It's weird...I've read about Mandelbrot or heard this quote three times in the last few days...I always take things like that as a sign or a lesson in life and art...

Art Retreats in Oman

Here's me getting ready to plan my next solo grown-up trip...thinking arty, bohemian, coffee shops in which to ponder life and sketch, maybe with an art retreat or course....and there in the local free magazine here in Muscat a few weeks back, is an article on a creativity retreat called Fusionart, run by Ibrahim Gailani.

 

Here's the article online. Here is Muscat Daily covering it too.

 

This statement rang bells with me and when Mum's taxi service gets a break, I will look into it: 

To move beyond the immediate and channel the 'Leila' - “the process of creation and re-creation. To make something and then re-create on top of it”. To see 'Leila' put into action is a jarring experience. As the Fusionartists seemingly deface a morning's worth of work by painting over it, turning it on its head - even mangling it with a fork, creativity isn't the word that immediately comes to mind.

“The whole point of FusionArt is to get out of this idea that you possess your work. To let go of that fear of not ‘spoiling’ the work, of doing something ‘safe’, we destroy the aspect on the canvas that we are most possessive about. We paint over it,” said Gailani.

“Then, the fear of error, of not meeting some standards, goes away - which is very refreshing. I think it’s the lack of fear, getting acceptance, that this teaches you.”

My thought was that if I attended every retreat every month as some regulars have done, I'm going to end up with lots of work. Actually no bad thing. I NEED the time, space and peace to work on something. However, the above statement means that I may not even go home with anything. That does jar with me a little!

So, here on my doorstep is probably what I've been needing all along. If only I had looked a little harder rather than going through periods of low inspiration in my own four walls.

Watch this space.

I still be planning my next 'gap week'. (Never had a gap year so I'm making up for it in weekly stages!)