Could I be entering my Blue period?

Chab came again to the Atelier, and loves the new blue work. The latest experiment or play, is work with ground Kaolin, which I think is China Clay. I added some blue colour to it, and wow, it marblised. As the second piece dried, it cracked beautifully too, and now I notice that ive painted a Foetus in a blue world, with a river for an umbilical chord. Im beginning to apply this same Koalin blue mix to objects ive found that are appropriate for the water theme. The watering Calabashes, that people use here in the gardens seems a good place to start.

Trying to keep track of the dates days ago, but now the days are going too!

Its Thursday I think. I gave up trying to keep track of the dates days ago, but now the days are going too! After my walk into town last night, a cooling beer and bottle of water at the Soleil de Minuit, I found I couldn’t get on to the internet anymore. Had they discovered me? I wondered. Well, no. Chab Touré the owner curator of Gallerie Carpe Diem and Dolo joined me and I heard that all the internet in the Business Quarter was down.

La Soleil de Minuit

Sylvie has contracted Paludisme – that’s Malaria. She went to a clinic in Bamako, where they pricked her finger and she was told she was positive. So she came back to Ségou last night on the “mad bus”; her words, not mine. She had some bad nights in Bamako feeling very ill, but she is on her feet, again, though I wonder whether she shouldn’t be resting. She just strolled in to the atelier and plans to go into town today to see a Doctor, then return to paint her new flat, up by the road. I’ve offered to go and help.. anything to stop her from making herself worse.

I’ve heard some new words, so amendments to brain needed. Banko is the red earth, Argile is the name for clay around here.
The delicious fonio breakfast Moussa gave me to eat last week sometime, is called Djuká
The delicious leaves I’ve been making tea from are called Kankaliba. It tastes very like Lime leaf tea, and is good for the digestion.

Showing your artwork is always a little nerve wracking, but it is good to hear other peoples opinions of it. Dolo looked at my work last night, in the semi dark atelier. “Super, congratulations, its tres tres bon, tres, tres fort!” A very positive response to the work id done since he was last here.

A large wooden sculpure by Dolo

I’ve been up since before dawn, preparing more backgrounds and finding new combinations for the work to work in. One of the latest boards has a more interesting imprint left behind worth framing. I’ve glued together, symmetrically, two similar looking, but opposite pages of the Wall street Journal, a bit like a squared off yin and yang symbol. Half can be read one way, half the other. I’ve then cut a big circle in it. (not easy without my glasses – I left them at Dolo’s last night after supper). This circle, I’ve stuck to a small white board. The remainder of this, I’ll use for the frame of the icy looking planet.

Early this morning a young woman from the Troaré compound repeatedly came to the well to draw water. You take off the galvanised tin sheet lid, and lower on a rope, the cut in half plastic Palm Oil container. We exchanged Bamanan hellos and then she talked to me in French, unusual for  woman around here, as its mostly the men in this village who speak French. She told me that her name was Aminatta, that she goes to college and that her baby had died just the other evening. I was sure that’s what she had said. I said I was sorry to hear that. All this was over the washing up. She helped me by getting more water, and we talked on. I wondered how she must feel, and wished to talk to her more about it, but my poor French failed me.
Mali unfortunately has a high death rate in children. The average life expectancy here is 40.When Sylvie called in later I told her about the conversation. She translated to Madou, who wasn’t aware of a death. He checked it and later told us that yes, she has lost her baby. The sick child was taken to the fathers village. He didn’t know what the child had died of, but suspected Malaria.

Another visit from Dolo, carting in the new boards id decided to buy. He very kindly said he’d arrange it and transport them for me. He had a better look at my work to. He clearly loves it. Saying how impressed he was at the thinking, the experimentation, how beautiful it all is, even the bits id put together this morning. He doesn’t know anyone else in the world working in this way. Nor do I. Its important to me that I am creating new methods and new work, it always has been. What I’ve done is not huge leap for man or woman kind, but a taking apart and putting back of the layers of basic painting. Using earth as a pigment, mixing it with water, creating a layer of pigment and then washing it away, or partially disturbing it. Watching the residue settle and holding it fast.

