Sunday, December 09, 2012

THE KINDNESS AND TALENT OF STRANGERS

Tripped on gritty asphalt while running to cross the street in Camden Town just as the traffic lights were changing to red and landed bang on my knees in front of a bus and other vehicles about to surge forward. The only person to rescue me was a Japanese girl who came over and gave me her hand to pull me to my feet. I wasn't down for more than a few seconds but rather shaken and I leaned on a bollard to steady myself. At that moment a young woman rushed over from across the road and gently asked me if I was allright - she said she saw me from the window of the bank where she works and would I like to come in and sit down? I thanked her and went into a cafe where I drank comforting hot chocolate and massaged my sore knees. 

Did you ever notice that mishaps tend to come in clusters? And that they tend to occur when the colour of one's mood is an angry red or maybe dark blue? That's just how it was on Friday. The day began with a cancelled appointment, ongoing dental irritation and the sudden breakdown of my television when I wanted to watch something. So I went to Camden Town in a really bad mood, muttering inwardly, and that's when I fell. You may call this kind of thinking woo-woo but I do believe it's possible for the inner to affect the outer, just as the outer affects the inner. A friend told me that when he was depressed his car stopped working and various electrical equipment would malfunction. Coincidence? I doubt it. 

Anyway, apart from dental hassles which are too-slowly being dealt with, I'm okay now and a couple of days ago had the pleasure of meeting Phil Cooper who blogs at Hedgecrows. I was introduced to him via Clive Hicks-Jenkins' terrific Artlog, which not only lets us share Clive's own wonderfully abundant and diverse creativity but also frequently calls our attention to the work of others. Thus I saw some examples of the marvellous collages Phil is making for the about-to-begin Alphabet Soup online exhibition which Clive initiated (I've sent a couple of entries) and which is being curated by Lucy Kempton and Shellie Byatt. I invited Phil over so we could talk printmaking and other matters and thoroughly enjoyed his visit. He is so modest that if you hadn't seen his work you wouldn't guess how strong and confident his talent is. I strongly urge you to visit his blog and keep up to date with what he's doing. Thanks to the blogging phenomenon, this former stranger is now a friend.


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11 comments:

Dale said...

:-)

Glad about the friendship but sorry about the knees!

xo

Dick said...

Like Dale said, Natalie. And there's certainly something in your notion of inner-to-outer, if only in terms of the emotional temperature within directing external actions and their consequences.

Looking forward to our gathering.Finally we settled on a date!

Jean said...

Yow, hugs and hoping you are feeling recovered from the fall, Natalie. I completely share your suspicion that a negative or weary state of mind can make you more vulnerable to accidents - this definitely happens to me :-(

I like Phil's work a lot and look forward to exploring more of his site - thanks for the introduction.

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

Thanks Dale, I wish I could have gone straight to your practice for a restorative massage!

Dick, 'emotional temperature' may be more significant than generally assumed! Yes, I'm Looking forward to Wednesday.

Jean, my knees are still a bit sore but that's all. Glad you've connected to Phil's blog; he's a recent arrival to the blogging world and deserves attention.

Anonymous said...

Sorry you'd had such a crappy day on Friday, and yep, I'm the same, if my mood is simmering anger then that's when I have an accident for sure or drop the £20 note I just took out of the cash point or break something.
So good to see you for tea and a proper chat, thank you for showing me some of your extraordinary work, that studio room is a magical place! - travelling home reading a copy of ''Hindsight' suffused my evening with a deep glow. Hurrah for the blogosphere, it's been great to meet you Natalie, you're an inspiration

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

Hi Phil, it seems many of us have experienced the phenomenon of reality aping our inner states! Somebody somewhere should do research on it...if it isn't already being done.
I very much enjoyed your visit too and am looking forward to seeing your next artworks and of course, the Alphabet series completed.

Clive Hicks-Jenkins said...

We love Phil... YEAH!!!!!

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

And thanks for introducing his collages to the blogosphere, Clive.

addon said...

ooooooh! looks like my comments not getting through??

addon said...

!! that one did ... now I've forgotten what I said before on the lost missive ... never mind, best wishes, Natalie.

Lang may yer lum reek, as they say in Edinburgh.

Natalie d'Arbeloff said...

Adam, no problem with your comments arriving here. I've removed all barriers so I hope they're still not hassling you!
Thanks for the good wishes; hope you're okay.