WANT TO DANCE WITH ME? - leaning into Monday in a creative way

As we lead into our week today...

Will you take the steps to allow the dance of Life lead you forward?

This is my commitment this week - I am not in my 'usual' spaces or places and out of choice my routine is going to be very different; which I am here for and 100% signed up...

BUT no gym routine, not much space to do yoga...

SO TODAY I DECIDED TO KEEP THE VIBES OF PRIDE LIVERPOOL ALIVE

And dance with my headphones on, pumping out the tunes with the brilliant memories of dancing in the street in Bold Street, Liverpool as part of the Pride celebrations

YES, Pride is a protest, yet there is no reason why dancing our hearts out is one of the best more joyful ways to lean into challenges, and the need for everyday activism

SO WILL YOU JOIN ME THIS WEEK - and dance with whatever Life bring to you?

And tell me - what's on your playlist??

Mine is my Unleash The Power Within UPW playlist - so Black Eyed Peas, 90's bangers and some U2

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HEY YOU - fellow creative dreamer...

Dream BIG Travel FAR: Your Journey to More Freedom and Global Adventures

Welcome to the Dream BIG Travel FAR community! If you've signed up for our newsletter, chances are you're someone who loves to travel, craves more from life, and actively seeks flexibility and flow in your mind and daily existence.

My own journey to Dream BIG Travel FAR truly took shape after the challenging COVID-19 years. While I was fortunate to have a full-time job and a home, the world outside my "bubble" was rapidly changing. Loved ones faced health battles, and friends moved across the globe. The inability to be present during critical moments, and even some heartbreaking losses, was incredibly frustrating.

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The Other MA (TOMA) selected reading list

Reading List

The Wealth of Humans; Work & Its Absence in The 21st Century - Ryan Avent, Penguin 2016

Dark Matter; Art & Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture - Gregory Sholette, Pluto Press 2011

Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English - Partridge, Eric

Socrates' Ancestor: An Essay on Architectural Beginnings - Indra Kagis McEwen

Manual for useful art making - Special edition Autonomy Proejct Newspaper; Liverpool John Moores University Onomatopee 43.3

Process Progress - Projects Archive - Bruce McLean; Chelsea Space ISBN 1 870540 344

Ideas Leave Objects Standing - David Bellingham; platform projects, BALTIC, 1995

Art in the Anthropocene - Encounters A mong Aesthetics, Politics, Environments and Epistemologies - Edited by Heather Davis and Etienne Turpin 2015

Art Since 1989 - Kelly Grovier; Thames & Hudson

Environmental arts therapy and the Tree of Life; a monthly guide to your Soul's Journey on this Beautiful Earth - Ian Siddons Heginworth, Spirits Rest 2008

Hand making collages from upcycled materials - Feb 2020

It’s amazing to look back over this blog and see how long it’s been since I last made time to share what I’ve been making, most of my sharing now happens over on https://www.instagram.com/annabsexton/

Slowly, slowly settled into my 3rd place since re-locating up to Liverpool, for the 2nd time (1st time as a BA Fine Arts student 1994-1997).

Been digging through old sketchbooks, folders of work and re-remembering how much I love making collages… so here goes some new pieces made whilst watching TV and chilling out. Making these makes me feel so relaxed and happy. Cutting paper with scissors and making collages with glue sticks is definitely a love language for me…

I’ve been extra inspired by the goodie bag of old cut out magazines, books, and other papers I bought from Catherine, founder of Cut Out Collage, Liverpool

Connect to... mixed media collage Feb 2020
Bette everyday mixed media collage

What can decay teach us?

What can decay teach us?

“When the trees drop their leaves they surrender to this process, giving up the dead and releasing themselves from the past. When they drop their seeds they trust to the new, casting out their young on an unknown journey into the future. But there are always a few leaves and seeds that cling to the parent and need to be shaken loose.”
— Environmental Arts Therapy and The Tree of Life - Ian Siddons Heginworth, 2008

Invisible sea...

Invisible sea, facing into the English Channel from Hasting's beach

Everytime Bruce stopped the car...

A record of a journey and conversation post TOMA work day with artist Bruce McLean...

Everytime the coach stops...

Everytime the coach on the way from Whitechapel Art Gallery to Estuary Festival 2016 launch stopped...

An expedition to Two Trees Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex (2016)

An expedition to Two Trees Island, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex (2016)

““If diversity is a source of wonder, its opposite - the ubiquitous condensation to some blandly amorphous and singulary generic modern culture that takes for granted an impoverished environment - is a source of dismay. There is, indeed, a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom.
Quelling this flame, and re-inventing the poetry of diversity is perhaps the most importent challenge of our times.” ”
— Wayfinders – Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World; Wade Davis

Ackroyd & Harvey day @ The Other MA / TOMA 11th Sept 2016

"Nature held the fundamental truths I needed to start reconstructing a dismantled psyche damaged by all the transgressions a civilised world permits: violations of civil, humanitarian, and environmental rights. And the more I learned about nature, the more I learned about myself."

Tyler Dunning http://dark-mountain.net/blog/self-preservation-in-our-protected-places/