Physikblog

Haikus and paintings

2011-06-30T08:01:00.001-07:00

Starstone Montefiore Creativity Workshop June 16 weekend

This is Annabel, who has fully integrated with a painting. It’s incredible what Belgian girls can do! The weekend really was an explosion of creativity and between us we created not only paintings but 100 Haikus which we swiftly dispatched to California and the Universe in general (aka CTI’s creative artists forum).

It never ceases to amaze me, the power of group activity.

Sea air, new friends and good Italian food. But most importantly of all, a profound reconnection with our creativity.

A Haiku for you…

Let me help you see

Suffering is not needed

You are really free.

Next workshop Sept 15

email; michael@starstone.me

Snowed up

2011-03-10T02:15:00.001-08:00

This is a new painting I struggled with, possibly because I was snowed in for five days with no heating and no electricity. It’s emotional (probably)

Coaches Lunches

2011-03-07T01:38:00.001-08:00

Held on the 1st Wednesday of every month, at the prestigious RSA in London, our Coaches Lunches will delight you with their range of tasty topics, delivered by our radical selection of inspiring speakers.

Full details on www.starstone.me

Where you will also find details of our ‘Journeys in Creativity’; retreats in Italy and UK during 2011.

our hill

2011-01-31T04:21:00.000-08:00

Creativity in Sant’Ippolito

2011-01-29T08:55:00.001-08:00

Dear friends,

I am running a Creativity weekend in March, another experimental workshop for a small number of people; similar to my session last Spring in Appignano.

It’s experimental in that sense that I want us together to try out new ideas, strategies I will use in Starstone sessions later in the year.

The venue will be our home at Sambuco in Le Marche and for a small group of about 8 people. It will be hands on stuff; making a mess, playing, lots of fun and laughter (guaranteed).

As well as playing like children we will also walk together, cook together, relax and delight in each others’ company.

Dates; Saturday and Sunday March 19^th and 20th

The total cost is E125 to include meals, accommodation and workshop.

For those coming from UK, extra days B&B can be arranged. Ryanair flights are less than E20 single at this time.

For those of you who don’t know Sambuco and our beautiful area of Le Marche, here’s our Sant’Ippolito website http://sibillinislow.com/Sibillini_Slow/Welcome.html

I do hope this finds you well and I send you my very best wishes for the New Year.

Michael

Cari amici,
Sto organizzando un week-end di Creatività in Marzo, per un numero limitato di persone, un ‘altro workshop sperimentale simile a quello organizzato in Appignano la primavera scorsa .
Sarà sperimentale nel senso che insieme tireremo fuori e proveremo nuove idee, questo workshop sarà un’anteprima dei prossimi corsi che terrò con Startstone in Autunno in Italia e in UK .

La sede sarà la nostra casa il Sambuco nelle Marche il gruppo sarà massimo di 8 persone .

Ci autogestiremo, parteciperemo attivamente a tutte le attività , faremo un sacco di disordine e giocheremo , il divertimento e le risate saranno garantite Ma, oltre a giocare come i bambini cucineremo e ci rilasseremo e faremo delle belle passeggiate , sarà un vero piacere stare in compagnia e ritrovarsi bambini.

Date: Sabato e Domenica 19 Marzo e 2011

Il costo totale è di Euro 125,00 incluso vitto e alloggio
Per chi viene da Regno Unito, c’è la possibilità di organizzare giorni extra nel nostro B&B.