Later after helping Sylvie to decorate for a bit, Dolo and I went into town to the Gallerie Carpe Diem. We had an espresso each, and chatted to Katherine and Chab.

This guy can blow two trumpets

He left for a meeting elsewhere and I stayed to chat with them and to give them some images id taken at the Jazz event there. Katherine spotted other photos on my memory stick and so they saw my work photos too. We talked about lots of exciting possibilities for recycled art work in the future. Mali is such a good place to find inspirational beautifully made objects with recycled materials.

I drank my first glass of red wine since I came to Mali, (very good) and a lovely tall glass of Bissap. This is made with Hibiscus flowers, water and sugar, by a friend of Aisha’s. It has a really lovely pinky purple colour.

Gallerie Carpe Diem lit for concert

I walked back to Soleil de Minuit and chatted to ‘D’artagnion‘, the last remaining Musketeer in Segou. Herve and Gils have departed for now, but promise to be back by the festival. Adama ordered me a taxi. They wanted a staggering 1500CFAs. A toubab price. So I said I wouldn’t pay more than 1000 (500 is the price Alasanne asks) The taxi was brim full of large African women, but I managed to squeeze in on the back seat anyway. I said hello in Bamanan and they smiled and said hello back. We lostled and wobbled our way home.

Friday
I woke before the dawn again today, my head brimming with ideas, for big recycled material sculptures here in Mali, so had to scribble them down quick.

Having prepared the new boards yesterday, I decided to get on and do a mixing pit painting, while it was cool enough to do it. After gathering and sieving the dry Banko and wheel barrowing it back to the atelier, Madou’s shy younger brother arrived clearly expecting to help and started to pour in the water into the wheel barrow. No stop! I had to grab the wheelbarrow and move it before it became to heavy to handle. I needed to do the painting on the soft sandy ground, as the board is quite thin, and the concrete inside the atelier is uneven. Clearly he thought I was more than mad, when I started digging and moving sand under the board, and treading on it to see if it would bear my weight. Instead we poured the dry Banko into the centre of the sheet of ply, then all the other clays id mixed too. He added liberal dosed of water, and I stepped in to his surprise. He was really unable to grasp that I wanted to make the mix in the middle, and in the end I just let him do his own thing. He even started to wedge the clay, at the side of the board, then went off to do his own work, while I happily mushed all the clay and mud together with my feet. Then, at the moment of mud up to my knees, in walk Chab and Katherine!
I explained that this was an action painting, but with feet. And they looked around the atelier at my work while I cleaned up. Chab says he will come back to see how the work develops over the next few weeks.

Gardens on the banks of the River Niger

I have arrived in Segou, Mali

Have arrived in Segou, the second largest city in Mali. Situated on a great river, the Niger, Ségou city is here because of the river, allowing transportation of and collection of great riches in trading goods, as the centre of the Bambanan Civilisation which once stretched from the Sahara desert in the north, to the C’ote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) in the south, from Guinea, to Lac Debo an inland delta further East along this great River.

This is where I will stay for five weeks working at the studio (atelier) of Amahiguéré Dolo, one of Mali’s foremost contemporary artists. The atelier comprises a large open space on the ground floor, a store room and a lockable show room with a modernist concrete stairs (i.e. no banisters) going up to the first floor, where there is an open roof space, a covered semi open corridor connecting four small rooms and a shower room to be. Above that is an aluminium roof. I’ve settled in to my little room. Everything is simple and there are no luxuries at all, apart, that is, from having my own room, my own mattress, a roof over my head and a door to lock all my belongings behind. I have bought soap, a basin for washing myself, a pan for cooking over the charcoal fornette (a mini barbecue), a cup for my daily morning tea, twelve sachets of tea, half a kilo of sugar and a box of twelve bottles of mineral water. It will be easy to keep an eye on my production of rubbish here – it stays till you do something with it, which is what I plan to do, as there are no waste collections at all. I may as well collect it and use it for my artwork. Most things are recycled, many times over, natural in a country which has so little resources. Other facilities here are basic. There is a Toilette Africaine, a concrete covered pit contain many human donations, and millions of flies and wriggling things.  The concrete slab covering it is pierced with a hole about 20cm wide, either side of which is a U shaped raised block, for your feet. Between which is a gully formed to guide the donations through the hole to the seething underworld below. It’s really best not to look through the hole. I noticed how there were far fewer flies today. Horrid little grey ones had been coating the gully yesterday and flew as soon as one donated.

