Diary of an Exhibition – Day 1
The Bridge in the Sea
A bridge on a beach crosses a stream
When the tide comes in the stream is immersed by the sea
The bridge is stranded in the middle of the ocean
No one can cross to him
He is useless… a bridge from nowhere to nowhere
Little stream flowing out to sea, you will become changed forever
You will become salty
Today the bridge is useful –
A crossing place from one shifting sand to another
A connector
The tide rises and the stream disappears
The little stream is consumed by an energy bigger than herself
There is nothing she can do
She merges and becomes one with the sea
She hasn’t reached her destination but the sea has claimed her
Is she lost?
Incoming sea, my emotions rise high, I too must wait
There is no bridge for me
The bridge is unreachable
I am at sea
Wait for the tide to go out, there is nothing to do
Wait – the flow of the little stream will reappear
Trust
Little stream will you take me forward into my flow?
Now you are here again… up and over the bridge I can go
Up and over the bridge…a whisper to my ankles… up and over the bridge… a whisper to my legs …. up and over the bridge….my hips… many bridges…
The tide has risen, there is nothing to do, be present
I cannot swim out to you I will drown
The current will consume me
There is nowhere for me to be but here alone
The winter’s night is long
Only the ocean is available
Merge and become one
I have done it before
The stream has been eaten by the tide
The sea has devoured her
She has lost her own path
Her course is invisible
She accepts and waits
The moon pushes and pulls
Days and nights will pass
The tide comes in, the tide goes out
I breathe… I must remember to breathe
Ahhhh… I whisper to the wind
Arghhh… the wind screams back
The gust is so strong, but the stream is not altered
I look to you, the bridge in the sea today
You with your strange metaphors
A bridge from this non place to that non place
My unmade image is in the ocean, my seascape
Help me bridge!
You are solid and structured, but strange too
When the tide comes in – you bridge the present invisible
When the tide is out – you bridge the flow
I cannot see the flow but it is here
I wait for my flow to emerge thinking the wind
Little stream I am here…waiting for YOU
I know YOU will appear
I am lost staring out
The sea of uncertain change becomes a dark streak of power on the horizon
I watch white horses
I want to capture the power you have over me, but I know I never can
I am awash with choppy emotions
I will paint you to the best of my ability
It is all I can do
You are a very little stream but you seem confident and tireless
You are strong resolute bridge for such a little stream…the sea must really bash you up sometimes
My paintbrush you are a bridge
My intention another bridge
Today we are separated – the sea, the paint, the desire
I am clear I will paint seascapes all winter…and the spring will come again
I will paint the colour of love into the captured tide….I will let you obsess me
No-one can help me to the other side…the painting done
The tide goes out at a certain time, there is a rhythm to it
I paint, but I can only paint at certain times… there is a rhythm to that too…time….wait for me…I need you
Today I visited the bridge in the sea
The wind was high and cold
Exhilarating and freezing
The tide was out
The bridge let me glimpse the stream below to pass to the other side
I visited the sea who had pulled away from the shore
I was glad
The wind was in control of the day
‘I am here and I want to paint!’ I said
‘NO!’ said the wind ‘You may not!’
You can not capture the sea today
I am too strong for you
My force is penetrating
I will blow you away
You who are nothing’