099: Form and Beauty

1 Photography - 1 Art - 1 Music

1.

An Ode to Sycamore Gap Tree — photography by

perfectlight

From the Community

I've been following

perfectlight

on Substack for nearly a year. I don't know their name, or much about them... at all. But I've loved watching the attention they pay to trees and bodies. Alas! Perhaps it's not just me who sees such intricacies that connect human-ness and tree-ness.

Like how we call upon the earth with each step, our roots travelling with us...

Our trunks stretch and contort, creating habitual shapes and forms...

And our skin reflects the texture of the tree bark, collecting rings as we age from the inside.

Like the tree's branches... our consciousness reaches out into the vast expanse of who knows where. We call our invisible branches synapses but there's more... there are the unseen lines of energy emanating from our fingers, sweeping our periphery like the weeping leaves of a willow.

Trees - our wise, steady guardians. But... really, we are their custodians too.

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2.

Fuyugiri, Watage and Shibuku — art works by Kazuhito Takadoi

From the Internet

As artists, we talk to ourselves and each other about 'how to find inspiration'... which is a quest that seems all too real and noble in the hard energy of Monday morning, when we fancy ourselves a 'productive' something or other.

But in the quiet beneath our incessant measuring of days and minutes... we clearly see spirit (inspiration) in nature's rhythms, colours and forms - including our own.

What are we really looking for, when we seek to find inspiration? What do we hope to discover? Perhaps, we seek to discover our true nature, to know who we are.

Enjoy these works by Kazuhito Takadoi.

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3.

Ishmael Ensemble — performance at The Goods Shed

From the Library

This was filmed in an old goods warehouse behind the train station in my home town of Stroud (UK). It's been re-purposed into a unique venue for live music and regularly produces gems like this.

I'm not a huge fan of most Jazz... but now and again I come across something delectable from the genre, and this is one such example. Just as

perfectlight

has captured the form and beauty of trees and humans, and Kazuhito the form of nature... I think this performance gives us the fluid form and beauty of sound.

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🖼 ART SHOW 🖼

I'm periodically chastised for not sharing enough of my own art, when I spend so much of my time banging on at you to share yours. Fair enough. So here are some pieces I made in the last week 😎.

I've been secretly planning a solo art show for the spring of 2025. The first (and most recent) art show I held was in 2015. The learning curve was so tight, I've just about stopped reeling from it 😅. I have resolved to put the learning to good use... and you'll soon hear more about the details of the exhibition.

In the meantime, I'm focused on launching my membership to founding members. If you're not on the waitlist yet... here's the form to get on it! If you don't know anything about it, you can find out more here. (Or below, if you're reading this by email).