by night scribblings
above: a note to myself,
scribbled at 1:00 am, Saturday November 14th, 2009.
Below is the unedited text
beach, west coast
sound of waves
as I drift to sleep
misty – then
between dream back
to awake
images of steps, paths
twisting winding
own shadow or
Louhi, owl-woman
out of focus
ephemeral, shifty
hard to grasp
moving pictures in
mind
must get up & capture
on paper somehow
idea(s) for next ARKEO(s)?
connections with earlier
Arkeo – paths towards
the next ones w. London
underfoot images.
Hornby rocks…?
slide show of the mind…
state of half sleep, half awake…
may make no sense in the light of day…
yet…yet…is this a creative vision…
a guiding light to the next work?
…the essence…work from the heart rather
than the overly self-critical, analytical mind…
occasional benefits of insomnia? – overactive mind – ideas
in between these jottings, sleepily reading
few more passages of book
about the geology of Hornby Island…
November 14, 2009 in Being an Artist by Marja-Leena
We are so alike in many ways, not just our love of rocks and stones and seashores but also, it seems, in the random wanderings of our half-awake minds. After my trip to the Ashmolean I spent the night mentally composing a very random and quirky illustrated history of English and woke to find scraps of paper covered with words, pictures and symbols all over my bed. If only I could harness that nocturnal creativity…
Perhaps if your nocturnal creativity can leave you with a pretty well-defined skeleton of a poem I can put my crayons on the bedside table and find a version of “Rain, steam and speed” the next morning. On the other hand, perhaps not. But I have Mrs BB’s permission to take pencil and paper to bed with me and we’ve even discussed the possibility of a combined torch/ballpoint. And yes this is certainly a defeat for insomnia.
Mouse, yes, we share a lot of loves… and an over-stimulated mind sometimes that keeps working away while I’m trying to sleep! Not always this creative though. Funny how the mind does have a way of working away at problems on its own volition like that, humming away like a computer’s hard drive.
BB, if I were to become a poet because of these occasional bouts of nocturnal creativity (we love this phrase, Mouse!) that would be a reward for insomnia! William Blake had his night visions and created poems and visual art, so maybe there’s hope yet! Unless husband is away, I don’t write in bed though, I get up and go into the kitchen for a cup of tea and write at the table. Now I do this almost every night anyway, but usually to just read.
Thank you for sharing this process with us. Must have been something in the air that night, because I was scribbling away, about the same time in the wee hours, finding the flow of words nearly unstoppable.
Maria, you too?! Is it some phase of the moon? Words are your art and I hope we’ll get to read your writings sometime.
How interesting to have a window into your creative process!
Actually, for a moment I thought it looked a little like a spinal column. Then I recognised the owl-woman I’d seen a few days ago at Qarrtsiluni.
Lovely leaves and interesting meditations on heating – we’ve only had one fire this year so far.
Lucy, thanks. It’s not always like this. Because I’m in a very productive and creative period right now, and really mulling over the next pieces, the subconscious gets to work overtime. At the expense of sleep sometimes! Your mention of a spinal column is fascinating, hmmm….
As for fires, we usually put them on in the fall on a few cooler nights before we are willing to turn on the heating system for the winter.
Marja-Leena, it is great to see that insomnia is a busy time for you. We focus more on what is already in our heads overnight possibly because there is no other external input. Certainly I have always been grateful for the problem-solving qualities which come to the fore when I’m asleep. There comes an age – which I am now well into – when like you I should write things down in order to cast a net over the fugitive thoughts.
Olga, how I wish my frequent insomniac episodes were always this productive! But yes, the old brain does work away on problems during sleep, though sometimes it ‘sounds’ like a lot of senseless nattering going on. But when it’s this kind, yes, one must indeed ‘cast a net over the fugitive thoughts’… really at whatever age.
Although I don’t have your talent or skill I too often find myself sleepless when I’m caught up with possibilities of things to draw and paint. Sometimes I even find myself planning color combinations and seeing shades of of this and that hue that aren’t generally noticed. There are times I wish I didn’t have to stay in bed because I know I have to go to a job the next morning. One of these days that will change.
Your ‘night scribblings’ is wonderful.
Susan, thanks, but you do so have great talent and skill! Sounds like you’ll have more time for your art soon! Then you can indulge your own version of nocturnal scribblings 🙂
Marja-Leena, this is all fascinating. Thank you for documenting this phenomenal burst of activity!
Pica, thank you! I’m amazed at the wonderful response to this. I hesitated in posting it, thinking it was too confusing… or something… but it is a process, isn’t it?
I think it’s Louhi coming to visit you….
Taina, you’re probably right for she appears in the sketch. Today, I’ve been tired and quieter after all this burst of activity and just gathering my notes for tomorrow in the printshop.
There should be places where one can safely visit in the wee, small, sleepless hours.
Such as the public library, a cathedral, Costas coffee shop. We could sit there in PJs and modest dressing gowns and silently work, write, paint, think…
All alone at individual tables but linked by our insomnia and quietly creating or simply working on life’s problems.
Mouse, all those lonely people still alone at individual tables sounds rather sad, yet I can see that if one is totally alone at home, there’s comfort in other bodies around. Maybe that’s why all night cafes or coffee shops are popular in some cities, and I think of the Paris bars too. I’ve been blessed in rarely being alone and wish that you were not, dear Mouse!
You should scribble more. Sometimes spontaneous thoughts quickly expressed are better than those which are sweated over. I too recognised the Owl |Woman.
Joe, my usual scribblings (daytime variety) in my sketchbook are rarely this interesting, but I agree on the spontaneity. I think there’s something to the spell of the night, of being half awake only.