Per quelli di voi che non conoscono “Il Sambuco” e la nostra bellissima area nelle Marche, ecco il nostro sito web http://sibillinislow.com/Sibillini_Slow/Welcome.html

Spero che questa idea vi piaccia, che veniate numerosi con l’intento di divertirvi , nel frattempo vi faccio i miei migliori auguri per il nuovo anno.
Michael

a fire painting

2011-01-28T12:08:00.001-08:00

I painted this in my usual unconscious fashion, only to realise I’d been having a conversation with Jack about the volcano in Sicily (Etna of course)

StarStone 2011

2011-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:00

StarStone is hosting three workshops in 2011, two in Italy at Montefiore, Le Marche and one in UK, in Norfolk.
Each of the workshops are complete Creative Journeys
Our extraordinary workshops are designed to rekindle your creativity. You will begin the exciting journey of revitalising those parts of yourself which may have fallen asleep over time. Your StarStone facilitators will re-awaken and challenge you, so that you will fully connect with the very essence of your original creative self.
Montefiore June 16th to 19th… RETREAT
The purpose of this retreat weekend is to find the still point that reveals everything as it is in our lives up until now. We step into that point through disengaging, stepping back, creating space, witnessing, unplugging and un-winding. Paradoxically, through this process, we find we are revitalised and see what is really important, what we can bring to the fore that will refocus us and create the next stage of our lives.
Montefiore Sept 15th to 18th… REFLECT
In this refreshing and challenging retreat we touch upon the very essence and significance of living within the present ‘time now’. As we reach that still point of the present moment, we see our selves reflected back through the eyes of the world around us; we experience what it is to be fully living in the present and how this is in fact the realm in which creativity waits for us, the feeding ground for poetry, music, painting, (indeed all the expressive arts), and where neither past nor future hold sway.
Voewood, Norfolk December 9th to 11th… EVOLVE (to be confirmed)
The focus of this retreat is individual evolution. To evolve is to begin to create ourselves as a clearer expression of our real and authentic essence. To thus finally evolve as a creative being, seeing each day as a creative opportunity where we become the master of your fate and metamorphasise into something new. What is it we can become? Anything and everything of course. It is where we begin to create a whole new cycle in our existence.
StarStone retreats are designed to take you on an adventurous voyage of discovery. Join us and explore the reflections of your past, the mirror of your present and the image of your future.

For more details email; michael@starstone.me, or tel+39.3283535358

New Year almost

2010-12-29T09:40:00.001-08:00

Guess this’ll be my final painting for 2010.

It’s about water and light but I suspect, too, that its existence has something to do with my visit to The British Tate and Turner’s exhibition there. Probably. A bit.

Snow’s here

2010-12-14T06:55:00.001-08:00

Hope it doesn’t last though, gotta get over those mountains and snow chains are dangerous.

This is a new painting inspired by a visit to the Tate a few weeks back. Turner struggled with his paintings and so I thought I’d do the same. This one was a fight

Not much different form what’s going on outside. Minus 3 and the stuff is settling ominously.

Yet another

2010-11-06T11:15:00.001-07:00

I shall have to give this painting lark a rest.

There's not much room left in the house, but

I suppose paintings in the hall are better than

prams. selling more could be a solution

New paintings

2010-11-06T11:13:00.001-07:00

This one's about the cave of the Sibilla in the mountains just above my studio in Le Marche. Chock full of magic it is up there and what's more you can find meteorites the size of golf balls lying around.

I wonder why that is? Magnetism perhaps. Hmm

Bewitched I am

2010-11-06T11:07:00.001-07:00

Bessie comes up and nuzzles me for her walk just before sunset.

She gets cross when I start to take photos..and barks her head off.

She always gets her way but I manage to sneak a few shots in.

Cold Autumn

2010-10-27T06:13:00.001-07:00

This week has been hot but last night the first snow of the winter.

Edges are blurred and sunlight filters through in patches. I'm reading 'Albion' by Peter Ackroyd. Must get to the Tate when I'm next in London...gotta see the Turners again.

New Painting

2010-10-19T06:02:00.001-07:00

I struggled with this one a bit but gradually came to like it. I've been reading a book about Turner and I think he has bent my mind somewhat (in the nicest possible way)

Nevada

2010-09-20T01:17:00.001-07:00

After a couple of months really boring myself with repetitive stuff, this painting popped out yesterday and blew me out of a rut. Thank you painting. It is a memory I guess about ranging over a Nevada desert with Jack, with patches of light everywhere but having no way to place them in time and space. Searing heat in the daytime and minus 20 at night. I miss all that stuff, goddamit I do.

