That’s the dream isn’t it? To have a quality life. It is surely the goal of pretty much every human on the planet; a roof over our heads, food on the table, health and safety for our loved ones. Sadly, this is not the default state for a disproportionate percentage of the population. For me to sit here and write this, and for you to read it, is a luxury. 

Each day as I walk the local area; the shoreline of the sea loch, the woods and glens around home, I ponder life, the universe and everything. I watch the play of light over the changing vegetation and try to find the link between the five magic beans of luminosity, contrast, colour, atmosphere and geometry, and my inner emotional spectrum. This is what I do, and it’s a luxury. Oddly, as I walk the walk, I am obligated by my own moral compass to talk the talk. Like everyone else, I suffer dreadfully from my own inner monologue; criticising, challenging, judging (usually myself) and feeling hard done by that I have to actually work for a living! I forget how fortunate I am, I focus on the negatives making each one a to do list and a challenge to achieve a better life!

Thankfully, I remember that I have a better life, a better life than billions of others: I remember the luxury of my morning walk to clear my mind and prepare for the day ahead. A walk of choice, not of necessity.

The reason I’m writing all this now is that last week I went out early with my camera for the first time in weeks. To be honest with you, I just haven’t felt inspired to make photographs at all. The treadmill of social media demands just beat it out of me, and I felt lost and alone. I was detached from my photographic creative output, but instead poured myself into my guitar playing (my non commercial creativity!) Playing electric guitar has recently been my escape; playing my emotions through quiet ambience layered with reverb and delay, to full on distorted, heavy riffs that get your energy pumping like nothing else can!

As I drove up the single track road to the head of the glen, I checked the clock and it was a little after 5am. The sun would be rising soon, but I knew it would be a while before it cleared the surrounding hills to illuminate the fresh greens of the birch trees. I want to say from the outset that I went out without a plan, and the early start was more a function of insomnia than creative intent!

I felt slow and a bit jaded; some mist drifted over the hillsides and I lazily set up the camera to make a few sketches; interesting arrangements of feel. I’d left the car without changing into my rubber boots (Wellies here in Scotland!), so I waded the river in my trekking shoes condemning myself to cold, wet feet for the duration of the outing. I very much noticed the association between the feel of the landscape and my mood. Deep inside I felt I was looking to make photographs, but wanted to resist that compulsion for as long as I could. I drifted, walking slowly; just noticing, thinking about feel, and feeling my thinking.

In my two eBooks: Luminosity & Contrast and The Colour of Meaning, I discuss the emotional consequences of feel: Feel that is driven by combinations of what I call the 5 triggers. With greatly reduced levels of luminosity or contrast, more subtle emotions are manifest. The pastel colours are quiet and thought-provoking. The simple flow of delicate curves are also unassuming and contemplative. I was drawn to the concept of silence, which in turn led me to contentment and acceptance.

I can accept the landscape in its quiet moods. By the power of equivalence I can accept myself when I am quiet and introverted. It makes sense to me; the landscape shows me the reflection of my inner emotional landscape. Wow, that’s very kind of it!!

Hold on a minute, this is quality of life. I am in a moment when the idiot in my head is focussed out instead of in. The fool I used to be is silent as he accepts himself in that place in that time. The images I take aren’t trophies to parade with pride like the tail of a slaughtered fox! They are emotional sketches of moments in time when I can be me, without judgement.

I feel my mood lift as layers of ingrained living and turmoil recede. I cross the river again and head back down the glen as the sun clears the ridge and begins bathing the trees in light. I laugh out loud as luminosity, contrast and colour dominate the scene, driving subtly ahead of it with its tsunami of powerful metaphor. Looking behind me suddenly I’m facing atmospheric minimalism again! What a fun morning this is turning out to be.

I know this glen so intimately, yet every time I walk there I notice something new. A wood warbler trills beside me, singing his joy of spring and the quest for new life. We get complacent on our walks, comparing them with previous ones; better/worse, good/bad. Surely this is a meaningless self-defeating condition. We’re so heavily focused on the quality of light, we forget how luxurious our quality of life is. A walk in the woods to contemplate one simple life, one heartbeat at a time.

Now, as I sit in my windowless office preparing this for the blog, I have to explain myself, painting pictures in your mind of what is in mine. I take pleasure from this. I hope my images and writing can bring you peace, allowing you to see the world through a fresh pair of eyes. In the vaults of your own minds I am certain your own inner critic lives; lurking in the shadows, knowing every weakness, knowing when we are lying to ourselves, or lying to us when we have surges of hope. Expressive art is a lifestyle choice, not about creating art, but living a life that propagates feelings of well-being and wholesomeness. From that emerges truth, acceptance and articulation of the true self; or creativity!