In the corner of the toilet, is a big bucket containing a plastic mug, and water heaved up, by Madou from the well nearby. Instead of using toilet paper, every time Malians go to the loo, they wash, always using their left hand only. The right hand alone is kept for eating food and shaking hands. This is to be my bathroom during my stay, as the shower room-to-be upstairs hasn’t been finished yet.

 

On my first evening I was shown, by Dolo, as he is widely known, Mali’s first contemporary Arts Gallery, Gallerie Carpe Diem (Seize the Day) which has been developed by his friend and former lecturer in aesthetics at the Bamako Conservatoire, Mr Chab Touré and his European wife, Katherine. It is not quite opened yet, but it promises to be a really fantastic venue for art here, and rivals the smaller European galleries with atmosphere. It comprises first outside, a large colourfully muralled wall, showing the name in many languages. Once through the high sturdy metal gate, you step into a tall white walled graveled courtyard, with some low as yet planting. In front of you is a long tall sitting bar and to the right, a door to an arts library/bookshop, which leads through to the office. On the other side, left, recessed into the white wall, is a European porcelain toilet. Again recessed are some comfortable padded seats (a rarity in Mali) this opens to a semi enclosed area, with big white walls for hanging artwork.  Straight ahead leads through doors to the enclosed gallery rooms, where some of Dolo’s paintings are already hanging. He paints with natural earth and plant pigments, such as indigo, with resin and charcoal, on brown paper taken from concrete bags.

 

Having been introduced to the Segou Festival Director  Mamou Daffé and his committee, Dolo and I danced in the New Year to a really good local band at an open air garden party in the grounds of the Hotel Savane, the HQ of the festival. After midnight, when we tried to make a move elsewhere, we were entreated to dance with everyone again. Dolo, Aisha , his wife and I escaped eventually to the Bar Alphabet, a chic little bar off the beaten track, down town. Here we danced till dawn to another local excellent band, seeing in the New Year with great joy. Theses guys know how to throw a party!

Things got very mellow around three, when onion soup was served to all, and Salif Keitas new Album ‘La Difference’ played. It’s a beautiful harmonic album full of love songs, and suited the mood of the party. I’ve rarely felt happier in my life. I was so charmed by Dolo’s wife, Aisha, she looked after me, introduced me to her friends, and we danced a lot together. I think I get special treatment because I am family, the friend of Amahiguérés younger cousin, Seydou.

Like Cycling up a Mountain in Third Gear

My leg muscles have decided that mixing the terracotta cob is like cycling up a mountain in third gear… very achy today.
Gave myself the afternoon to read inspiring articles in Resurgence Magazine, while basking in this lovely autumn light.
Feel recharged, refreshed and reinvigorated.
At home: Came home to find a semi completed book sculpture dominating my sitting room, so will continue with that and not think too much anymore about ethics, philosophy, and environmentalism…actually that’s not possible. Need a rough book count so know how many books to ask for from Walsall Oxfam. I’m loving this practice version of Drink Deep – it’s full of art books I’ve inherited and esoteric books on Feng Shui, reflexology, colour healing, sacred sites, etc. It’s a self portrait. I may just have to keep it here forever!

Blessed be.
W

Studio News

Two mountains of cob made…but first had fun with Sarah my first technician ever, creating a mixing pit painting. We went round and round treading and mixing together the clay, sawdust and straw. Then, not getting it dirty (hah!), we carried it through the door into Ruth Gibson’s studio to dry. I carried on working until I was on my knees, literally.

Got another recycled terracotta based batch mixed and a white clay + money + hemp mix done by hand instead of foot, then Ruth arrived and needed her space! So that mixing circle painting is back in mine again now. Not even sure where I’m going to paint the larger canvas when I do it.

Got the enormous soaking bins outside filled with the hard dry clay again. Ruth and I recycle her old waste clay, by wetting it down, I love that about clay, you can endlessly recycle it, till it’s fired that is.

Going to move the making to home for next few days so things have a better chance of drying, with the wood burner constantly on.
Blessed be.
W