Temperature

2010-07-27T01:13:00.001-07:00

Drops from 35C to 23C.. and which do I prefer having cool English blood?

in riferimento a: Pagina iniziale di Mozilla Firefox (visualizza su Google Sidewiki)

Sibillini Nights

2010-07-19T10:57:00.001-07:00

I bought the T shirt, I did! I never do that, ever.

But this was my friend Giorgio's organised weekend of Sibillini Nights.

Now the Sibillia (as you all know children) is the seer, the Sybil, the Goddess, prophetess who abides in these parts.

So, we attended the film 'Il Cecco' on Saturday night. He being the medieval intellectual and free thinker who was declared an heretic and executed by the Church. Then this was followed by a very late ending dinner half way up mount Sibillini.

Then up at the crack of dawn Sunday morning for the great trek up to the Sibilla's cave. It was hot, some 30C climbing up but the wind switched to the NE as we began out descent and dropped to 21C.

Being understandably knackered, we zoomed back home for a snooze then zoomed back to look at the colours of Casteluccio (these pics)

and delightful they were too. then back for a meal in Monte Monaco, then a gorgeous short film by Giorgio; his look at Il Cecco's life in poetry and image. Then music in the park where I sank a Beck's and then got drowsy. So we slunk away about 11.30. Still knackered I am ...and thank God it's rained for twenty minutes today. Delicious!

These are the things we do in Le Marche at this time of year!

The Montefiore Workshop ‘Falling in love with ourselves’

2010-06-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end, except of course if you are a butterfly or a salamander.

I must tell you from the outset that the middle bit, the workshop itself, was fantastic…and I’ll come back to that later, just to keep you in suspense.

The beginning

A disaster on wheels

This was the plan. To pick up the English girls (or should I say our UK workshop lady participants) from Falconara Airport. Now, I must tell you that just writing those two words sends waves of hatred through my entire nervous system because whenever I approach it, it is waiting for me with a pre-planned disaster in store.

And this day was no exception. OK, I was late; the whole day so far had stacked up against me. But the plane was late too and I had to get the girls to Falconara station within twenty mins or never…ever. So I packed their luggage into my van, stacked them in a taxi with instructions to the driver to go go to the station with me racing behind. Except that I wasn’t… Any way, this is dragging on. So to cut it short, this is what happened. I lost my parking ticket and couldn’t get out of hated airport. Lost the girls, they weren’t where I thought I’d sent them (they were fiddled by taxi driver and taken to Ancona station) Found them there.

Had five mins to get them tickets so Mags parked my car (what? at Ancona station? That’s madness!) Got to ticket booth, didn't have enough cash but ticket man said go go. pay me later (phew! an angel)…Rushed to see girls on right train (they were all as cool as cucumbers), zoomed on to Autostrada to get to meet them at Pedaso station, only to find myself at pay booth at Pedaso at a new automated exit. Cash only! Robot tells me I’m short of 25 cents. I say look robot, I’ve had a rough morning. He booms out’ Don’t leave the car, Don’t leave the car’ in a high metallic voice. Oh, now why would I leave the car for heavens sake? Voice says put in credit card. I do but robot refuses it. I bash help button and a human comes on speaker; tells me to put cash in box, I say I have but I’m 25 c short. Meanwhile 20 cars hooting up behind me as the robot spews out a fine to be paid he booms within 15 days. I zoom off.

Now wasn’t that great?

Now for the end bit

No no, this is expecting too much of your patience. Enough to say that my 0830 am departure from Montefiore ended up being midday and it involved TrenItalia timetables and a lady in the bar opposite the station who only had 2 tickets left for 5 people. (and of course you get fined 50 euros if you’re on board without a ticket) Don’t ask, don’t ask!

