Thursday 27 January 2011

The dream visualisation revised edition

It was nearly two years ago that the first dream visualisation came to light and since then we have only really established a date for leaving the UK and have been working on a few practicalities like how to move/leave a growing UK based business etc... but I have been steadily growing impatient for change! What I needed was a renewed vision. So I set about sketching and this is what came of it. I was quite surprised by the amount of detail my minds eye could conjure. 

Here you can see we have some alpacas. Beautiful creatures for a small hobby farm, lovely soft wool for shearing and spinning and felting. We also have a few goats, for their versatility on a farm, their milk and their friendly cheeky spirit.
On the right here you can see in more detail the artist studios, up on higher ground, looking out across the valley a perfect spot for the star gazing and inspiration gathering. It's a passive solar structure of straw bale construction, not so much inspired but lifted from the pages of the beautiful book "The Hybrid House"
This is my family's dwelling, a strawbale/rammed earth construction with a green roof and a pebble and tile mosaic wall. I've taken some inspiration here for the look of part of this house from a book called "The Art of Natural Building". See the kitchen garden and outdoor clay oven.

In this detail you can also see the creek that runs through the property, with a tree house, for the children of course. The edible garden will be designed in line with permaculture principles and you can see there is a fruit orchard with an abundant juicy harvest.
This detail shows Dwelling number two with its Le Corbusier style roof. The creek runs into a beautiful pond with a deck over looking the lilies. The balcony over looks the valley below. It's a straw bale construction with a kitchen garden. (Mum and Dad, I've just drawn this in for the sake of the vision continuity, you'll have a more accurate vision of your own house I'm sure!)
Some of the workshops will have their own constructions, like the Green Woodworking Studios, based on those we saw at the inspiring Ruskin Mill College in Nailsworth, UK. As it states on the article I have linked to above, at the college "students help harvest and fell timber in the local woodlands to provide a source of unseasoned material (green wood) for use in the workshop. As the wood contains a high level of moisture it is easy to split and shape. Green wood working uses hand tools and simple human powered devices - pole lathes, shaving horses, axes, draw knives and chisels. Students craft a range of objects from simple gardening dibbers to bowls, stools and chairs...". I've always admired the beautiful circular Dovecotes dotted around Normandy and I can imagine one could work beautifully as a pottery studio...

This image shows the accommodation available for visitors, artists in residence, friends and family from the UK or workshop participants. There is a yurt, also a communal space for gatherings when not in use, a gypsy wagon and an artistically decorated static caravan. This is situated on the creek with it's conveniently placed swimming hole complete with tyre swing. There is also space for a few tipi tents. 





So there you have it, a vision from the mind of an optimist, a dreamer... perhaps naive, perhaps ambitious but I am nevertheless setting an intention for a space of great creativity, beauty, productivity, health, growth and happiness. 

Wednesday 26 January 2011

The dreaming begins

This dream visualisation first came to me in 2009, I started drawing, which turned into a painting that started to visualise a concept of communal living/working that I had been very interested in exploring. The picture went something like this...

My dream involved starting this project with a team of enthusiasts, my partner (designer/potter/painter), son Merlin (muse), Mum (artist/permaculture/landscape/strawbale dreamer), Dad (craftsman/carpenter/builder/astronomer) and me (knitter/fiber artist/general maker of things). We would find land outside Melbourne, build separate sustainable dwellings, some shared artist studios, run workshops, invite artists and craftsmen from around the world to share their passion with budding makers.

The land would become a place for gathering, for doing, fulfilling, for living and working and have many different income streams so that life could become as self sustaining as it can possibly be in today's world.

As you can tell, this is a work in progress firmly situated in the dream space, but as time goes on, I hope this blog will slowly reveal the transition from dream to reality.