Roaming for Home
Growing roots in movement.
The summer brings with it a roaming.
The roaming brings with it an uncertainty.
Part adventure. Part joy. Part unravelling. Part building. Part tending. Part surrendering.
I have no idea where I am going, and yet there is only right here. In a cool and quiet bar in Bristol, with a cold glass of orange juice and lemonade. Trying to begin to write about this middle of summer. From smack bang in the middle of it. So many conversations, connections with the ink curious, this seedling of a project growing in the sunshine, nourished by its time outdoors among companion plants.
I am looking for a home, to settle for a while. I have been moving between friends and family folks for the last 3 years, through surgery, with bereavement and amongst Covid, and now I long to be potted on. These roots are straining for more room.
I am reflecting on what ingredients make(th) a home, and this process is illuminating. I might not be sitting on Right Move but I am getting all the more clearer on what home looks and feels like.
Beyond the four walls, it is a feeling of safety and ease. It too is a place of connection and somewhere to speak truth and give and receive care. Alone and together.
How this will look in the proverbial bricks and mortar sense I don’t yet know, but something is getting clearer.
And when the time comes I will plant NATURAL INK. there. For a time, a while or an eon. A chapter. We will see. But I sure am excited to keep tending it. In situ. In new ground.
The coming weeks I am working on the road, on the kitchen tables of friends and family with some stints back at base.
I have no idea where I am going, and yet for the first time in many years I know that the roots for this growth are strong. I am absolutely bloody loving sharing NATURAL INK. with folks face-to-face at festivals, markets and classes.
I am deepening my research.
Daring to trust.
Welcoming the arrival of an older, more world weary self. Embracing the edges and softening back into connection with community. Peeling back the coarse layers that have built around pain and stress. Bit by bit.
Coming back to life after death.
Even roaming roots can be fed.
Smack bang in the middle of the unknown.
I gently tuck them into my shoes as walk.
UPCOMING THINGS:
ART MARKET as part of SOUTH BRISTOL ARTS TRAIL
Tobacco Factory, Bristol, BS3
Saturday 10th September. 10-4pm
September 14th -18th
The Blackdown Hills, Somerset.
A community camp bringing together meditation and Buddhist practice with ecological and social activism.
I will be supporting the team for this event, and will have a pop up mini COLOUR den through the weekend.
September 24th- October 9th
As part of collective exhibition exploring the themes of SANCTUARY and ALCHEMY. Your grief is welcome here - working title of an installation I am building as part of show at The Dove Studios, Butleigh, Somerset. BA6 8TL
AUTUMN: SEASONAL COLOUR WEEKEND
15-16 October. 10-4pm on both days.
On the land at The Dove Studios, Butleigh, Somerset BA6 8TL
Two places are available and you are welcome to camp or stay in your camper van Saturday night for a small additional fee. It is promising to be a beautiful time spent together marking the turning of the seasons and making colour together.
Taking booking deposits now.
Email: hello@kathrynjohn.co.uk