BUT…The middle bit: the workshop (which it was worth suffering either end for)

Loved it, every bit of it. The place, the hospitality, the food, the sea, the dancing, the laughter and most importantly, the passion and heart that folks put in to the workshop programme. We were each of us profoundly touched by being and working together and the experience still resonates.

Here are some photographs

I think this was a triple Tango

Lunch time

Dinner time

A poetic moment

I Cigni, Montefiore

Next workshop Oct 14 weekend at Montefiore

The Montefiore Workshop ‘Falling in love with ourselves’

2010-06-26T09:29:00.001-07:00

Everything has a beginning, a middle and an end, except of course if you are a butterfly or a salamander.

I must tell you from the outset that the middle bit, the workshop itself, was fantastic…and I’ll come back to that later, just to keep you in suspense.

The beginning

A disaster on wheels

Now wasn’t that great?

Now for the end bit

BUT…The middle bit: the workshop (which it was worth suffering either end for)

Here are some photographs

I think this was a triple Tango

Lunch time

Dinner time

A poetic moment

I Cigni, Montefiore

Next workshop Oct 14 weekend at Montefiore

Sweet memories

2010-05-24T07:10:00.001-07:00

My photographs are not just photographs.

Now that’s an amazing statement Mice!

Yes, and somewhat simplistic, I know, I know.

Let me put it this way. They are a sort of external hard disc of my mind and I can shut my eyes and summon up every painting and photograph that I have ever created.

And what is more…

Yes Yes Yes ?

If I had never created them, my life would not be as it is now.

Whoa!. Heavy stuff!

Not really no. You see, what we create, what we create beyond ourselves, enriches us.

Let me give an example.

I was at the Printer’s this morning in Tolentino printing this image, testing again the limit of Mauro’s patience (he my print expert on RAW and Nikon imaging programme) And I asked him about a course he’d just finished on master printing. Cheekily I asked him if they ever, in these classes, talked about the experience, the actuality, of taking photographs. He span around at me in his swivel chair and said ‘Look, the first thing we are always told in these classes, is that the image you take is what is of supreme importance. It starts here. And to never attempt to work on an image that isn’t good, your best’

Nice that!

So this image above, for me, is about that instance of recognition, where you feel yourself part of what you are photographing. Where duality dissolves ;where you absorb the trees as they themselves absorb the first moister from their roots as winter releases then tenderly from its grip.

And now that creation is part of me; the trees, the dampness, the mist, the sky.

And that’s what is so marvelous about the medium.

Applaud trees and skies

2010-05-18T07:35:00.001-07:00

Mice likes this Tuncay lady

Can’t wait to meet her. Picked up my small prints today.

And they’re rather tasty

Sex, lies and name dropping

2010-05-15T12:50:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of an Oak tree which lives at the bottom of my garden.

It was taken with my telefonino (i.e. mobile) so it was a bit hit and miss.

What would Ansel have said, I wonder? Ansel? Oh, yes, I'm referring to Ansel Adams.

You’ve met Ansel Adams?

Yeah, yeah, a few times, he was a friend of my mate George who looked after me in California where I lived for a while.

OOH!

Yes, I mention him not because I’m name dropping but because of the story he told us about his famous

‘Moon over Sierra Nevada’ photograph, taken when he and Edward Weston and the whole West Coast States bunch were

rolling down to Arizona in a drunken haze. Fact was, he just took a deep breath in the dark and took a divine guess at the exposure.

Was as surprised as a moonbeam that it came out, let alone that it was to become an icon and milestone in the history of photography.

Divine guess, I like that, well done Mice.

Lovely guy, no pretentions, very kind and gentle.

Like Tony Snowdon.

What you’ve met him too?

Yeah, did all the backdrop design for him on a Isse Mayake shoot in London

Lovely guy, thoughtful, kind and patient.

Like Cartier Bresson and Buckminster Fuller.

Huh? WWahwa?

And in November, I met (after not having seen him for years), Oliviera Toscani, an old friend from those hippy days.

