Returning...

It seems as if this course had drifted light years away. As if all things OCA were always on the edge of the daily horizon. Half-remembered, dream-disturbing, maybe-tomorrow. 

But this evening I have forced myself to stop the stream of doing things for 'work' or for 'others'. I just got down to sifting and sorting the images. A great help was Nicola's blog - always so up-to-date =, tuned-in and beautifully done. Her work is a real inspiration and example.

Talking of inspirations to actually get on and do stuff, my friend Tracey never fails in this regard. If I make a promise to her to get on with things, I have to do it. Trying to brush off her gentle enquiries as to whether I have done anything is near to impossible... So thank you Tracey: once again I have done what I should do...!

The reading is always an issue. When will this become a habit and not a guilty memory? I have the books but not the pattern.

This all sounds like someone entering a recovery programme. Well, maybe that's what it is: changing from the deep patterns of the past and, finally, trying to do things in a new way. I may just be in a bend in the river.

Rob

13.11.12

Projects Alongside OCA: An Italian Journey

Every journey has its beginning...

Sometimes travelling in Italy is like being in a film!

Attention-grabbing in a time of financial crisis.

Love never dies...

Wherever you go in Italy you will walk down streets like this one.

Vesuvius - she is only sleeping...!

Which way now?

Every face tells a story.

His expression has it all: contentment, concern and character.

Friendship is acknowledged and affirmed by simple gestures of hospitality, such as 'waking up' a fire.

On 'all souls' day' in the evening, all cemeteries are alight with the warm glow of votive candles  placed at each tomb. Here, the dead  are remembered, revered and celebrated. Visitors pay their respects, catch up with friends and look completely at home in this place at this moment.

Here is the main gate to the ancient Samnite settlement upon which this village rests. Stand still and you can hear the people passing through this entrance...

Nature quietly carries on its work of being visually amazing.

At the heart of a lot of 'social learning' is the rite of the card game. Great store is laid  on players' ability to win. Often the players are surrounded by children and young adults who watch and absorbed the social mores exemplified by this ritual. Here we see two serious onlookers studying the current form. The player above is the best and most cunning of all the players in the village. His eternal fame is thus assured.

These girls are envisioning their dreams and futures through the simple art of reading.

And this is what lies at the heart of how this society works: relationship...



This post is dedicated to Tracey - a great colleague, artist and an even greater encourager. Because of her serious words I stepped back from the brink of nearly giving all this up... Thank you Tracey - and please keep on my case in the future!