Hello everyone!

Are you familiar with the idea of a manifesto for your creative practice?

I was introduced to it at a beautiful workshop I attended last weekend, led by writer and artist Helen Lehndorf. The workshop was called ‘M E A N D E R into meaning’ and meander we did… there was writing and art-making and everything flowed, and meaning was made. 

The title of the workshop had special meaning to me too. As I feel called to expand what I do, I was attempting to be more ‘organised’ in order to fit it in. In response to those failed attempts to structure my life, the image of a river kept coming to mind, the way it meanders and flows. I even have a draft poem in my notebook from a few months ago called ‘Meander’.

Needless to say, I was onboard with this workshop from the start. Helen gave us some manifestos to look at for inspiration. Some felt rigid and didactic, some read as permission to relax and play. Some were lists of rules about how to go about the art, some were philosophies to keep in mind. Some felt aspirational. Some spoke of hard-earned lessons. 

Here’s one my favourites from Bread & Puppet:

A manifesto can be for your art or writing practice, a particular project, or life! I’m always hesitant to give myself a list of rules. Instead, I hoped something would become clear; that I’d have some felt sense of what the manifesto might be. I’ve felt for some time that our creative works already exist, we are merely giving them form. This manifesto proved to be no different. 

“Who wants a manifesto?” I wrote. “What knows what it wants to be and needs me to know it too?”

The manifesto poured out. My book Lullaby for Mothers wanted a manifesto. It supplied it to me short and sweet. Using things found in the piles of art supplies Helen provided, I named it “The Little Manifesto”.

Liberation! This was a beautiful reminder of what I knew, but had forgotten in the process of producing the book. Our creative works are alive. Not only does the work know what it wants to be, it also knows where it belongs and will tell you if you listen.

To hear more about manifestos and tonnes of other juicy art-related discoveries, you can follow Helen over at Hetty’s DIY Art Project on Facebook or Instagram.

New Poems

I shared two new poems this week. 

Ripen was written on a break during Helen’s workshop. After being nudged a few times I’ve also recorded an audio of this poem which you can hear on my website (just click the link below, it will take you there).

The Beginner was written in response to my experience of diving into a new three month intensive painting course. The tutor said “You only get to be a beginner at this once. Enjoy it!”. What a lightbulb moment that was for me - enjoy the feeling of not knowing what I’m doing?? Wow!

Thanks for reading, friends. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Mary xx

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