centuries of feet
sun and rain and heated rock
creating magic
closely absorbing
the sidewalks of San Miguel
painter’s ecstasy
each breath enchanted
every step a masterpiece
each day on my knees
so many wonders
geological galleries
in these dusty streets
photography and haiku by clinock
So, Clinock, enough already with these Redux posts – when are you going to publish some new art? Well my friends – I’m working on it – not just for you but also for me, me, me (it’s all about me don’t ya know). I’ve been delightfully moodling – happily idling, dawdling and puttering.
This redux is from Mexico last year with strong connections to Easter which will be hatching for us all soon.
All photos by yo. Click on images for larger detail.
Spring 2012 – Hundreds of Indigenous dancers from across Mexico and from many tribes in North America recently gathered in the center of San Miguel De Allende to celebrate a local religious event connected to Easter festivities and ritual. When viewing the photos you can complete the picture by imagining the swirling movement of the dancers combined with the sensual intensity of the loudest drumming I have ever heard, the explosion of fireworks and the ringing of church bells.
This is an event that combines pre-Christian spring ritual with Catholic beliefs. J.C. (not me) is ever present but becomes a partner in the timeless dance of life.
I was blown away by the sensuality – sound, colour, movement, intensity and shared humanity of these dances. My Vancouver home has little to compare with these celebrations of new life – too much sangfroid in our northern climes.
The inclusion of animals in the dress of the dancers was a reminder of our sharing of this planet with all living creatures. In Mexican mythology and legend animals play a leading role. We are all animals – which one do you choose to be?
Sharing water – do you all grok this?
Desire. 11″ x 15″. Acrylic and oil on paper. Created on El Patio February 2012.
Sometimes I wonder if she smiles for me
or for some wild entity
rampaging through the backyards of her mind,
tantalizing, slippery with lust and
parting her night with lunar hands.
Fallen from grace and wingless he comes
trailing smoke in the tomcat night,
clawing at her window, his hungry
face pressed hard against the glass
mouthing his irresistible song.
Trembling her invitation, thrilled to her bones
in the humming dark on naked sheets,
she longs for scarlet breath, volcanic depths,
a touch that opens lips and
his pulsing, swelling blood.
The night has teeth, tongues that lap
the flesh as cats ingesting milk. Flickering shadows
cloaking cries of skin, hallucinating seeds of ecstasy,
exploding stars, sighing moons and helpless birds
spinning through stirred clouds.
Bound by whispers, caressed by drums,
dancing in arms of fire igniting fire,
released and wanting, opening, closing,
surrendering to wolf and owl, she dreams
the ancient forests of desire.
Painting and Poem by Clinock.
The above painting is The Other. 11″ x 15″. Acrylic and oil on paper. Created on El Patio February 2012. While working I often had the feeling of another presence at my side or looking over my shoulder. Not the art school instructor or a tequila sprite but an ineffable companion in the act of art. I struggled to make this feeling tangible in this painting.
Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
but when I look ahead up the white road
there is always another one walking beside you
gliding wrapt in a brown mantel, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
but who is that on the other side of you?
T.S. Eliot – from The Waste Land – V.
As I’ve mentioned before, when in San Miguel De Allende I painted on this inspiring patio attached to a local art school. I’ve just heard (Feb. 2013) that the school has been sold due to the owners illness. I call on all muses to ensure it continues unchanged as an art school and not as a restaurant or worse. My days here were blissful and in the next few posts I will re-show some of the paintings I made on El Patio in early 2012.
The above is Pie Rat. 11″ x 15″. Acrylic and oil on paper. Influenced by memories of wanting to be a pirate when young, pirate stories of my Celtic ancestors and tales of daring-do off of the coast of Mexico, (also, of course, related to my blog – Art Rat – Pie Rat – close kin). Recently this image has come to symbolize other, less fantastical aspects of my life – but that’s another story….
For explanation of this series please see Mexico Redux 1.
I wrote this post just before leaving for an extended painting trip to Mexico in January 2012. I have edited the original for this redux. I talk about Huichol art because the high desert surrounding San Miguel De Allende (the town I paint in) is home to the ancient peoples and rituals that give birth to this art form. Huichol art has always been cloaked in a veil of mysticism — probably one of the reasons serious collectors seek out this form of artesanía. Colourful, symbolic ‘yarn paintings,’ inspired by visions experienced during spiritual ceremonies, characterize Huichol art. In the ceremonies, shaman artists ingest peyote, a hallucinogenic, which induces brightly coloured visions; these are considered messages from their ancestors. The symbolic and mythological imagery of these visions influences the art, which encompasses not only yarn paintings but also fascinating masks and bowls decorated with tiny colored beads. ‘Yarn paintings’ are created by patiently and sensitively adhering hundreds of strips of brightly coloured yarn to a solid background to form images such as are seen in the artwork above.
I purchased this ‘yarn painting’ from Antonio, a Huichol shaman artist in San Miguel De Allende. Despite our difficulty in conversing – his English and my Spanish being poor – I understood that certain symbolic images appear in this work. I wrote down what I could understand of what Antonio told me about those images and have made a tentative translation of his words into a poem of sorts:
Wearing the mask of the sacred deer the Healer dances until dawn around the ceremonial fire. We all dance until dawn around the ceremonial fire.
Taking the meat of the sacred deer the Healer feeds the people and the gods around the ceremonial fire. We all feed each other around the ceremonial fire.
Before the dawn the Healer must perform the cleansing. The Moon offers the Healer her secret power of wisdom and dreams to perform the cleansing and we are cleansed.
After the dawn the Healer must perform the healing. The Sun offers the Healer his secret power of heat and light and with eagle feathers the Healer performs the healing and we are healed.
At noon the Water God sends the Hummingbird. The Hummingbird is the third blessing of the dance. The Hummingbird brings laughter and children and blesses the Healer and we are all blessed.
At sunset the Healer blesses the corn. The blessing of the corn offers hope for a full harvest, offers hope for our health and for our children’s health, offers full bellies for us all.
In this way we honour our gods. In this way we honour our ancestors. In this way we honour the earth. In this way we honour ourselves.
Huichol Yarn Painting by Antonio / Poem by Clinock.
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