But hey! This is beginning to sound like name dropping and that just isn’t my style at all.

All I really want to say is that photographers are really nice, humble people.

Like me and Steve.

Oh, and modest too.

Steve's a bit of a name dropper though, between you and me!

Michael 15th May, 2010

Creativity workshop in Appignano

2010-04-20T05:28:00.001-07:00

Though I’d thought of everything; catering, leaders, materials, wine, biscuits. But a volcano! a volcano! Would you ever have imagined it?

It meant we lost five wondrous people from UK whose flight was cancelled at the last moment. It made for a sad start but we held a wine and biscuit ritual to mourn their absence and we soon recovered. A near thing though. So there we were, a bunch of 13 of us.

The general theme was ‘This moment of NOW’ where we learned that being present in the NOW is a gateway to creativity and life adventuring; where creativity awaits us and where the voyage towards its very heart begins

The above image is from the story writing part of the weekend, although you would never guess it would you?

And this part is called ’Painting attack’

So this was a voyage into the NOW, the present.

And now you are itching to know what our next workshop is about, aren’t you? Well, it’s a journey into past, present and future; how the one fuses with the other to form what we are, how we pattern our lives.

Maria collects treasures from the past; Italian customs, culture, cuisine and saves them in her Magic Box to share with you. Mice takes you into the NOW of creativity on a wondrous voyage of self discovery and Ant into the Future where you design a Planet worth living in for yourself and your love ones.

It’s June 11 to 14 in the beautiful agritourism of I Cigni in Le Marche, Italy, on the edge of the sparkling Adriatic Sea.

Info on our site www.starstone.me or call Mice on +39 3535358 if you want to chat about the workshop in English or Italian. Or you can email him on micermice@gmail.com

The Meteorite

2010-03-30T12:19:00.001-07:00

OK, what’s this?

A truffle!

No!

Look, you’re not gonna guess, so I’ll tell you. It’s a meteorite, found on the mountain this Sunday when we trekked up Mt Amandola with our CAI group (Club Alpini Italia) and were rewarded with a the most spectacular views across the hilltop towns of Le Marche to the sea, as well as a meteorite. Isn’t that marvellous though? To find a meteorite? We climbed to about 2000m,

……….ate a banana and a packet of crisps (classic) and rested awhile on one of the peaks before climbing down slowly to the trattoria where we’d left our cars. Then a long and dozy lunch. And the day before I was at the sea spending the morning costing our June workshop with Patrizia the owner of I Cigni, . It was almost tropical in comparison.

This part of Le Marche is where the mountains pushed towards the sea millions of years ago. In fact a great part of the sea was itself thrust up trapping a species of red shrimp in what is now a glacial lake (Lago di Pilato) in the process. Red shrimps and meteorites.

So, lucky we are, to have the mountains and the sea within a short driving distance of each other.

So, here’s an idea. Spend a fantastic weekend on our workshop and spend the rest of the week touring this beautiful area; even go meteorite hunting up in the Sibillini mountains. You’ll find one, you will, with a bit of guidance.

AN INTERVIEW WITH MICHELLE RUMNEY AND MICE

2010-03-08T02:18:00.001-08:00

http://www.roomontheedge.com/2010/03/interview-with-michael-eldridge-artist-photographer-creativity-coach/

flyer

2010-03-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

The StarStone myth

2010-03-04T05:20:00.001-08:00

Why a star?

Why a stone?

Well. it happened like this..

I was organising a creativity workshop with my beloved TigerEagles in Chamonix, France.

I needed to prepare a visualisation for the feathery, furry creatures and for inspiration took myself down to the river

below the Chalet where we were staying.

And there they were, waiting like huge eggs in a Eagle’s nest; washed down from Mont Blanc over the millennia

and seemingly just waiting for my arrival (or so he would like to think, I hear you whisper).

That night before the workshop was full of glistening stars; and there it was, or there they were.

