DRUMS AND DRUM CIRCLES BROUGHT LIFE TO AZULE IN DECEMBER!
Azule's artist in residence DeeAnn Macomson, from HeartBeat reports:
"I really loved spending nearly a week at Azule. It was so quiet and I was able to focus on two music projects that I don't seem able to focus on at home. There is something very important that happens when I step away from the frantic pace that I set for myself when I am in my own space. The quiet and the time allows creative ideas to flow without constant interruption. So much has been created and invented in the space of "no mind" where the imagination can come forward. In the world that we have created, we have allowed no time to daydream, to be quiet in our bodies and minds, to leave space for ideas and dreams to make themselves known. At Azule, all of these things are possible. The view is amazing and the distraction from self is minimal.
So, if you dare to be quiet and if you're willing to step out of your life and into your "self" so that you can create, Azule is a place to come to!
"At the end of the week, I facilitated a community drum circle and had a wonderful time playing and laughing. That's another thing that I don't seem to have enough of...laughter and play. So, I was able to get that at Azule as well. It's a very special place and I look forward to returning."
The drum video was recorded by Rebecca Newton. See it at http://youtu.be/65at_S0nDgE
THE LAST NEW DANGER RHIZOME of Alternate ROOTS RSC, "UNPACKING the JOURNEY vol. II: MLK EDITION"
BROUGHT 20 ARTISTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZERS TOGETHER ON JANUARY 18-20 WAS A HUGE SUCCESS
LISTEN TO PARTICIPANTS' COMMENTS:
Gemynii Evolving: "Spent the last two days in Hot Springs NC surrounded by fellow artists and poets, dancing rivers, ancient mountains and so much love at AZULE Artist Retreat."
Josh Kelly: "Thanks for welcoming me to this fun and inspirational gathering. I can't wait to work on my improve skills some more!"
Tamiko Ambrose: "Funny how I decided this weekend at an amazing retreat at AZULE that I'm going to reclaim my writerhood, stayin up late with lesson plans. But poetic voices of dissent and Nelson Mandela with middle schoolers... How awesome is that? I can be and do it all. MLK Day goodnight!"
Lynda Wheelock: "Thanks everyone whose efforts helped to create such a welcoming and fun atmosphere at AZULE over the past weekend! I needed that huge dose of laughter (don't we all). And it is wonderful to be around people who choose to relax and share their real selves and what they are passionate about!!"
Becky Brown: "There are the 3 interviews that I did and if folks are interested they can find other interviews around this site as well. http://southtosouth.org/2013/01/artistactivist-interviews-mlk-weekend-2013/
Thanks for a great weekend, I really had fun meeting everyone!! take care and see you soon."
Mark your calendars:
NEXT SKILL SHARE is March 8-10, 2013!
SHERRY BENNETT WILSON: WELCOME TO THE BOARD!
SHERRY BENNETT WILSON is a freelance Artist, Sculptor and Painter currently living in Lake Wylie, SC. She was born in Hollywood and grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley. Joining the U.S. Army in 1988 as a helicopter Crew Chief, Wilson spent the next ten years experiencing new places and cultures, while deploying to areas of conflict around the world. The people she met and the depth of emotion she witnessed in Saudi Arabia, Bosnia and Hungary, have influenced much of her work.
Sherry has now a studio in “Art in the Dairy” in West Charlotte and teaches classes in clay sculpting and hand building, painting and collage. Sherry constantly evaluates the beauty around her in stark contrast to the reality of the immense suffering of people around the world and here in the Carolinas. "My work is in direct response to intense periods of creativity, where my mind quickly fills to capacity with an overflow of ideas and challenges that demand solutions."
...And a word from AZULE's Chairwoman, Gwylene Gallimard
STORIES
Azule is enlightened by the place in which it is housed. For over 30 years artist Camille Shafer built a 60'x40'x30' (?) artwork, which shows us an artistic trajectory inspired by a tradition anchored in architecture and crafts. In implementing a vision that no one could have stopped, she brings us a sense of creative possibilities, outside of pre-fabricated ideas.
In 1993 I attempted to describe this vision:
"An architecture without architect: there is no thoughts of an achievement that could be reached within a lifetime. All decisions are made for duration... they (Camille and Dave Shafer) are developing and following an array of attitudes which, while answering their needs at the present time, will lead to a gift to the community at large for the future, outside of the real estate market. To learn every detail, to live the creative process, to understand it, to share it and to communicate it, are the means before a finished comfortable place brings the main chores of cleaning, maintaining, more money etc., all at the expenses of creating and experimenting. To live (for 10 years now - that is 30 years in 2013 +10 previous years of preparation, attempts, failures and so much research -) inside a construction site has developed behaviors related to comfort and basic necessities that are at odds with ideas of social promotion, but that are also bringing back memories of our youth and giving value to the fights of former generations of artists."
The place as a heaven for group thinking. Thank you so much to everyone who understood that vision and everyone who came to prove it real, today, now.
Gwylene Gallimard
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