a season of deep stillness. The landscape is bare, sounds are crisp, and living creatures turn inward, seeking warmth, rest, and renewal. For many of us, winter can also be a period of trial and difficulty, a time when the life force that is at the root of our urge to create feels a bit frozen. If we look closely, though, the energy and creative potential are always there. As long as there is life, the potential is full.In this retreat, we will focus on opening the heart and mind to dispel the belief that we need special circumstances to create. We will see that, whatever state we find ourselves in, it’s possible to pick up a brush, face that situation, and use it. We just need to act with integrity. Then, simply marking a white surface with color fully expresses our creativity. We can enter wherever we are.We’ll also have a chance to see how thirsty we are for exploration without analysis. To paint with feeling means to not know. We will explore not-knowing by painting and experiencing the movement of our bodies until the movement takes over and the unfolding of the unexpected becomes the energy that drives the brush. We may find it strange to be in a place we can’t define, but this is where true learning takes place and creativity is born.

Visit the web page for more info. And if you go (you lucky sod), let me know …

NB - image copyright Zen Mountain Monastery website

God created the giraffe, the cat, the elephant …

He has no real style, he just keeps trying things.

Pablo Picasso

find a heap of quotes about creativity here
and about everything under the sun here

This is my first post to a blog of any shape or size - imagine waiting for over 6 decades for the experience!

On my website I have a little marquee scrolling across the top of each page. It reads … relax into the art of not-knowing … revel in the joy of wondering mind …

This is good advice to myself. I’m keeping it conscious (between hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing) as I fumble my way with the construction of this site “… one error at a time …” as the wise timethief quoth! (Where would those of us suffering from blogger beginner’s mind be without timethief?)

I must also be patient. And if you’ve found your way here I apologise for the lack of - anything much - as yet. If I could have completed the site before publishing I’d be happier, but there ya go. Everyone gets to watch. This is a new experience. Woooo Hoooo!