I painted seven stars in memory of the voyage of Isis and the group did the same (after many a trick and game)

And mine is sitting before me now as I write.

Wanna see it?

Like a star of your own? wanna know how to get one?

Maybe we’ll let you in on the secret place where you can find your own.

It’s a pilgrimage though.

Next Creativity Workshop, Tuscany, April 2010

2009-12-15T03:45:00.000-08:00

And this a photo of the Chamonix workshop a few weeks back with Tiger Eagles. Just below Mont Blanc it was and the place where the 'StarStone' came into being. Quite a Landmark that.

A StarStone? What's a StarStone?
Look, this is mine..

Can you imagine?

2009-10-12T11:16:00.000-07:00

Here we go folks!
At last the dates for our first Italian workshops

The first is April 16th weekend in Le Marche

Experimental creativity working with space. light, colour, word.
It's being held at the gorgeous 'Il Boschetto' Villa, near Appignano, Le Marche, which is just a short drive from Ancona airport (think Ryanair)
It's an experiment! Anything could go wrong and hopefully it will. Guaranteed however, is good food and a warm bed. Oh, and a swim in the pool if it's warm enough.
This workshop's almost full already..so don't delay
Cost? Expenses only, E100
The photo above is of Podere Isabella

Images below Podere Isobella, Tuscany

Then in Tuscany a week after, April 24th to 29th; a delicious 5 day workshop
Just imagine, whenever you wish, that you were able to dive deeply into the clear blue oasis of your creativity. How would this make you feel? How different might your life be for yourself and for your love ones.
Anthony and Michael are two fun loving and eperienced masters of creativity workshops who invite you to join them in Tuscany for five days of play, adventure and the sheer joy of rediscovering your original creative self; the very heart of your creativity.
All this in the most beautiful Tuscan landscape near Montepulciano at the 'Podere Isabella', Monticchielo.

Tuition for 5 days E250. Accomodation costs from E55 to E85 per day all meals inc.

More about us--
Anthony Rogers is an award winning film maker who has worked for years in marketing and advertising. His personal creativity spans photography, music videos, documentary, feature films, script writing and he has held the roles of both producer and director.
He is also a coach, mentor and workshop creator, whose dream is to play a meaningful part in creating a more environmentally conscious era in human history. He offers an ‘over the horizon’ approach to living & coaching, taking his clients both to their future in the outside world but also exploring the inner horizons of the self.

Michael Eldridge is a painter and photographer who’s work never fails to enchant and intrigue; a multi-cultural operator who’s experience in the realm of creativity and of inspiring creativity in others, has gained him respect and renown. He has run Creativity Workshops for the Open University in the UK, in the United States, and in almost every country in Europe. He currently lives and works in the Marche region of Italy.
He is also trained as a CTI coach and brings this fascinating edge to his workshop skills
Creativity workshops are held in both English and Italian

for booking details click here
or email micermice@gmail.com
or tel +39 3283535358
back to Physik Garden

This I love

2009-09-11T02:56:00.000-07:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

If anyone can top this? Well! It's exactly what I have believed for so much of my creative life. Well done Elizabeth!
Anthony and I had a meeting weekend before last on The South Bank and we discussed strategies and a programme for our workshops. Such juicy stuff... but you'll have to wait! It's coming, it's coming!

storming

2009-08-07T02:18:00.000-07:00

I've got it, I've got it!
We can use this blog for splashing images and ideas and playing around. Yes yes, what do you say? And then the newsletter can be just factual. Gives us freedom both ways.E vero eh? It's more accessible too; images can be loaded easily and the design is cool and windy like a storm...yes yes.

2009-08-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

Gmail - Invio per posta elettronica: storm 9 agosto 013.jpg - micermice@gmail.com

The very first physik garden blog

2009-07-28T06:53:00.000-07:00

How wondrous!
Here you will hear it from the horse's mouth (so to speak)..not that they do, but you know what I mean. Updates on workshops, special offers and profound ideas.